Hephaestus Essay

Did you ever wonder what keeps you warm while in the living room with a lit chimney? Or what claims thousands or lives each year just by starting off as a tiny spark or match? That’s right, Fire, the Greek God Hephaestus is the god of fire, volcanoes, smiths, and craftsmen. Hephaestus was known to all the Greeks as the lame god for limping as he walked because he was thrown off Mount Olympus twice: once by his mother and later by his father. Hephaestus had many wives and was a very jealous husband.

Hephaestus’s mother was Hera, one version states: that Hera produced Hephaestus after she found out that Zeus was having an affair with Metis (the goddess of prudence). Zeus then swallowed Metis in order for her not to give birth to Athena. Hephaestus, after finding out Athena was going to be a great warrior, cracked open Zeus’s head in order for Athena to be born.

Hephaestus is known as the ugliest of all the gods. Hephaestus is the only god that was born weak and crippled with a deformed foot, which lead him in being thrown off mount Olympus twice. The first time he was thrown off Mount Olympus was by his mother, Hera because she was ashamed of Hephaestus being ugly at birth. Hephaestus landed in the sea were he was taken in by the nymphs Eurynome and Thetis. Hephaestus stayed in the sea for 9 years crafting gifts of kindness for the nymphs who took him in before returning to mount Olympus. Hephaestus seeking revenge for his mother’s cruelty, built a golden throne that wrapped her in invisible chains. The moment she sat in the throne she was trapped. Hera was trapped in the chair only until Dionysus 2 got Hephaestus drunk. Dionysus 2 then got a mule and put Hephaestus on the mules back. Dionysus then took Hephaestus to Mount Olympus and let Hera go only after he was given Aphrodite as his wife.

The second time Hephaestus was thrown Mount Olympus was by his father Zeus. Zeus became angry with his son after he choose Hera’s side in an argument. After this feud, Zeus picked Hephaestus up by his leg throwing him off mount Olympus landing onto the island of Lemnos. In 1906, Hephaestus landed on the Island of Lemnos. It was said by the people who lived on Lemnos at that time tat Hephaestus made his home and workshops under the volcanoes. Hephaestus had three wives: Charis, Aglaia and Aphrodite. Charis was the personification of grace and beauty. Aglaia, representing brilliance, was the youngest of The Graces or Charities. Aphrodite was unfaithful to him, preferring the company of other gods, especially Ares the god of war. When married to Aphrodite, she cheated on Hephaestus with Ares frequently when Hephaestus was out on trips. Jealous, Hephaestus made an invisible net in which he trapped Aphrodite and Ares in their act of adultery and showed all the other Olympians the two naked lovers. Hephaestus was known for his works such as building the gates of mount Olympus, armor made for Achilles during the siege of Troy, Zeus’s Thunderbolts and Cupid’s arrows. These were some of his most known creations. He also forged the chains that held Prometheus; a demigod tat was punished for giving fire to the humans to a mountain. The first woman Pandora was said to be built by Hephaestus and Athena out of clay when Zeus commanded him to. Hephaestus symbols include the anvil, the axe, fire, the blacksmith’s hammer, the forge. Hephaestus was in the group of gods known as Olympians. Hephaestus was god and patron of craftsman of all sorts, but mostly those including metal and fire. He was known as the god of volcanoes and the fire within them was later used to represent the furnace’s surface. I choose Hephaestus as the Greek god to research because I thought it would be interesting to do my project on the only ugly and disabled god. Hephaestus’s Roman name was also known as Vulcan.