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In Book 5 of Laws, Plato is singling out Hestia, Zeus and Athena while describing the ideal city:

The next thing to be noted is, that the city should be placed as nearly as possible in the centre of the country; we should choose a place which possesses what is suitable for a city, and this may easily be imagined and described. Then we will divide the city into twelve portions, first founding temples to Hestia, to Zeus and to Athene, in a spot which we will call the Acropolis, and surround with a circular wall, making the division of the entire city and country radiate from this point.

Source Laws, by Plato. Translated by Benjamin Jowett.

Why this particular triplet? And why does Hestia come first?

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yannis
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Both Zeus and Athena were deities who were associated with Athens, and important philisophic concepts, while a city needed Hestia's flame at its sacred centre to be complete.

Hestia, goddess of the hearth, was more important than you would think from the small part she plays in myths. Every home had a hearth shrine to Hestia, and each city had a public "hearth" in the form of her temple. When colonists left to found new cities they took fire from their native city's shrine to Hestia with them, to kindle their own fire when they settled. She received the first offering at a sacrifice.

Zeus was king of the gods, and although we don't tend to think of him that way, he was also the god of law, destiny and fate while Athena was the goddess of wisdom, also likely to appeal to a philosopher. She was also the goddess of Plato's city, Athens.

solsdottir
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