Hephaestus ( , ; eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture, and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, Greek Religion 1985: III.2.ii; see coverage of Lemnos-based traditions and legends at Mythic Lemnos In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the son of Hera, either on her own or by her husband Zeus. He was cast off Mount Olympus by his mother Hera because of his lameness, the result of a congenital impairment, or in another account, by Zeus for protecting Hera from his advances.
As a smithing god, Hephaestus created all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centres of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos. Hephaestus's symbols are a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs. In Rome, he was equated with Vulcan.Tripp, s.v. Hephaestus, pp. 270–271.
Etymology Hephaestus is probably associated with the Linear B (Mycenaean Greek) inscription , A-pa-i-ti-jo, found at Knossos. The inscription indirectly attests his worship at that time because it is believed that it reads the theophoric name (H)āpʰaistios, or Hāphaistion. At Google Books. At Google Books The Greek theonym Hēphaistos is most likely of Pre-Greek origin, as the form without -i- (Attic Hēphastos) shows a typical Pre-Greek variation and points to an original sy.
Epithets The epithets by which Hephaestus is known by the poets generally allude to his skill in the plastic arts or to his figure or disability. The Greeks frequently placed miniature statues of Hephaestus near their hearths, and these figures are the oldest of all his representations.Heroditus, iii, 37; Aristophanes, Av., 436; Callimachus, Hymn. in Dian., 60. The meaning of some of his epithets are: Amphigyḗeis often translated as "the lame one"; literally "lame on both sides" vel sim. () Kyllopodíōn "club-footed" or "of dragging feet" () Khalkeús "coppersmith" () Klytotékhnēs "renowned artificer" () Polýmētis "shrewd, crafty" or "of many devices" () Aitnaîos "Aetnaean" (), owing to his workshop supposedly being located below Mount Aetna.Aelian, Hist. An. xi. 3, referenced under Aetnaeus in William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology Polýphrōn "ingenious, inventive" (Πολύφρων) Agaklytós "very famous, glorious" (Ἀγακλυτός) Aithalóeis theós "sooty god" (Αἰθαλόεις θεός)
Mythology
Parentage In Homer's Iliad, Hephaestus is described as the son of Hera; the Iliad seemingly also refers to Zeus as his father at two points, though it is possible these passages are not referring to Hephaestus as Zeus's literal son. The Odyssey does, however, refer explicitly to Hephaestus as having "two parents", the identity of whom would presumably be Zeus and Hera.Gantz, p. 74. In Hesiod's Theogony, Hera gives birth to Hephaestus on her own, out of revenge for Zeus having, without her, fathered Athena (the daughter of Zeus and Metis).Hesiod, Theogony 927–928. Apollodorus similarly states that Hera gives birth to Hephaestus alone, though he also relates that, according to Homer, Hephaestus is one of the children of Zeus and Hera.
Some sources state that the origin myth of Hephaestus was that of a "daemon of fire coming up from the Earth"—that he was also associated with gas "which takes fire and burns [and] is considered by many people to be divine" and that only later was a volcano considered Hephaestus's smithy. He was associated by Greek colonists in southern Italy with the volcano gods Adranus (of Mount Etna) and Vulcanus of the Lipari islands. The first-century sage, Apollonius of Tyana, is said to have observed, "there are many other mountains all over the earth that are on fire, and yet we should never be done with it if we assigned to them giants and gods like Hephaestus".Life of Apollonius of Tyana, book v.16. Nevertheless, Hephaestus's domain over fire goes back to Homer's Iliad, where he uses flames to dry the waters of Scamandrus River in order to force its eponymous deity, who was attacking Achilles, to retreat. His favourite place in the mortal world was the island of Lemnos, where he liked to dwell among the Sintians,Od. viii. 283ff.; Homer, Iliad, i, 593; Ovid, Fasti, viii, 82. but he also frequented other volcanic islands such as Lipari, Hiera, Imbros and Sicily, which were called his abodes or workshops.Apollonius of Rhodes, iii. 41; Callimachus, Hymn. in Dian. 47; Serv. ad Aen, viii, 416; Strabo, p. 275; Pliny, Naturalis Historia, iii, 9; Valerius Flaccus, ii, 96.
Fall from Olympus In one branch of Greek mythology, Hera ejected Hephaestus from the heavens because of his congenital impairment. He fell into the ocean and was raised by Thetis (mother of Achilles and one of the 50 Nereids) and the Oceanid Eurynome.Homeric Hymn to Apollo 316–321; Homer, Iliad 18.395–405.
In another account, Hephaestus, attempting to rescue his mother from Zeus's advances, was flung down from the heavens by Zeus. He fell for an entire day and landed on the island of Lemnos, where he was cared for and taught to be a master craftsman by the Sintians – an ancient tribe native to that island.Homer, Iliad 1.590–594; Valerius Flaccus, ii, 8.5; Apollodorus, i, 3 § 5. Apollodorus confounds the two occasions on which Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus. Later writers describe his physical disability as the consequence of his second fall, while Homer makes him disabled from birth.
Return to Olympus
Hephaestus was one of the Olympians who returned to Olympus after being exiled.
