Hephaestus - Revision history

Irlandos: /* Hephaestus and Aphrodite */

2006-03-01T18:16:10Z

Hephaestus and Aphrodite

Irlandos: /* See Also */

2006-03-01T18:14:55Z

Irlandos at 18:14, March 1, 2006

2006-03-01T18:14:42Z

Irlandos at 18:13, September 29, 2005

2005-09-29T18:13:33Z

Irlandos at 18:12, September 29, 2005

2005-09-29T18:12:52Z

Irlandos at 18:09, September 29, 2005

2005-09-29T18:09:06Z

New page

'''Hephaestus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Ήφαιστος ''Hêphaistos'') is the [[Greek mythology|Greek god]] whose approximate Roman equivalent is Vulcan; he is the god of [[blacksmith]]s, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy and [[fire]]. He was worshipped in all the manufacturing and industrial centers of [[Greece]], especially [[Athens]]. Though his forge lay in the volcanic heart of [[Lemnos]], Hephaestus became associated with Mount Etna by Greek colonists in [[Sicily]].

Hephaestus and his brother [[Ares]] are sons of [[Hera]], with or without the cooperation of Zeus. In classic and late interpretations, Hera bore him alone, in jealousy for Zeus's solo birth of [[Athena]], but as Hera is older than Zeus in terms of human history, the myth may be an inversion. Indeed, in some versions of Athena's birth, the goddess only enters the world after Zeus' head is split open by a hammer-wielding Hephaestus. Either way, in Greek thought, the fates of the goddess of wisdom and war (Athena) and the god of the forge that makes the weapons of war were linked. In Attica, Hephaestus and [[Athena Ergane]] (Athena as patroness of craftsman and artisans), were honored at a festival called [[Chalceia]] on the thirtieth day of [[Pyanepsion]]. Hephaestus crafted much of Athena's weaponry, along with those of the rest of the gods and even of a few mortals who received their special favor.

An Athenian founding myth tells that [[Athena]] refused a union with Hephaestus, and that when he tried to force her she disappeared from the bed, and Hephaestus ejaculated on the earth, impregnating [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], who subsequently gave birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens]]; then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a [[serpent]]. [[Hyginus]] made an etymology, of strife between Athena and Hephaestus (''"Eri-"'') and the Earth-child (''"chthonios"''). Some readers may have the sense that an earlier, not-virginal Athene is disguised in a convolutated re-making of the myth-element. At any rate, there is a [[Temple of Hephaestus]] (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum"), located at the foot of the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]] (''illustration, below left'').

Hephaestus also crafted much of the other magnficent equipage 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: [[Hermes]]'s [[wing]]ed [[helmet]] and [[sandal (footwear)|sandals]], the [[Aegis]] [[breastplate]], [[Aphrodite]]'s famed [[girdle]], [[Achilles]]'s [[armor]], [[Heracles]]'s [[bronze]] clappers, [[Helios]]'s [[chariot]], the shoulder of [[Pelops]], [[Eros (god)|Eros]]'s [[bow (weapon)|bow]] and [[arrow]]s and [[Hades]]'s helmet of invisibility. Hephaestus worked with the help of the [[chthonic]] [[Cyclopes]], his assistants in the forge. He also built [[automaton]]s of metal to work for him. He gave to blinded [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]] his apprentice [[Cedalion]] as a guide.
{{Greek myth (Olympian)}}
[[Prometheus]] stole the [[fire]] that he gave to man from Hephaestus' forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave man, the woman [[Pandora]] and her famous [[Pandora's box|box]].

In ''Iliad'' i.590, Zeus threw Hephaestus from Olympus because he released his mother Hera who was suspended by a golden chain between earth and sky, after an argument she had with Zeus. Hephaestus fell for nine days and nights before landing on the island] of [[Lemnos]] where he grew to be a master craftsman and was allowed back into Olympus when his ability and usefulness became known to the gods.

Hephaestus was quite ugly; he was crippled and misshapen at birth: in the vase-paintings, his feet are sometimes back-to-front. In art, Hephaestus was shown lame and bent over his anvil. He walked with the aid of a stick. Hera, mortified to have brought forth such grotesque offspring, promptly threw him from [[Mount Olympus]]. He fell, as he tells it himself in the ''Iliad'' (xviii.395) many days and nights and landed in the Ocean where he was brought up by the [[Oceanids|Oceanid]] [[Thetis]] (mother of [[Achilles]]) and [[Eurynome]]. (Hephaetus’s physical appearance indicates [[Arsenicosis]], low levels of arsenic poisoning result in lameness and skin cancers. Arsenic was added to [[Bronze]] to harden it and most smiths of the Bronze Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning).

Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical golden throne which, when she sat on it, didn't allow her to leave it. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go but he repeatedly refused. [[Dionysus]] got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given [[Aphrodite]], the goddess of love, as his wife.

