Vesta

At Rome, the flames in Vesta’s temple symbolised the welfare of the state. Six virgin priestesses, known as the Vestal Virgins, tended them. The fire belonged to Vesta, the maiden goddess of the hearth. It represented the home and the sacred centre of domestic life. Every meal began and ended with an offering to her. Her fire was also kept at a public hearth, where it was never allowed to go out.

Vesta was the Roman counterpart of the Greek Hestia. Hestia was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, but Vesta had no separate parentage. No myths belonged to Vesta alone. She appears in the myths of other deities, including a Roman tale in which Priapus lusted after her and tried to approach her while she slept. Her place in Roman religion was defined by the hearth, the household, and the fire guarded by her priestesses.