Hephaestus

Goddess2u

Member
Hephaestus was the lame god of fire and crafts or the two together, hence of blacksmiths. Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera or, in some accounts, of Hera alone. He limped because he was born lame, which caused his mother to throw him off Mount Olympus. Or in other accounts he interceded in a fight between Zeus and Hera, and Zeus took him by the foot and threw him from Olympus to the earth far below.
Hephaestus accomplished numerous prodigies of craftsmanship, such as the marvelous palaces that he built for the gods atop Mount Olympus, or the armor that he made for Achilles during the siege of Troy (the description of which occupies a great many lines of Homer's epic of the Trojan War).
Hephaestus also created the first woman, Pandora, at the command of Zeus, in retaliation for the various tricks by which the Titan Prometheus had benefited mortal men at the expense of the gods. Pandora was given to the Titan's brother, Epimetheus, as his wife. For her dowry she brought a jar filled with evils from which she removed the lid, thereby afflicting men for the first time with hard work and sickness. Only hope remained inside the jar.
 

Olsen

Member
What I particularly like about Hephaestus is his unconditional love for Aphrodite, a love that was, obviously, unrequited. Aphrodite was coerced by Zeus and Hera to marry Hephaestus, but she could never get to love him and cheated on him with various gods (including Ares and Hermes) and mortals. Hephaestus found out that his wife had children which he didn't father, but forgave her.

The legend says that he was so happy to have her as his wife, that he was glad to work as much as possible just to make jewelry for her, while knowing that in the time he spent working, she constantly cheated on him. I read that he even made her a magical belt that made anyone who wore it irresistible, because he knew how much being admired meant to her.
 

Nadai

Active Member
In some myths I've learned Vulcan was born lame. His lame birth was meant to show what happened when a woman acted on her own volition. Because Hera birthed Vulcan without any help from a male she could only produce half the seedling, so Vulcan was half of a man. Poor him:(
 
But eventually Hephaestus married Aglaia, one of the three Graces, right? Hopefully it is a happy marriage ^^

Also, I've read an account wherein Aphrodite gave a wedding gift (a necklace made by Hephaestus) to Harmonia (Aphrodite and Ares' daughter) in her wedding to Cadmus (not so sure if this is the right name) , and also that this necklace has something like a bad luck or curse maybe? Harmonia and Cadmus' children, as well as the generations that followed suffered a great touch of bad luck.

Correct me if I'm wrong, just read this account a long time ago ^^
 
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