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