Hestia

Firstborn of Kronos and Rhea, virgin goddess of the hearth, the household fire, and the *prytaneion* flame of the civic centre. The *Homeric Hymn to Hestia* honours her as first served and last in every libation: every meal began and ended with her. Quiet beside the more travelled Olympians, she yielded her seat among the Twelve to Dionysus; her flame burned in every home and in every Greek polis.