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Hephaestus had his own palace on Olympus, containing his workshop with anvil and
twenty bellows that worked at his bidding.[13] Hephaestus 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 Hermes' winged helmet and sandals, the Aegis breastplate, Aphrodite's famed girdle, Agamemnon's staff of office,[14] Achilles' armor, Diomedes' cuirass, Heracles' bronze clappers, Helios' chariot, the shoulder of Pelops, and Eros's bow and arrows. In later accounts, Hephaestus worked with the help of the Cyclopes— among them his assistants in the forge, Brontes, Steropes and Pyracmon.[15][16] Hephaestus built automatons of metal to work for him. This included tripods that walked to and from Mount Olympus. He gave to the blinded Orion his apprentice Cedalion as a guide. In some versions of the myth,[17] Prometheus stole the fire that he gave to man from Hephaestus's forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave to man, the woman Pandora and her pithos. Being a skilled blacksmith, Hephaestus created all the thrones in the Palace of Olympus.[15] The Greek myths and the Homeric poems sanctified in stories that Hephaestus had a special power to produce motion.[18] He made the golden and silver lions and dogs at the entrance of the palace of Alkinoos in such a way that they could bite the invaders.[19] The Greeks maintained in their civilization an animistic idea that statues are in some sense alive. This kind of art and the animistic belief goes back to the Minoan period, when Daedalus, the builder of the labyrinth, made images which moved of their own accord.[20] A statue of the god was somehow the god himself, and the image on a man's tomb indicated somehow his presence.[21]
Parentage[edit] According to Hesiod (Theogony, 927-928) Hera gave birth to Hephaestus on her own as revenge for Zeus giving birth to Athena without her (Zeus lay with Metis). According to Homer (Iliad, I 571-577) Hera is mentioned as the mother of Hephaestus but there is not sufficient evidence to say that Zeus was his father (although he refers to him in such way). According to Homer (Odyssey, VIII 306) there is not sufficient evidence to say that Zeus was the father of Hephaestus (although he refers to him in such way). Hera is not mentioned as the mother. According to Pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca, 1.3.6) Hera gave birth to Hephaestus alone. Pseudo-Apollodorus also relates that, according to Homer, Hephaestus is one of the children of Zeus and Hera (consciously contradicting Hesiod and Homer). Several later texts follow Hesiod's account, including Hyginus and the preface to Fabulae. In the account of Attic vase painters, Hephaestus was present at the birth of Athena and wields the axe with which he split Zeus' head to free her. In the latter account, Hephaestus is there represented as older than Athena, so the mythology of Hephaestus is inconsistent in this respect.
Fall from Olympus[edit]
In one branch of Greek mythology, Hera ejected Hephaestus from the heavens because he was "shrivelled of foot". He fell into the ocean and was raised by Thetis (mother of Achilles and one of the 50 Nereids) and the Oceanid Eurynome.[3] In another account, Hephaestus, attempting to rescue his mother from Zeus' 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.[4] Later writers describe his lameness as the consequence of his second fall, while Homer makes him lame and weak from his birth.
Return to Olympus[edit] Hephaestus was one of the Olympians to have returned to Olympus after being exiled. In an archaic story,[a][22][23] Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical golden throne, which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to stand up.[b] The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he refused, saying "I have no mother".[23]
The western face of the Doric temple of Hephaestus, Agora of Athens.
At last, Dionysus 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.[24][25][26] 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.[27][28] 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.[c][29][30] 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' tools (including a double-headed axe). The traveller Pausanias reported seeing a painting in the temple of Dionysus in Athens, which 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: There are paintings here – Dionysus bringing Hephaestus up to heaven. One of the Greek legends is that Hephaestus, when he was born, was thrown down by Hera. In revenge he sent as a gift a golden chair with invisible fetters. When Hera sat down she was held fast, and Hephaestus refused to listen to any other of the gods except Dionysus – in him he reposed the fullest trust – and after making him drunk Dionysus brought him to heaven.
— Pausanias, 1.20.3
Consorts and children[edit]
According to most versions, Hephaestus's consort is Aphrodite, who is unfaithful to Hephaestus with a number of gods and mortals, including Ares. However, in Book XVIII of Homer's Iliad, the consort of Hephaestus is a lesser Aphrodite, Charis ("the grace") or Aglaia ("the glorious") – the youngest of the Graces, as Hesiod calls her.[31] Athena Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus by Paris Bordone (between c. 1555 and c. 1560)
In Athens, there is a Temple of Hephaestus, the Hephaesteum (miscalled the "Theseum") near the agora. An Athenian founding myth tells that the city's patron goddess, Athena, refused a union with Hephaestus. Pseudo-Apollodorus[32] records an archaic legend, which claims that Hephaestus once attempted to rape Athena, but she pushed him away, causing him to ejaculate on her thigh.[33][34] Athena wiped the semen off using a tuft of wool, which she tossed into the dust, impregnating Gaia and causing her to give birth to Erichthonius,[33][34] whom Athena adopted as her own child.[33] The Roman mythographer Hyginus[32] records a similar story in which Hephaestus demanded Zeus to let him marry Athena since he was the one who had smashed open Zeus's skull, allowing Athena to be born.[33] Zeus agreed to this and Hephaestus and Athena were married,[33] but, when Hephaestus was about to consummate the union, Athena vanished from the bridal bed, causing him to ejaculate on the floor, thus impregnating Gaia with Erichthonius.[33][35] On the island of Lemnos, Hephaestus' consort was the sea nymph Cabeiro, by whom he was the father of two metalworking gods named the Cabeiri. In Sicily, his consort was the nymph Aetna, and his sons were two gods of Sicilian geysers called Palici. With Thalia, Hephaestus was sometimes considered the father of the Palici. Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. One of those children was the robber Periphetes.