===Hephaestus and Aphrodite===
In the Olympian order, Hephaestus was formally paired with Aphrodite, whom no one could possess. Although married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite gave herself in secret to [[Ares]], according to a tale in the ''[[Odyssey]]''. When Hephaestus found out about it from [[Helios]], the Sun, who sees all, he surprised them during one of their trysts ensnared in his invisibly fine and unbreakable net and left them exposed for all of Olympus to see. The [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebans]] told that the union with Ares produced [[Harmonia]], as lovely as a second Aphrodite. But of her union with Hephaestus, there was no issue, unless [[Virgil]] was serious when he said that [[Eros]] was their child (''[[Aeneid]]'' i.664). But in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Illiad]]'' the consort of Hephaestus is a lesser Aphrodite, [[Aglaea|Aglaia]] "the glorious," the youngest of the [[Graces]], and [[Hesiod]] agrees (''[[Theogony]]'' 945). Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. One of those children was the robber [[Periphetes]]. With [[Thalia]], Hephaestus was sometimes considered the father of the [[Palici]].

Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek Phrygian and [[Thrace|Thracian]] mystery cult of the [[Kabeiroi]], who were also called the ''Hephaistoi'', "the Hephaestus-men," in Lemnos.

==See Also==

[[Category:Greek gods]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:14, March 1, 2006
Line 4:		Line 4:


−	An Athenian founding myth tells that [[Athena]] refused a union with Hephaestus, and that when he tried to force her she disappeared from the bed, and Hephaestus ejaculated on the earth, impregnating [[~~Gaia (mythology)\|~~Gaia]], who subsequently gave birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens]]; then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a [[serpent]]. [[Hyginus]] made an etymology, of strife between Athena and Hephaestus (''"Eri-"'') and the Earth-child (''"chthonios"''). Some readers may have the sense that an earlier, not-virginal Athene is disguised in a convolutated re-making of the myth-element. At any rate, there is a [[Temple of Hephaestus]] (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum"), located at the foot of the [[Acropolis, Athens\|Acropolis]].	+	An Athenian founding myth tells that [[Athena]] refused a union with Hephaestus, and that when he tried to force her she disappeared from the bed, and Hephaestus ejaculated on the earth, impregnating [[Gaia]], who subsequently gave birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens]]; then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a serpent. [[Hyginus]] made an etymology, of strife between Athena and Hephaestus (''"Eri-"'') and the Earth-child (''"chthonios"''). Some readers may have the sense that an earlier, not-virginal Athene is disguised in a convolutated re-making of the myth-element. At any rate, there is a [[Temple of Hephaestus]] (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum"), located at the foot of the [[Acropolis, Athens\|Acropolis]].

	Hephaestus also crafted much of the other magnficent equipage 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: [[Hermes]]'s winged helmet and sandals, the [[Aegis]], [[Aphrodite]]'s famed girdle, [[Achilles]]'s armor, [[Heracles]]'s bronze clappers, [[Helios]]'s chariot, the shoulder of [[Pelops]], [[Eros (god)\|Eros]]'s bow and arrows and [[Hades]]'s helmet of invisibility. Hephaestus worked with the help of the chthonic [[Cyclopes]], his assistants in the forge. He also built [[automaton]]s of metal to work for him. He gave to blinded [[Orion (mythology)\|Orion]] his apprentice [[Cedalion]] as a guide.		Hephaestus also crafted much of the other magnficent equipage 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: [[Hermes]]'s winged helmet and sandals, the [[Aegis]], [[Aphrodite]]'s famed girdle, [[Achilles]]'s armor, [[Heracles]]'s bronze clappers, [[Helios]]'s chariot, the shoulder of [[Pelops]], [[Eros (god)\|Eros]]'s bow and arrows and [[Hades]]'s helmet of invisibility. Hephaestus worked with the help of the chthonic [[Cyclopes]], his assistants in the forge. He also built [[automaton]]s of metal to work for him. He gave to blinded [[Orion (mythology)\|Orion]] his apprentice [[Cedalion]] as a guide.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:13, September 29, 2005
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''Hephaestus''' ([[Greek language\|Greek]]: Ήφαιστος ''Hêphaistos'') is the [[Greek mythology\|Greek god]] whose approximate Roman equivalent is Vulcan; he is the god of ~~[[blacksmith]]s~~, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy and [[fire]]. He was worshipped in all the manufacturing and industrial centers of [[Greece]], especially [[Athens]]. Though his forge lay in the volcanic heart of [[Lemnos]], Hephaestus became associated with Mount Etna by Greek colonists in [[Sicily]].	+	'''Hephaestus''' ([[Greek language\|Greek]]: Ήφαιστος ''Hêphaistos'') is the [[Greek mythology\|Greek god]] whose approximate Roman equivalent is Vulcan; he is the god of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy and fire. He was worshipped in all the manufacturing and industrial centers of [[Greece]], especially [[Athens]]. Though his forge lay in the volcanic heart of [[Lemnos]], Hephaestus became associated with Mount Etna by Greek colonists in [[Sicily]].