In an archaic story,Features within the narrative suggest to Kerenyi and others that it is archaic; the most complete literary account, however, is a late one, in the Roman rhetorician Libanios, according to Hedreen (2004).Guy Hedreen (2004) The Return of Hephaistos, Dionysiac Processional Ritual and the Creation of a Visual Narrative. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 124 (2004:38–64) p. 38 and note. Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by forging her a magical golden throne, which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to stand up again.A section "The Binding of Hera" is devoted to this archaic theme in Kerenyi (1951, pp 156–158), who refers to this "ancient story", which is one of the "tales of guileful deeds performed by cunning gods, mostly at a time when they had not joined the family on Olympus". The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he refused, saying "I have no mother". It was Ares who undertook the task of fetching Hephaestus at first, but he was threatened by the fire god with torches.Libanius, Progymnasmata 7 At last, Dionysus, the god of wine, fetched him, intoxicated him with wine, and took the subdued smith back to Olympus on the back of a mule accompanied by revelers – a scene that sometimes appears on painted pottery of Attica and of Corinth.Axel Seeberg (1965) Hephaistos Rides Again. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 85, pp. 102–109, describes and illustrates four pieces of Corinthian painted pottery with the themeA black red-figure calpis in the collection of Marsden J. Perry was painted with the return of Hephaestus (Eldridge, 1917, pp 38–54).L. G. Eldridge (1917) An Unpublished Calpis. American Journal of Archaeology, 21.1, pp 38–54 (January–March 1917). According to Hyginus, Zeus promised anything to Hephaestus in order to free Hera. Hephaestus asked for the hand of Athena in marriage (urged by Poseidon, who was hostile toward her), leading to his attempted rape of the goddess, who rejected his advances.Hyginus, Fabulae 166 In another version, he demanded to be married to Aphrodite in order to release Hera, and his mother fulfilled the request.Slater, pp 199-200 "And [Hera] was released only when she swore to the truth of his birth story, or, in another version, promised Aphrodite to her son."
The theme of the return of Hephaestus, popular among the Attic vase-painters whose wares were favored among the Etruscans, may have introduced this theme to Etruria.The return of Hephaestus was painted on the Etruscan tomb at the "Grotta Campana" near Veii was identified by Petersen (1902); the "well-known subject" was doubted in this instance by Harmon (1912).Petersen (1902) Über die älteste etruskische Wandmälerei, pp 149ff. Rome.A. M. Harmon (1912) The Paintings of the Grotta Campana. American Journal of Archaeology, 16.1, 1–10 (January–March 1912); In the vase-painters' portrayal of the procession, Hephaestus was mounted on a mule or a horse, with Dionysus holding the bridle and carrying Hephaestus's tools (including a double-headed axe). In the painted scenes, the padded dancers and phallic figures of the Dionysan throng leading the mule show that the procession was a part of the dithyrambic celebrations that were the forerunners of the satyr plays of fifth-century Athens.The significance of the subject for the pre-history of Greek drama is argued by Webster (1958, pp 43ff.) and more recently by Hedreen (2004, pp 38–64).T.B.L. Webster (1958) Some thoughts on the pre-history of Greek drama. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 5, pp 43ff. The traveller Pausanias spoke of having seen a painting of Hephaestus in the temple of Dionysus in Athens. The temple had been built in the 5th century, but may have been decorated at any time before the 2nd century CE. When Pausanias saw it, he said:
Craft of Hephaestus Hephaestus had his own palace on Olympus, containing his workshop with anvil and twenty bellows that worked at his bidding.Il. xviii. 370, &c. He crafted much of the magnificent equipment of the gods, and almost any finely wrought metalwork imbued with powers that appears in Greek myth is said to have been forged by Hephaestus. He designed all the thrones in the Palace of Olympus, the Aegis breastplate, Hermes's winged helmet and sandals, Aphrodite's famed girdle, Eros's bow and arrows, Helios's chariot, Heracles's bronze clappers, and the shoulder of Pelops.The provenance of the staff of office is recounted in Iliad II
Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave to mankind: the first woman Pandora and her pithos. In some versions of the myth, Prometheus stole the fire that he gave to man from Hephaestus's forge.
Hephaestus gave to the blinded Orion his apprentice Cedalion as a guide. In later accounts, Hephaestus worked with the Cyclopes Brontes, Steropes and Arges, who were highly skilled blacksmiths in their own right and forged Zeus's thunderbolts, Poseidon's trident and Hades's helmet of darkness.Virg. Aen. viii. 416, &c.
Automatons According to Homer, Hephaestus built automatons of metal to work for him or others. This included tripods with golden wheels, able to move at his wish in and out the assembly hall of the celestials;Homer, Iliad, 18. 373–379 and "handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids", who had "understanding in their hearts, and speech and strength", as a gift of the gods. They moved to support Hephaestus while walking.Homer, Iliad, 18. 417–421 Hephaestus also put golden and silver lions and dogs at the entrance of the palace of Alkinoos in such a way that they could bite the invaders; these guard dogs did not age nor perish.Homer, Odyssey, 7. 91–4
A similar golden dog (Κυων Χρυσεος) was set by Rhea to guard the infant Zeus and his nurse, the goat Amaltheia, on the island of Krete. Later Tantalus was said to have stolen the automaton when it guarded Zeus's temple, or to have persuaded Pandareos to steal it for him. Later texts attempt to replace the automaton with the idea that the golden dog was actually Rhea, transformed by Hephaestus.Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 11 and 36.
Other myths