Does the word "virgin" carried the same meaning to the Ancient Greeks as it does today? Were Athena, Artemis, and Hestia universally accepted as the virgin goddesses, and are there any other goddesses that were also referred as such?
The word „parthenos” is often taken to refer primarily to an unmarried girl/young woman, and you might encounter this as a justification for interpretations that make those goddesses sexually active. However, an unmarried girl was also assumed and expected to be physically a virgin; that is, parthenos also = a girl who, as far as it is known, hasn't engaged in (hetero)sexual intercourse yet. Still, the word parthenos could be used to describe a woman who not only has had sex, but has also borne a child.
“Unlike the modern notion of physical virginity (someone who has never had sex), a parthenos was a girl who had not clearly been shown to have had sex. A new bride might be referred to as a parthenos, as could a woman who had had sex but had hidden the evidence. Kreusa, in Euripides’s Ion, is the mother by Apollo of Ion (whom she exposes as an infant). Although the play’s chorus knows this about Kreusa, they nevertheless call her a parthenos, not because she is physically a virgin, and not even because she is not yet a mother, but because her social standing is that of a woman who is not known to be a mother. Thus, the ancient Greek term parthenos had more to do with how one was perceived by society than with the physical state of one’s body.” - The Ancient Greeks: New Perspectives by Stephanie Lynn Budin
„On the one hand, the noun parthenia denotes a condition that can be taken, λαμβάνειν,(Eschines, letter 10), and taken away, ἀφελέσθαι (Pollux, Onomastikon,3, 42). It is a treasure that can be protected, φυλάσσειν (Greek Anthology,9, 44). … There is ample evidence, therefore, that if a parthenos is endowed with parthenia, she possesses “something”. To complicate the semantic picture, parthenia may seem to be there, although sometimes it is not, or not any longer. The evidence includes the word pseudo-parthenos, in Herodotus’ narrative on the young women who, in libya, fight to determine who is still a true parthenos and who is a false one; the ordeals of virginity in Greek novels, and the definition of the word parthenios or parthenias, as the child of a “seemingly” parthenos. This semantic divergence places us in a tight spot. On the one hand, since parthenia can be taken, lost, or protected, in a sexual act, a woman who may either preserve parthenia, or be deprived of it, is supposed to have a quality that must be sexual, and cannot be a mere social status. On the other hand, since a parthenios or parthenias is defined as the offspring of a parthenos, this ought to imply that a woman can have sex, bear a child, and still be denominated parthenos. …
Ultimately, we have to decide: a parthenos must be either an unwed, or a vaginally un-penetrated, young woman. The utterances and the definitions to be found in our sources generate this semantic quandary. We can extricate ourselves out of it, by reading carefully the work of ancient lexicographers. The terms parthenios and parthenias, we learn, refer to the “child of an unmarried woman”, but more precisely of a woman who is believed to bea parthenos. … Pollux’ Onomastikon (III, 21) explains that, if a child is called parthenias, this is because “he was born of a woman who is supposed to be a parthenos”, ἐκ τῆς δοκούσης εἶναι παρθένου. In Hesychius, we read that parthenioi are called that way, “because we believe that those who engender them are still parthenoi”, ἁπό τοῦ δοκεῖνἔτι παρθένους εἶναι. The Suidas defines partheneios as “the one who was engendered by what appears to be still a parthenos”, ἐκ παρθένου ἔτιδοκούσης. We also see similar definitions in the Scholia to the Iliad, IV, 499, and to Pindar, Olympian, II, 48, … A parthenios is the child of a woman “still believed” (ἔτι νομιζομένης) to be a parthenos. These glosses agree that there is a quality – that of being a parthenos – which can be still taken for granted and attributed to a woman, even when it is no longer the case. The adverb ἔτι, “still”, points to a time-sensitive error. We keep believing that the woman is, still now, ἔτι, what she has ceased to be. This cannot mean that we were misinformed as to the date of her wedding. …
Medical language confirms the corporeal reality of the virginal condition. The anonymous writer of Diseases of Virgins, as Helen King tells us, accounts for a disorder that strikes “girls who, despite being ‘ripe for marriage’ remain unmarried. In the body of a girl of this age there is a greater quantity of blood than usual ‘because of food and the growth of the body’. This blood, moving towards the womb ready to leave the body, is unable to escape because the ‘mouth of exit’ is not open”. What matters are the repercussions of non-marriage on the body, because no-marriage means no-sex. As I just mentioned, Soranos explains that parthenia is highly recommendable, in opposition to the damages caused by the emission of seed, and by maternity. The entire discussion involves arguments about semen, menstruations, defloration, pregnancy, strength, weakness, movement and other physical alterations. In both texts, the point is the impact, positive or negative, of heterosexual – and, crucially, prolific, coition – upon the female body.” - The Hymen Is a Problem, Still. Virginity, Imperforation, and Contraception, from Greece to Rome by Giulia Sissa
Were Hestia, Athena and Artemis universally considered parthenoi? I don't know about "universally". Strabo for instance mentions a tradition from Rhodes stating that the Korybantes were sons of Helios and Athena. Several other deities are occasionally or more frequently called maidens: Persephone, Dike, Hekate, Iris, the Graces, the Muses, Britomartis, etc. Some of these do have male consorts and/or children, at least sometimes. Hera had a noteworthy parthenos aspect too but that hardly makes her a virgin goddess.
