Week 11 Story: Hestia and Her People

             Hestia, who once was one of the twelve Olympians before she gave up her seat to keep harmony in Olympus, regarded her Temple with a careful eye. Her Temple was a humble one, for Hestia was the goddess of hearth and home, and had no need for the gold and statues the other gods favored. No priestesses had been here for quite some time, and it was extremely apparent. Something had happened in the city near her—Hestia was not sure what—and everyone had left quite quickly. The doors to her Temple had been left open, and all sorts of things had blown in. Cobwebs and dust were present on nearly every surface, and the fire in the hearth had long since blown out.  

Hestia sighed, pursing her lips. She would deal with this tomorrow. It had been a long day for her, and even goddesses got tired. As she turned, she saw a very small person making their way into her Temple. Though, all people were small to Olympians (and she was still an Olympian, even if she did not have a seat at Olympus), Hestia knew. She had been around gods for far too long, if the sight of a human shocked her. The small person was followed by other small people, as well as small horses hooked to small carts. The small people appeared quite distressed about the state of her Temple—Hestia empathized—and set about gathering up the leaves and sticks that had blown in. They put them into the carts, and then the horses carried them away. The small people continued their work at her Temple for quite some time, and eventually, they finished. Hestia had never been far from them during their work. She had become quite fond of these small people.

There appeared to be a celebration occurring in her Temple now, and Hestia gladly celebrated with them, even if they could not see her. Her Temple being restored, even if it was not a glorious Temple, was something to be celebrated. Only…after the celebration, the people did not leave. They appeared to be making themselves at home in her Temple. Hestia cocked her head, contemplating being upset. However, there was nothing in the Temple that marked it as hers. The people of the previous city had just known that this was the Temple of Hestia. If these new people were looking for a home, they must have been drawn to her Temple for a reason. Hestia nodded to herself, making up her mind. These people were now her people. Hestia settled her power around her people, determined to keep them safe and happy. After all, they had come to her Temple looking for a place to call home. Who better to provide that than the goddess of hearth and home? 

                                                    Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home

Author's Note:

So, I changed this story quite a bit. In the original story, there was a man who did not like to be surrounded by others. He moved into a temple, only to be plagued by gnats and fleas. One night, two knights on horses rode in, only they were two inches tall and their horses were the size of grasshoppers. They had hunting falcons and hunting dogs with them. The falcons ate the gnats and the dogs ate the fleas. When the knights left, they left one hunting dog, which stayed with the man until one day it died and became as flat as paper. I decided to go with the gods and goddesses being giants to us, and the humans are just regular-sized humans. Hestia, in my story, has been in Olympus for a while (decades), even though to her it did not seem like that long. She comes back and the people who went to her Temple are gone, although she does not know why. I made a point of her Temple being small/humble enough to be mistaken for a house if you do not know what it is because, in Greek mythology, Hestia gave up her seat at Olympus to Dionysus to keep the peace. I feel like she is the least proud of the gods, so I wanted to illustrate that.  

Bibliography: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

There once was a man who did not like to be surrounded by others. He moved into a temple, only to be plagued by gnats and fleas. One night, two knights on horses rode in, only they were two inches tall and their horses were the size of grasshoppers. They had hunting falcons and hunting dogs with them. The falcons ate the gnats and the dogs ate the fleas. When the knights left, they left one hunting dog, which stayed with the man until one day it died and became as flat as paper.