The Forge of Hephaestus

Abstract

In the ancient Greek religion, Hephaestus (Vulcan) was a god of fire. Initially, he was a deity of Asia Minor and the Aegean islands. He held an important position among the Olympian gods. Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera and was born lame at both his legs. His mother could not bear his lameness and, after a serious argument with his father, hurled him from Olympus into the Aegean Sea, near Lemnus island. Thetis, a Nereid, who was to be the mother of Achilles, and Eurynome, her sister, saved him. His marriage to Aphrodite (Venus) was ill-chosen and ill-fated. As the god of fire, Hephaestus became the heavenly metallurgist and patron of metal workers. It was believed that fires emitted from volcanoes marked the position of his several forges (Figure 12.1). According to Mythology, he was fashioning the thunderbolts of Zeus. His worship reached Athens before 600 BCE. In artistic portrayals, Hephaestus is usually depicted as a middle-aged man with a beard, wearing a short, sleeveless robe and a round, tight cap, covering his untidy hair.