T. Cato Worsfold
Η θεά Εστία
Αρχαιογνωσία
ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΣΚΕΨΗ
HESTIA
OF GREECE
In Ancient
Greece, as in the early days of Rome, and indeed in numerous other countries,
the guarding of a perpetual fire became part of a religious cult.
Remembering
the essential value of fire to primitive peoples, it is not surprising to find
that the early mind shewed this tendency to attach enormous importance to the
mystery and utility of fire, and as a corollary, to invest it with mystic
powers, and to make it an object of worship.
In Greece,
Hestia was the counterpart, to some extent, of Vesta in Rome.
Hestia (Εστία),
the daughter of Chronos (Κρόνος)
and Rhea (Ρέας),
was a “ numen ” rather than a “ dea,” a personification of the hearth itself,
and she never can be said to have attained the status of a goddess in the same
sense as Pallas Athene or Aphrodite.
As the Greek
mind at an early date rose far above the animistic religious idea, Hestia could
never be to them what Vesta was to the Romans.
Between
Hestia and Agni the Hindu fire god of the Vedic religion the parallel is far
closer, although Agni enjoyed a greater prestige than Hestia.
There was
only one temple of Hestia in Greece (although unlike Vesta there were several
statues), and the inference from this is that she was not generally recognised
as a personal goddess.
As to the
connection between Hestia and Vesta, the authorities differ somewhat.
According to
Professor Rose in his Handbook of Greek
Mythology , Hestia the fire deity is the same as Vesta, etymologically and
otherwise.
Frazer, on
the other hand (Commentaries on the Fasti
of Ovid), says :
“ Though the
name Vesta was certainly not borrowed from the Greeks, we may acquiesce in the
etymological identity of Vesta and Hestia, despite certain philological difficulties.”
All
authorities, however, are agreed that whilst the perpetual fire was guarded and
had its priestesses in Ancient Greece, as in Rome, at no time nor place was the
same importance attached to the Greek cult, nor did its priestesses enjoy the
same distinction or place in the religious life of the community, as did the
Vestal Virgins of Rome.
Frazer gives
numerous instances of the perpetual fire being guarded in Greece, notably in
the Prytaneum at Delphi, which particular fire was watched over not by virgin
priestesses, but by widows.
Elsewhere he
tells us that the sacred fire in Greece was guarded by women who had ceased to
have sexual relations with men.
Herein lies
the chief point of difference between the Greek and Roman cults, and this
difference is so fundamental that it appears to discount any idea of the Roman
cult being borrowed from Greece.
The central
ideas, of course, are the same in each case, the sacredness of fire, the
reverence for the hearth on which it was kindled, and the allegorical
significance of the hearth itself as the centre of family life.
The altar of
Hestia remained in the principal room of every Greek house, even when the
blazing fire originally associated with her altar had been removed to the
kitchen.
On the altar
of Hestia sacrifices were offered to all the gods, and such altars were found
not only in private houses, but also in the Prytaneia and town halls throughout
Greece.
The first
portion of what was eaten or drunk was sacrificed to Hestia, and at all births,
marriages or deaths her altar was garlanded with flowers and sprinkled with
incense.
Men swore by
the hearth-altar of Hestia.
Farnell (Cults of the Greek States) writes :
“ Hestia was originally not the goddess who made the
hearth holy, but was in essence the hearth itself, and this religious
perception belonged to the animistic or pre-animistic period.
The attempt
to make her a personal goddess at a later date was a comparative failure.”
T. Cato Worsfold, “The History of the Vestal Virgins
of Rome”, (second impression, revised and enlarged), London, Reider & Co.,
1934, pp. 94-96.
ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΓΡΑΦΟΣ
[ ανάρτηση 21 Δεκεμβρίου 2024 :
T. Cato Worsfold
Η θεά Εστία
Αρχαιογνωσία
ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΣΚΕΨΗ ]
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