Greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion i...
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Greek God of Fire and Metalworking
Hephaestus was the god of fire, metalworking, stone masonry, forges and the art of sculpture. He was the son of Zeus and Hera and married to Aphrodite by Zeus to prevent a war of the gods fighting for her hand. He was a smithing god, making all of the weapons for Olympus and acting as a blacksmith for the gods. He had his own palace on Olympus where he made many clever inventions and automatons of metal to work for him. Hephaestus’s ugly appearance was the reason Zeus chose him to marry Aphrodite, but despite this she had many affairs with both gods and men. In one story, Hephaestus builds a tricky invention which catches Aphrodite laying with the Ares, the god of war, trapping them both in the bed to be laughed at and ridiculed by the other gods. He is similar to Athena in his giving skill and help to mortals – in his case artists. It was believed that Hephaestus taught men the arts alongside Athena. However, he was also considered far inferior to that of the goddess of wisdom.
Facts about Hephaestus Hephaestus was known as the God of Fire. In some accounts, he was said to be the son of Zeus and Hera; in others, he was the son of Hera alone, conceived in order to get back at Zeus for bringing forth Athena. Hephaestus was the only ugly god among perfectly beautiful immortals. Hephaestus was born deformed and was cast out of heaven by one or both of his parents when they noticed that he was imperfect. He was the workman of the immortals: he made their dwellings, furnishings, and weapons. In his workshop, Hephaestus had assistants who were made out of gold and who helped him with his work. His forge or workshop was located under a volcano, and the work he did within it caused frequent eruptions. In most accounts, Aphrodite is named as his wife, although she was unfaithful to him (with Ares, for one). Theirs was an arranged marriage. Hephaestus was a patron of the arts. He was a kind and peace-loving god. In art, Hephaestus is usually depicted as bending over an anvil or walking with the assistance of a cane. He was worshipped primarily in Athens, where he had a temple. Hephaestus manufactured the aegis (or shield) that Athena is known for carrying. The arrows of Eros (known also as Cupid) were fashioned by Hephaestus as well. Hephaestus was the god of the ceremony when children were officially admitted to the city organization. According to a story told both by Homer and Hesiod, Hephaestus married Aglaia, one of the three Graces. Hephaestus was known for making a gold basket that Europa, daughter of the King of Sidon, used to gather flowers when she happened upon Zeus in the meadow. Hephaestus crafted the armor that Achilles wore in the Trojan War. The same arms, despite their connection to divinity, brought about the death of Ajax. Aphrodite gave Harmonia an extraordinary necklace made by Hephaestus. The piece of jewelry brought disaster to later generations. Erichthonius was the son of Hephaestus: he was half man, half serpent.
god of : Technology, Blacksmiths, Craftsmen, Artisans, Sculptors, Metals, Metallurgy, Fire and Volcanoes. Symbols: Hammer, Anvil, Tongs, and/or Quail Sacred animals: Donkey Parents:Zeus and Hera Consort: Aphrodite Children: Thalia, Eucleia, Eupheme, Philophrosyne, Cabeiri and Euthenia
Birth of Hephaestus As the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Hera, the queen of the gods, Hephaestus should have been quite handsome, but, baby Hephaestus was small and ugly with a red, bawling face. Hera was so horrified that she hurled the tiny baby off the top of Mount Olympus. Hephaestus fell down for a day and a night, landing in the sea. Unfortunately, one of his legs broke as he hit the water, and never developed properly. From the surface, Hephaestus sunk like a pebble to the cool blue depths where the sea-nymph, Thetis, found him and took him to her underwater grotto, and raised him as her own son.
