Delphic Maxim 13: Honour the hearth (or Hestia)

I’ve set myself the challenge of responding to each Delphic Maxim for 15 minutes a day.

13. Honour the hearth (or Hestia)

If you’re familiar with your contemporary pop culture, you’ll be aware of the ‘Red Wedding’ from Game of Thrones. For those who prefer to live under rocks, a huge chunk of the Stark family is butchered at a wedding while they are guests of House Frey. Throughout the Game of Thrones mythology it’s made very clear that failure to respect the laws of hospitality will lead to something like a curse.

The Greeks had much the same belief: being a good host was an essential quality in virtuous people. The Gods tested this all the time, jumping into disguises and popping into people’s homes. In the case of Tantalus, for example, a man famed for his salubrious banquets, the Gods rocked up to his place looking for a feast (after Tantalus had abused their hospitality by stealing a sip of the nectar of the gods). He chopped up and fed them his son, Pelops. Totally rational reaction. Naturally, the Gods were disgusted, especially Demeter who was grief-eating Pelops’ shoulder before they realised what had been done, so Tantalus was tormented for all eternity in a pool of receding water, from which he could never quench his thirst.

So there’a a long literary and mythic tradition about being a good host, or honouring the hearth. The hearth here refers to the home (it literally refers to a fireplace, but you can imagine this as a synecdoche for the warm and welcoming home). Hestia was god of the hearth, and contemporary people might think this is a strange thing to be god of when you’ve got gods of war, wisdom, oceans and lightning, among others. But actually, the fact that Hestia existed in the pantheon indicates just how important the hearth was to the ancients.

In contemporary terms, this means being virtuous through generosity and magnanimity. Aristotle signalled these virtues in Nicomachean Ethics. Being able to feed your guests, to provide them with drink and care is a benevolent way to live. It’s also something that people notice today, because we are often too busy or too inward-looking to be prepared for the arrival of unexpected guests.

It’s not just about having a nice cheese and a bottle of wine on hand when visitors come, it’s also about having a welcoming and warm home. Keep your hearth in order, I suppose, is another way to think about it. When guests come to visit, you should be able to entertain, to make them comfortable. For Aristotle, this kind of magnanimity was a sign of great character. I think one of the admirable things about the way virtue was expressed by the ancients, was not only in the refinement and growth of the self, but also how this virtue was intimate involved in a sense of community.

Being a great person involves being great to others, as well as yourself. (And I mean great in the sense of ‘greatness’, as well as our more modern sense of ‘oh that’s so great’). It means creating a communal space, one where friends and family feel safe and welcome. So start with the home.