The Mythology Book

108

CONCEIVE OF VESTA

AS NAUGHT BUT

THE LIVING FLAME

VESTA AND PRIAPUS

T

he daughters of Saturn

and Ops were Juno, Ceres,

and Vesta, the goddess of

the hearth. All three were major

Roman goddesses, but Vesta, in

contrast to her sisters, was rarely

depicted in myth.

The concept of the hearth

god originated in the proto-Indo-

European religion based in ancient

Anatolia, from which a number of

Roman and Greek gods would

ultimately be derived. The Latin

word Vesta came from the proto-

Indo-European word meaning “to

burn,” underlining the goddess’

ancestral roots.

The relatively small number of

myths focusing on Vesta is largely

due to the fact that the goddess

rarely strayed from her house or her

temple. In one myth, told by Ovid,

Vesta was tempted out to a party

thrown by the mother goddess,

Cybele, on Mount Ida, a central

location of worship for Cybele’s

orgiastic cult following. With her

turreted mural crown, which

Nymphs and satyrs cavort together

in A Bacchanal Before a Statue of Pan

(1632–1633), by the French artist Nicolas

Poussin. In the foreground to the right,

Priapus attempts to molest Vesta.

IN BRIEF

THEME

Virgin goddesses

SOURCES

Fasti (“The Book of Days”),

Ovid, 8 ce.

SETTING

Mount Ida—the Mountain of

the goddess Cybele; Anatolia,

in modern-day Turkey.

KEY FIGURES

Saturn Roman god of wealth;

Roman equivalent of Kronos.

Ops Earth goddess; wife of

Saturn.

Vesta Virgin goddess of the

hearth.

Cybele Anatolian mother

goddess—the “Great Mother”

of Roman mythology.

Priapus God of sexuality

and fertility; a cast-out son

of Venus.

Silenus A drunken old satyr

riding a donkey.

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ANCIENT ROME 109

See also: The Olympian gods 24–31 ■ The mad cult of Dionysus 52 ■ Cybele

and Attis 116–17

designated her as a patron and

protector of Rome, Cybele was

constantly surrounded by reveling

female followers (Maenads), and

males (Corybantes), who provided

her with musical entertainment.

Cybele invited all the gods

to her party, together with the

satyrs, nymphs, and spirits of the

countryside. These included the

lustful Priapus, who was afflicted

with a permanent, oversized

erection. Priapus’s mother, Venus,

was so ashamed of this deformity

that she abandoned him in the

mountains to be brought up by

shepherds. Priapus became a god

of gardens, bees, and herds. The

party’s final guest was the drunken

satyr Silenus, who came to the

event despite having no invitation.

Priapus is denied

The gods ate and drank their fill,

and as the party wound down,

some went strolling on Mount Ida,

while some began to dance, and

others lay down on the grass

to sleep off their excesses. Vesta

found a quiet spot by a stream

and fell asleep, unaware that

Priapus lurked nearby. The always-

lecherous Priapus was on the prowl,

looking for a goddess or nymph to

bed. Spying the virgin goddess

Vesta as she lay asleep, he tiptoed

up to her. However, just as Priapus

was about to take Vesta’s virginity,

Silenus’s donkey let out a loud bray

nearby and startled her awake.

The other gods ran to Vesta’s aid,

quickly driving Priapus away.

At his cult center in Lampsacus,

in the northern Troad, the donkey

was Priapus’s sacrificial animal.

During the Vestalia, held every June

in honor of Vesta, loaves of bread

baked in the ash of the Vestal

hearth were hung from donkeys,

and the grindstones they turned

were also garlanded with flowers

in honor of the goddess. ■

The Vestal Virgins

The six Vestal Virgins, Rome’s

only female priesthood,

tended the fire of Vesta, the

symbolic hearth of the city

in the Temple of Vesta, in the

Forum. If the fire was ever

allowed to go out, it was

regarded as a bad omen,

and the negligent Vestal was

whipped by the high priest.

The chastity of the Vestals

was essential to the safety of

Rome itself, and any Vestal

who lost her virginity would

be buried alive, with meager

rations of food and water, so

her blood would not be

spilled, and her death

would be by the will of the

underworld gods.

The six priestesses were

chosen in childhood, between

the ages of 6 and 10. They

served for 30 years, after

which they were free to leave

the order, and even to marry, if

they so desired. However,

Vestal Virgins who married

lost their unusual degree of

independence, including

the freedom to make a will.

She was the

guardian of the

hearth and of

the Roman

people.

The Vestalia,

her festival,

was a sacred

Roman

holiday.

She was the

purest of all

gods.

Vesta was first worshipped

in Lavinium, Italy, the earliest

Trojan settlement.

She was worshipped by the Vestal

Virgins, who maintained the sacred fire

of Vesta at all times.

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