	Hephaestus and his brother [[Ares]] are sons of [[Hera]], with or without the cooperation of Zeus. In classic and late interpretations, Hera bore him alone, in jealousy for Zeus's solo birth of [[Athena]], but as Hera is older than Zeus in terms of human history, the myth may be an inversion. Indeed, in some versions of Athena's birth, the goddess only enters the world after Zeus' head is split open by a hammer-wielding Hephaestus. Either way, in Greek thought, the fates of the goddess of wisdom and war (Athena) and the god of the forge that makes the weapons of war were linked. In Attica, Hephaestus and [[Athena Ergane]] (Athena as patroness of craftsman and artisans), were honored at a festival called [[Chalceia]] on the thirtieth day of [[Pyanepsion]]. Hephaestus crafted much of Athena's weaponry, along with those of the rest of the gods and even of a few mortals who received their special favor.		Hephaestus and his brother [[Ares]] are sons of [[Hera]], with or without the cooperation of Zeus. In classic and late interpretations, Hera bore him alone, in jealousy for Zeus's solo birth of [[Athena]], but as Hera is older than Zeus in terms of human history, the myth may be an inversion. Indeed, in some versions of Athena's birth, the goddess only enters the world after Zeus' head is split open by a hammer-wielding Hephaestus. Either way, in Greek thought, the fates of the goddess of wisdom and war (Athena) and the god of the forge that makes the weapons of war were linked. In Attica, Hephaestus and [[Athena Ergane]] (Athena as patroness of craftsman and artisans), were honored at a festival called [[Chalceia]] on the thirtieth day of [[Pyanepsion]]. Hephaestus crafted much of Athena's weaponry, along with those of the rest of the gods and even of a few mortals who received their special favor.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 ===Hephaestus and Aphrodite===
-In the Olympian order, Hephaestus was formally paired with Aphrodite, whom no one could possess. Although married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite gave herself in secret to [[Ares]], according to a tale in the ''[[Odyssey]]''. When Hephaestus found out about it from [[Helios]], the Sun, who sees all, he surprised them during one of their trysts ensnared in his invisibly fine and unbreakable net and left them exposed for all of Olympus to see. The [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebans]] told that the union with Ares produced [[Harmonia]], as lovely as a second Aphrodite. But of her union with Hephaestus, there was no issue, unless [[Virgil]] was serious when he said that [[Eros]] was their child (''[[Aeneid]]'' i.664). But in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Illiad]]'' the consort of Hephaestus is a lesser Aphrodite, [[Aglaea|Aglaia]] "the glorious," the youngest of the [[Graces]], and [[Hesiod]] agrees (''[[Theogony]]'' 945).  Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. One of those children was the robber [[Periphetes]]. With [[Thalia]], Hephaestus was sometimes considered the father of the [[Palici]].
+In the Olympian order, Hephaestus was formally paired with Aphrodite, whom no one could possess. Although married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite gave herself in secret to [[Ares]], according to a tale in the ''[[Odyssey]]''. When Hephaestus found out about it from [[Helios]], the Sun, who sees all, he surprised them during one of their trysts ensnared in his invisibly fine and unbreakable net and left them exposed for all of Olympus to see. The [[Thebes|Thebans]] told that the union with Ares produced [[Harmonia]], as lovely as a second Aphrodite. But of her union with Hephaestus, there was no issue, unless Virgil was serious when he said that [[Eros]] was their child (''Aeneid'' i.664). But in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Illiad]]'' the consort of Hephaestus is a lesser Aphrodite, [[Aglaea|Aglaia]] "the glorious," the youngest of the [[Graces]], and [[Hesiod]] agrees (''[[Theogony]]'' 945).  Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. One of those children was the robber [[Periphetes]]. With [[Thalia]], Hephaestus was sometimes considered the father of the [[Palici]].
 Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek Phrygian and [[Thrace|Thracian]] mystery cult of the [[Kabeiroi]], who were also called the ''Hephaistoi'', "the Hephaestus-men," in Lemnos.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek Phrygian and [[Thrace|Thracian]] mystery cult of the [[Kabeiroi]], who were also called the ''Hephaistoi'', "the Hephaestus-men," in Lemnos.
-==See Also==
 [[Category:Greek gods]]

