what is hestia the god of

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Nature

Hestia is the Greek goddess of the hearth, home, and hospitality. She is the eldest daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and sister to Demeter, Hades, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus. According to Greek mythology, Hestia was the firstborn child of the Titans, and was devoured by her own father Cronus as an infant due to his fear of being overthrown by one of his offspring. She was only freed when her youngest brother Zeus forced their father to disgorge the children he had eaten. After the Titans were cast down, Hestia became one of the Olympian gods, the new rulers of the cosmos, alongside her brothers and sisters.

Hestia is identified with the hearth as a physical object, and the abstractions of community and domesticity, in contrast to the fire of the forge employed in industry and crafting. She was worshipped chiefly as the goddess of the family hearth, and sacrifices and offerings were regularly made to Hestia at the hearth within each private home and at the town or citys public hearth. Hestia was also the goddess of the sacrificial flame and received a share of every sacrifice to the gods. The cooking of the communal feast of sacrificial meat was naturally a part of her domain.

Hestia never married and remained a virgin, despite the amorous attentions of Apollo, Poseidon, and Priapus, the fertility god. She is described as a kind, forgiving, and discreet goddess with a passive, non-confrontational nature.