Hestia

Hestia is the Greek goddess of the hearth, one of the original Twelve Olympians. Cronus’ and Rhea’s first-born child, she was pure and peaceful. However, since she always had to stay at home, tending the fireplace, Hestia is not involved in many myths. Consequently, at a later stage, she would be replaced in the Pantheon with the much wilder Dionysus.

Hestia’s name means “hearth” or “fireplace,” and her status shows how important the hearth was in the social and religious life of Ancient Greeks. Making and preserving fire was both essential and difficult for more primitive societies, which made the household fire a sacred element at a very early stage of history. In later days, Hestia became its embodiment.

However, there are very few pictorial representations of Hestia. Usually, she is portrayed as a modest middle-aged veil-wearing woman. Sometimes, she stands by a large fire, carrying a staff or holding some flowers in her hands.

Since fire is a pure and a purifying element, Hestia was worshipped as a virgin goddess. And they say that she became a virgin in order to keep the peace at Olympus. Namely, both Apollo and Poseidon wanted to marry her; fearing that choosing either of them may result in turmoil, Hestia swore to an eternal virginity by placing her hand on Zeus’ head. As a reward for maintaining the order and in place of marriage, Zeus granted her the central place in the house and the first and richest portion of humans’ divine offerings.

Gentle and peace-loving, Hestia doesn’t appear in too many myths other than these two. Plato says that this is because she has to remain in the house of the gods, all alone, tending the eternal celestial fire even when all the other Olympians ritually pass in processions through heavens. This is both her privilege and her predicament.

Consequently, Hestia’s only manifestation among humans was the crackling of the fire. Aristotle says that it is the sound of the goddess laughing.

Source: https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hestia/hestia.html