Hephaestus is one of the 12 gods of Olympus . This god, unlike the others, was ugly, crippled and lame, he was always sweaty and sported a tangled beard. However, in his forge he was capable of real works of art endowed with magic with which he gave the other gods and mythological characters. This is the work of the Hermes sandals, the Artemisa bow, the chariot of Helios and many other magical objects. Its main forge used to be located in the volcanic Aegean island of Lemnos. Join us to know 4 Myths of Hephaestus . The ugly Greek god who used volcanoes as a forge
4 Myths of Hephaestus
Hephaestus in Roman mythology was known as the god Vulcan and the Myths of Hephaestus and those of Vulcano are very similar. There are many Myths of Hephaestus , we have collected the ones that have seemed most relevant to us. We hope you like them!
The myth of the birth of Hephaestus
He myth of the birth of Hephaestus It has several versions, like most Greek myths. We have chosen the one that seemed most important to us.
Hephaestus should be the son of Zeus and Hera, but apparently it was the fruit only of his mother because of parthenogenesis. Hera, jealous that Zeus had had a daughter without her help - the goddess Athena who was born from the head of his father - decided to have a child without counting on her husband and this was Hephaestus. The god was born ugly, loud and deformed. Her mother tried to hide it from the other Olympian gods, but finally, in order not to embarrass her, she threw it from Olympus to Earth. It took 9 days and 9 nights to arrive and due to the fall he added the limp to his misfortunes. He landed on the island of Lemnos and there he was picked up by the sailors Thetis and Eurynome who raised him and taught him the art of blacksmithing.
When he got older, he sent his mother a golden throne made by him. It was revenge. When Hera sat down, she could not get up and was trapped in the royal seat. Only after the supplications of the other gods, Hephaestus returned to Olympus and freed it.
Myth of Hephaestus and Aphrodite
Hephaestus and Aphrodite are a couple in the Olympic pantheon. According to one of the versions of myth of Hesfesto and Aphrodite , Zeus granted it to him like wife in exchange for that it freed to its mother Hera of the throne-trap in which it had been catched. Other versions of the myth of the birth of Hephaestus they do it before that of their sister Athena and Aphrodite would be the reward for having opened the head of Zeus, who had a great headache, and for that brain cut to emerge the goddess.
In any case it was an unequal marriage. He was enthusiastic about his wife, but she was not so much and was also wanted because of her great beauty for all the other gods. Aphrodite, who despised her husband, became a lover of Ares , the Greek god of war. Helios, god of the sun, who knew everything he told Hephaestus and he wove a network of gold and metal to catch the lovers. When they were together, the network covered them and it was impossible for them to escape. Hephaestus called the other gods to make fun of the unfortunate couple, but most agreed that they would not mind being the ones caught in that situation with Aphrodite. Hephaestus was not victorious as he thought and finally decided to release them with the promise to end their relationship. They did so, but they broke the covenant and escaped together as soon as they felt free.
He myth of Hephaestus and Aphrodite leads us directly to the next: the myth of Hephaestus and Athena.
Myth of Hephaestus and Athena
He myth of Hephaestus and Athena It starts when he is betrayed again by his wife who flees with Ares. The myth tells that the god of the forge was so frustrated that when his sister Athena went to the forge to look for a new weapon, Hephaestus tried to rape her. Athena turned away and rejection energetically so that the semen of Hephaestus fell on his leg. The goddess dried herself with a piece of wool that fell to the ground. The semen impregnated Gaia, the primal mother goddess who personifies the earth, as a result of which she gave birth to Erichthonius, half human and half snake.
Myth of Hephaestus, Prometheus and Pandora
Hephaestus was the creator among other things of two automatons of human likeness that served him and also of the first human woman: Pandora .
Prometheus had stolen the fire from the forge of Hephaestus (or the chariot of Helios in other versions) to deliver it to humans. Zeus wanted to punish him for this and other actions in favor of the men and ordered Hephaestus to make a clay woman. He sent her with an amphora to conquer Prometheus, but he suspected the girl who finally ended up marrying Epimetheus and liberating the world's ills. Zeus, angered, captured Prometheus and forced Hephaestus to forge the chains that had to tie him to the rock in an eternal torment, but that's another story you can read in the post: 10 Short Greek myths | Epic stories of the Gods of Olympus.
Hephaestus had in spite of his unfortunate marriage to Aphrodite a numerous offspring, both mortal and immortal. His children are the goddesses Euclea, Eufema, Eutenea and Filofrósine in their marriage to the youngest of the caryatides . Also the aforementioned Erictonio, the nymph Talía or Caco, the straight giant that killed Heracles.
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