Name origin: Greek goddess of the hearth (both private and municipal) and the home. Hestia presides over the cooking of bread and the preparation of the family meal. She was also the goddess of the sacrificial flame and received a share of every sacrifice to the gods.
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Name origin: Greek Naiad who was transformed into a laurel tree. Daphne was loved by the god Apollo, who pursued her until she grew exhausted and cried out to Gaia for help. The goddess transformed her into a laurel tree which Apollo then adopted as his sacred plant.
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Name origin: Aetolian princess who became a Spartan queen; mother of the Dioscuri, Clytaemnestra and Helen, after Zeus seduced her in the guise of a swan.
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Name origin: Roman goddess of trust and good faith (bona fides). One of the original virtues to be considered an actual religious divinity. She is everything that is required for “honour and credibility, from fidelity in marriage, to contractual arrangements, and the obligation soldiers owed to Rome.”
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Phocaea or Phokaia (modern-day Foça in Turkey) was a city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the city of Massalia (Marseille), from where the asteroid was discovered.
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Name origin: Greek Titan goddess of divine law and order. Themis presides specifically over the traditional rules of conduct first established by the gods. She was also a prophetic goddess who presided over the most ancient oracles, including Delphi.
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Name origin: Ancient Greek muse of comedy and bucolic poetry. ‘Thalia’ translates to “Rich Festivity” or “Blooming”. Possibly, with Apollo, parent of the Korybantes, worshippers of Cybele.
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Name origin: Ancient Greek Muse of eloquence and epic poetry. Kalliope was the eldest of the Muses, depicted in older art with a lyre, and later with a tablet and stylus or a scroll.
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Name origin: Latin name for Paris, the capital city of France, where the asteroid was discovered (the full name being Lutetia Parisiorum, “Lutetia of the Parisii”).
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Name origin: Latin name for the French city of Marseille, from which the independent discover Jean Chacornac sighted it the night following de Gasparis’ discovery.
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