His Childhood Hephaestus had a wretched childhood. When Hera found that he was disfigured, she threw him off Mount Olympus. He grew up in Lemnos. Late in his childhood, he found the remains of a fisherman's fire on the beach and became fascinated with an unextinguished coal, still red-hot and glowing. In other myths, he was thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus for a whole day down to Lemnos for siding with Hera in an argument. Hephaestus carefully shut this precious coal in a clamshell and took it back to his underwater grotto and made a fire with it. On the first day after, Hephaestus stared at this fire for hours on end. On the second day, he discovered that when he made the fire hotter with bellows, certain stones sweated iron, silver or gold. On the third day he beat the cooled metal into shapes: bracelets, chains, swords and shields. Hephaestus made pearl-handled knives and spoons for his foster mother, a silver chariot for himself, and bridles so that seahorses could transport him quickly. He even made slave-girls of gold to wait on him and do his bidding.
Hephaestus and Beautiful Chair One day, Thetis left her underwater grotto to attend a dinner party on Mount Olympus wearing a beautiful necklace of silver and sapphires, which Hephaestus had made for her. Hera admired the necklace and asked her where she could get one. Thetis became flustered causing Hera to become suspicious and, at last, the queen god discovered the truth: the baby she had once rejected had grown into a talented blacksmith. Hera was furious and demanded Hephaestus return home, a demand that he refused. However, he did send Hera a beautifully constructed chair made of silver and gold, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Hera was delighted with this gift but as soon as she sat on it her weight triggered hidden springs and metal bands that sprung forth to hold her fast. The more she shrieked and struggled the more firmly the mechanical throne gripped her; the chair was a cleverly designed trap. For three days Hera sat fuming, still trapped in Hephaestus's chair; she could not sleep, she could not stretch, she could not eat. Zeus pleaded with Hephaestus to dislodge Hera, but he steadfastly refused. Dionysus at last brought Hephaestus back to Olympus by getting him drunk and carrying him on a donkey. Then, on the condition Aphrodite would be given to Hephaestus as his wife, Hera was freed.
Hephaestus and Aphrodite Hephaestus, being the most unfaltering of the gods, was given Aphrodite’s hand in marriage by Zeus to prevent conflict over her between the other gods. Hephaestus and Aphrodite had an arranged marriage, and Aphrodite, disliking the idea of being Hephaestus discovers Aphrodite’s promiscuity through Helios, the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap during one of their trysts. While Aphrodite and Ares lay together in bed, Hephaestus ensnared them in an unbreakable chain-link net so small as to be invisible and dragged them to Mount Olympus to shame them in front of the other gods for retribution. However, the gods laughed at the sight of these naked lovers, and Poseidon persuaded Hephaestus to free them in return for a guarantee that Ares would pay the adulterer's fine. Hephaestus states in the Odyssey that he would return Aphrodite to her father and demand back his bride price. The Thebans told that the union of Ares and Aphrodite produced Harmonia. However, of the union of Hephaestus with Aphrodite, there was no issue unless Virgil was serious when he said that Eros was their child. Later authors explain this statement by saying the love-god was sired by Ares but passed off to Hephaestus as his own son. Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek Phrygian and Thracian mystery cult of the Kabeiroi, who were also called the Hephaistoi, "the Hephaestus-men," in Lemnos. One of the three Lemnian tribes also called themselves Hephaestion and claimed direct descent from the god.
Hephaestus and Athena Hephaestus is to the male gods as Athena is to the females, for he gives skill to mortal artists and was believed to have taught men the arts alongside Athena. He was nevertheless believed to be far inferior to the sublime character of Athena. At Athens they had temples and festivals in common. Both were believed to have great healing powers, and Lemnian earth (terra Lemnia) from the spot on which Hephaestus had fallen was believed to cure madness, the bites of snakes, and haemorrhage, and priests of Hephaestus knew how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes. He was represented in the temple of Athena Chalcioecus (Athena of the Bronze House)at Sparta, in the act of delivering his mother; on the chest of Kypselos, giving Achilles's armour to Thetis; and at Athens there was the famous statue of Hephaestus by Alcamenes, in which his lameness was only subtly portrayed. The Greeks frequently placed small dwarf-like statues of Hephaestus near their hearths, and these figures are the oldest of all his representations. During the best period of Grecian art he was represented as a vigorous man with a beard, and is characterised by his hammer or some other crafting tool, his oval cap, and the chiton.