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
-An Athenian founding myth tells that [[Athena]] refused a union with Hephaestus, and that when he tried to force her she disappeared from the bed, and Hephaestus ejaculated on the earth, impregnating [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], who subsequently gave birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens]]; then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a [[serpent]]. [[Hyginus]] made an etymology, of strife between Athena and Hephaestus (''"Eri-"'') and the Earth-child (''"chthonios"''). Some readers may have the sense that an earlier, not-virginal Athene is disguised in a convolutated re-making of the myth-element. At any rate, there is a [[Temple of Hephaestus]] (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum"), located at the foot of the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]] (''illustration, below left'').
+An Athenian founding myth tells that [[Athena]] refused a union with Hephaestus, and that when he tried to force her she disappeared from the bed, and Hephaestus ejaculated on the earth, impregnating [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], who subsequently gave birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens]]; then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a [[serpent]]. [[Hyginus]] made an etymology, of strife between Athena and Hephaestus (''"Eri-"'') and the Earth-child (''"chthonios"''). Some readers may have the sense that an earlier, not-virginal Athene is disguised in a convolutated re-making of the myth-element. At any rate, there is a [[Temple of Hephaestus]] (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum"), located at the foot of the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]].
-Hephaestus also crafted much of the other magnficent equipage 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: [[Hermes]]'s [[wing]]ed [[helmet]] and [[sandal (footwear)|sandals]], the [[Aegis]] [[breastplate]], [[Aphrodite]]'s famed [[girdle]], [[Achilles]]'s [[armor]], [[Heracles]]'s [[bronze]] clappers, [[Helios]]'s [[chariot]], the shoulder of [[Pelops]], [[Eros (god)|Eros]]'s [[bow (weapon)|bow]] and [[arrow]]s and [[Hades]]'s helmet of invisibility. Hephaestus worked with the help of the [[chthonic]] [[Cyclopes]], his assistants in the forge. He also built [[automaton]]s of metal to work for him. He gave to blinded [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]] his apprentice [[Cedalion]] as a guide.
+Hephaestus also crafted much of the other magnficent equipage 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: [[Hermes]]'s winged helmet and sandals, the [[Aegis]], [[Aphrodite]]'s famed girdle, [[Achilles]]'s armor, [[Heracles]]'s bronze clappers, [[Helios]]'s chariot, the shoulder of [[Pelops]], [[Eros (god)|Eros]]'s bow and arrows and [[Hades]]'s helmet of invisibility. Hephaestus worked with the help of the chthonic [[Cyclopes]], his assistants in the forge. He also built [[automaton]]s of metal to work for him. He gave to blinded [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]] his apprentice [[Cedalion]] as a guide.
-{{Greek myth (Olympian)}}
-[[Prometheus]] stole the [[fire]] that he gave to man from Hephaestus' forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave man, the woman [[Pandora]] and her famous [[Pandora's box|box]].
+[[Prometheus]] stole the fire that he gave to man from Hephaestus' forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave man, the woman [[Pandora]] and her famous [[Pandora's box|box]].
 In ''Iliad'' i.590, Zeus threw Hephaestus from Olympus because he released his mother Hera who was suspended by a golden chain between earth and sky, after an argument she had with Zeus. Hephaestus fell for nine days and nights before landing on the island] of [[Lemnos]] where he grew to be a master craftsman and was allowed back into Olympus when his ability and usefulness became known to the gods.
-Hephaestus was quite ugly; he was crippled and misshapen at birth: in the vase-paintings, his feet are sometimes back-to-front. In art, Hephaestus was shown  lame and bent over his anvil.  He walked with the aid of a stick. Hera, mortified to have brought forth such grotesque offspring, promptly threw him from [[Mount Olympus]]. He fell, as he tells it himself in the ''Iliad'' (xviii.395) many days and nights and landed in the Ocean where he was brought up by the [[Oceanids|Oceanid]] [[Thetis]] (mother of [[Achilles]]) and [[Eurynome]]. (Hephaetus’s physical appearance indicates [[Arsenicosis]], low levels of arsenic poisoning result in lameness and skin cancers.  Arsenic was added to [[Bronze]] to harden it and most smiths of the Bronze Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning).
+Hephaestus was quite ugly; he was crippled and misshapen at birth: in the vase-paintings, his feet are sometimes back-to-front. In art, Hephaestus was shown  lame and bent over his anvil.  He walked with the aid of a stick. Hera, mortified to have brought forth such grotesque offspring, promptly threw him from [[Mount Olympus]]. He fell, as he tells it himself in the ''Iliad'' (xviii.395) many days and nights and landed in the Ocean where he was brought up by the [[Oceanids|Oceanid]] [[Thetis]] (mother of [[Achilles]]) and [[Eurynome]]. (Hephaetus’s physical appearance indicates Arsenicosis, low levels of arsenic poisoning result in lameness and skin cancers.  Arsenic was added to Bronze to harden it and most smiths of the Bronze Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning).
 Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical golden throne which, when she sat on it, didn't allow her to leave it. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go but he repeatedly refused. [[Dionysus]] got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given [[Aphrodite]], the goddess of love, as his wife.