Hephaestus: God of Metallurg in Greek Mythology

     Hephaestus is one of the Olympic gods of Ancient Greece and is known for being the Greek God of Metallurgy ... It was Hephaestus who forged the beam of Zeus, Trident of Poseidon and the Helm of Hades.

Hephaestus in Greek Mythology:

     Hephaestus is a god in Greek Mythology, whose equivalent in Roman mythology was Vulcan. Son of Zeus and Hera, king and queen of the gods or, according to some reports, only Hera, he was the god of technology, blacksmiths, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire, volcanoes and fire. Like other mythological blacksmiths, but unlike the other gods, Hephaestus was lame, which gave him a grotesque appearance in the eyes of the ancient Greeks. He served as a blacksmith for the gods, and was worshiped in manufacturing and industrial centers in Greece, especially in Athens. The center of his cult was located in Lemnos.

     The symbols of Hephaestus are a blacksmith's hammer, an anvil and a tongs, although it was sometimes depicted with an ax. Hephaestus was responsible, among other works, for the aegis, shield used by Zeus in his battle against the Titans.

     He built a magnificent and brilliant bronze palace for himself, equipped with many mechanical servants. Pandora, the first mortal woman, came out of his forges. His brothers are: Ares, Ênio, Hebe, Ilícia and Éris. For the Romans, "Vulcan" (equivalent to Hephaestus), this god had two sons, namely Kermit and Century.

God of Metallurgy:

     Hephaestus was identified by the Greek colonists of southern Italy with the gods of the volcano Adrano (from Mount Etna) and Vulcano, of the Lipari islands. Its forge was moved there by the poets. The wise Apollonius of Tiana, of the first century, would have commented: "there are many other mountains in different parts of the earth besides Etna, but we are not so light as to claim that their eruptions are caused by giants and gods."

     An Athenian foundation myth tells that Athena would have refused a carnal union with Hephaestus due to her unattractive appearance and physical defect, and that when he then became enraged and tried to take her by force, the goddess disappeared from his bed. Hephaestus' ejaculation fell on the earth, impregnating Gaia, who ended up giving birth to Erictonius of Athens; this was then given, as a child, to Athena, so that she could create it, guarded by a snake. Higino derived from this myth a creative etymology for the name Erictônio, from the "dispute" (Eris) between Athena and Hephaestus and the child-earth (ctônio). There is a Temple of Hephaestus in the city, Hephaestus (Hephaesteum), wrongly called Theseus "), located next to the Athenian agora.

     On the island of Lemnos, his consort was the nymph Cabiro, with whom he had two children, two blacksmithing gods known as cabiros. In Sicily, her consort was the nymph Etna, and her children were the two gods of the Sicilian geysers known as palicos.

     According to Homer, Hephaestus' wife was Charis. For most myths, however, Hephaestus is the husband of Aphrodite, who betrays him by committing adultery with Ares.

Hephaestus Work:

     Hephaestus was responsible for making much of the magnificent equipment of the gods, and almost every type of metal work endowed with magical powers that appears in Greek mythology is said to have been done by the god; the winged helmet and sandals of Hermes, the chest of arms known as the aegis, the famous belt of Aphrodite, the scepter of Agamemnon, the armor of Achilles, the bronze crotals of Heracles, the chariot of Helium (as well as his own) , Pélops 'shoulder, Eros' bow and arrow. Hephaestus worked with the help of the chthonic cyclops, his assistants in the forge. He also built metal automata that worked for him; among these were tripods that had the ability to go to and return to Mount Olympus. 

     Greek God Hephaestus gave blind Orion his apprentice, Cedalion, to be his guide. In one version of the god's myth, Prometheus allegedly stole the fire he gave to the men of Hephaestus' forge. This also would have created the gift that the gods gave to the man, the Pandora woman and her pito. Like a skilled blacksmith, Hephaestus made all the thrones of the Palace of Olympus. The traveler Pausânias reported seeing a painting in the Temple of Dionysus, in Athens, built in the 5th century but decorated somewhere before the 2nd century AD, when Pausânias saw it:

There are paintings here - Dionysus taking Hephaestus to heaven. One of the Greek legends says that Hephaestus, at birth, would have been thrown from there by Hera. In vengeance, the god presented her with a golden chair with invisible chains. As soon as she sat down, she was arrested [by chains], and Hephaestus refused to heed the pleas of the other gods, with the exception of Dionysus - in whom he had complete confidence - and after drunk him Dionysus took him back to heaven.

Hephaestus and Aphrodite:

     God Hephaestus, being the most determined of the gods, received Aphrodite's hand from Zeus to prevent the other gods from fighting over it. Aphrodite, however, did not accept the idea of ​​the arranged marriage with the ugly Hephaestus, started a loving relationship with Ares, god of war. Hephaestus learned of Aphrodite's betrayal through Helium, the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap for them during one of their escapades. While Aphrodite and Ares were in bed together, Hephaestus wrapped them in an unbreakable chainmail net, so thin it was practically invisible, and took them to Mount Olympus to humiliate them before the other gods. 

     The latter, however, only laughed at the sight of the naked lovers, and Poseidon managed to persuade Hephaestus to release him in exchange for a guarantee that Ares would pay a fine for adultery. In the Odyssey Hephaestus states that he would return Aphrodite to his father and demand his dowry from him.

     In the Iliad, Hephaestus' consort is a minor Aphrodite, Cáris ("the grace") or Aglaia ("the glorious"), the youngest of the Graces, as Hesiod calls it. Hephaestus was the father of several children, both mortal and immortal. One of these was the thief Perifetes. Together with Talia, Hephaestus was considered the father of the Palicos.

     The Thebans believed that the union between Ares and Aphrodite would have resulted in Harmony, as beautiful as a second Aphrodite. There is, however, no account of any fruit of this union, unless Virgílio seriously stated that Eros would be his son. Later authors explain this statement by stating that the god of love would be Ares's son, but handed over to Hephaestus so that he could raise him as his own son.

     Hephaestus was associated in some way with the pre-Greek archaic mysteries (originating from the Phrygians and Thracians) of the Cabiros, also known as Hephaistoi, "the men of Hephaestus" in Lemnos. One of the three Lemmian tribes was also called Hepestius, claiming direct descent from the god. Hephaestus had few epithets when compared to other gods; one of them was Hephaestus Etneus (Hephaestus Aetnaeus), because his workshop was supposed to be located under Mount Etna.

Check: Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love

Check Now: