Hephaestus, or Vulcan

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Hephaestus, or Vulcan

• The Greek and Roman God
• By Jack Goldman

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Who was Hephaestus/Vulcan?

• The Greek god Hephaestas, otherwise known to the
  Romans as Vulcan, was the son of Zeus , god of
  the sky, king of gods, and Hera, goddess of
  marriage.
• He was God of the forge, subterranean fire, and
  volcanoes.
• He was a master craftsman and a skilled
  blacksmith.
• He created many beautiful things, but was ugly in
  appearance, being bearded, crippled, and having a
  hairy chest.
• Vulcan means fire in Latin, which is why he was
  called Vulcan by the Romans.
• His workshop, where he did his craftsmanship, was
  supposedly located inside Mt. Etna.
• Hephaestus was a peacemaker who had a bad foot
  and was aided by a crutch.

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Vulcans Unusual Birth

• Vulcans upbringing began with him being thrown
  off of Mt. Olympus, where the gods reside, by
  Zeus or Hera, no one is sure which one threw him
  off, and falling for 9 days and nights, until
  landing in the water near the island of Lemnos.
• Hephaestus was eventually nursed back to health
  by the Nereids Thetis and Eurynome, who hid him
  from his mother, who would have hurt him further
  if she had found out that Hephaestus was alive.

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Vulcans Early Years

• Hephaestas lived in the Nereids caves for 9
  years after that.
• There, he began to craft beautiful jewelry.
• Because of his discovered craftsmanship,
  Hephaestas made 2 golden robots to help him move
  around, due to the fact that he was partially
  paralyzed.
• He built the twelve thrones of Olympus there.
• He created an assortment of different things for
  the Nereids that brought him up.
• Hera saw Vulcans work later on and wanted to
  know who had made it.
• When she found out it was Hephaestus who had made
  the jewelry, she forgave him and asked Zeus to
  let Hephaestus back onto Olympus.

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Vulcans trip to Olympus

• When Zeus invited Hephaestus back to Olympus,
  Hephaestus said no.
• He said no because he was still mad at his mother
  (Hera).
• Zeus wanted to satisfy Hera and eventually told
  Dionysus, god of wine, to bring Hephaestus back
  to Olympus.
• Dionysus went to Hephaestus, made him drunk, and
  then helped him ride back to Olympus.
• When Hephaestus got to Olympus and was not drunk,
  Zeus made him one of the Olympians.
• Hera gave Hephaestus his workshop in Mt. Etna,
  telling him it was a present from his mother.
• But, Hephaestus said he had no mother.

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Vulcans Struggle for Love

• Hephaestus originally was married to Aphrodite,
  the goddess of love.
• Aphrodite often cheated on Hephaestus and had
  affairs with Ares, the god of war.
• When Hephaestus found out about this, he put an
  invisible net above them while they once had
  their affairs (right), and caught them in the
  act.
• He brought them to Olympus in the state they had
  been in when they were caught, naked.
• The other gods and goddesses laughed at the
  couple but eventually let them go.

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Vulcans Struggle for Love (cont.)

• Hephaestus also was married to Athena, goddess of
  wisdom.
• You can also see that he was rejected very
  quickly.

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Vulcans Creations

• Hephaestus had many creations, here are some
• Achilles shield.
• His robotic helpers.
• Zeuss thunderbolts.
• Olympians thrones.
• Pandoras wreath.
• Harmonias necklace.
• Heras fettered throne.
• Poseidon's (god of the sea) trident.

• Athenas spear.
• Apollos (god of the sun) chariot.
• Demeters sickle.
• Agamemnons scepter.
• Hercules golden breastplate.
• Onepian's underground home.
• 12 golden Olympian thrones.

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Achilles' Shield, Created by Hephaestus

• The Greek Hero Achilles shield was created by
  Hephaestus because of the fact that he could not
  save Achilles from his fate, imminent death in
  the Trojan War.
• The diagram on the right is a description of what
  was on the shield.
• Achilles was supposed to be able to not only
  fight in battle with it, but to see the world on
  this one shield.
• Hephaestus meant this as a gift to Achilles to
  make up for the life that Achilles would not be
  able to live.

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Sources

• Books
• Mythology By Arthur Cotterell.
• Internet
• http//www.aoidoi.org/poets/homer/il/shield.pdf
• htttp//www.webwinds.com/myth/hephaestus.htm
• http//www.webwinds.com/myth/hephaestus2.htm