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HEPHAESTUS
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HEPHAESTUS , in See also:Greek See also:mythology, the See also:god of See also:fire, analogous to, and by the ancients often confused with, the See also:Roman god See also:Vulcan (q.v.); the derivation of the name is uncertain, but it may well be of Greek origin. The elemental See also:character of Hephaestus is far more apparent than is the See also:case with the See also:majority of the Olympian gods; the word Hephaestus was used as a synonym for fire not only in See also:poetry (See also:Homer, Il. ii. 426 and later), but also in See also:common speech (Diod. v. 74). It is doubtful whether the origin of the god can be traced to any specific See also:form of fire. As all earthly fire was thought to have come from See also:heaven, Hephaestus has been identified with the See also:lightning. This is supported by the myth of his fall from heaven, and by the fact that, according to the Homeric tradition, his See also:father was See also:Zeus, the heaven-god. On the other See also:hand, the lightning is not associated with him in literature or cult, and his connexion with volcanic fires is so See also:close as to suggest that he was originally a See also:volcano-god. The connexion, however, though it may be See also:early, is probably not See also:primitive, and it seems reasonable to conclude that Hephaestus was a See also:general fire-god, though some of his characteristics were due to particular manifestations of the See also:element.
In Homer the fire-god was the son of Zeus and See also:Hera, and found a See also:place in the Olympian See also:system as the divine See also: 590) he was See also:cast out by Zeus and See also:fell on See also:Lemnos; in the other, Hera threw him down immediately after his See also:birth in disgust at his lameness, and he was received by the See also:sea-goddesses Eurynome and See also:Thetis. The Lemnian version is due to the prominence of his cult at Lemnos in very early times; and his fall into the sea may have been suggested by volcanic activity in Mediterranean islands, as at Lipara and See also:Thera. The subsequent return of Hephaestus to See also:Olympus is a favourite theme in early See also:art. His wife was»Charis, one of the See also:Graces (in the Iliad) or See also:Aphrodite (in the Odyssey). The connexion of the rough Hephaestus with these goddesses is curious; it may be due to the beautiful See also:works of the smith-god (xapcfvra Epya), but it is possibly derived from the supposed fertilizing and productive See also:power of fire, in which case Hephaestus is a natural See also:mate of Charis, a goddess of See also:spring, and Aphrodite the goddess of love. In Homer, the skill of Hephaestus in metallurgy is often mentioned; his forge was on Olympus, where he was served by images of See also:golden handmaids which he had animated. Similar myths are 'found in relation to the Finnish smith-god Ilmarinen, who made a golden woman, and the See also:Teutonic See also:Wieland; a belief in the magical power of See also:metal-workers is a common survival from an See also:age in which their art was new and mysterious. In epic poetry Hephaestus is rather a comic figure, and his limping gait provokes " Homeric See also:laughter " among the gods. In Vedic poetry See also:Agni, the fire-god, is footless; and the ancients themselves attributed this lameness to the crooked See also:appearance of See also:flame (Servius on Aen. viii. 814), and possibly no better explanation can be found, though it has been suggested that in an early See also:stage of society the See also:trade of a smith would be suitable for the lame; Hephaestus and the lame Wieland would thus conform to the type of their human counterparts. Except in Lemnos and See also:Attica, there are few indications of any cult of Hephaestus. His association with Lemnos can be traced from Homer to the Roman age. A See also:town in the See also:island was called Hephaestia, and the functions of the god must have been wide, as we are told that his Lemnian priests could cure snake-bites. Once a See also:year every fire was extinguished on the island for nine days, during which See also:period See also:sacrifice was offered to the gods of the underworld and the dead. After the nine days were passed, new fire was brought from the sacred See also:hearth at See also:Delos. The significance of this and similar customs is examined by J. G. Frazer, Golden Bough, iii. ch. 4. The close" connexion of Hephaestus with Lemnos and especially with its See also:mountain Mosychlus has been explained by the supposed existence of a volcano; but no See also:crater or other sign of volcanic agency is now apparent, and the " Lemnian fire "—a phenomenon attributed to Hephaestus—may have been due to natural See also:gas (see Lemnos). In See also:Sicily, however, the volcanic nature of the god is prominent in his cult at See also:Etna, as well as in the neighbouring Liparaean isles. The Olympian forge had been transferred to Etna or some other volcano, and Hephaestus had become a subterranean rather than a See also:celestial power. The divine smith naturally became a " culture-god "; in See also:Crete the invention of See also:forging in See also:iron was attributed to him, and he was honoured by all metal-workers. But we have little See also:record of his cult in this aspect, except at See also:Athens, where his See also:worship was of real importance, belonging to the See also:oldest stratum of See also:Attic See also:religion. A tribe was called after his name, and Erichthonius, the mythical father of the Attic See also:people, was the son of Hephaestus. Terra-See also:cotta statuettes of the god seem to have been placed before the hearths of Athenian houses. This See also:temple has been identified, not improbably, with the so-called " Theseum "; it contained a statue of See also:Athena, and the two deities are often associated, in literature and cult, as the See also:joint givers of See also:civilization to the Athenians. The class of artisans was under their See also:special See also:protection; and the joint festival of the two divinities—the Chalceia—commemorated the invention of See also:bronze-working by Hephaestus. In the Hephaesteia (the particular festival of the god) there was a See also:torch See also:race, a ceremonial not indeed confined to fire-gods like Hephaestus and See also:Prometheus, but probably in its origin connected with them, whether its See also:object was to purify and quicken the See also:land, or (according to another theory) to transmit a new fire with all possible See also:speed to places where the fire was polluted. If the latter view is correct, the torch race would be closely akin to the Lemnian fire-See also:ritual which has been mentioned. The relation between Hephaestus and Prometheus is in some respects close, though the distinction between these gods is clearly marked. The fire, as an element, belongs to the Olympian Hephaestus; the Titan Prometheus, a more human character, steals it for the use of See also:man. Prometheus resembles the Polynesian Maui, who went down to fetch fire from the volcano of Mahuika, the fire-god. Hephaestus is a culture-god mainly in his secondary aspect as the craftsman, whereas Prometheus originates all civilization with the See also:gift of fire. But the importance of Prometheus is mainly mythological; the Titan belonged to a fallen See also:dynasty, and in actual cult was largely superseded by Hephaestus. In archaic art Hephaestus is generally represented as bearded, though occasionally a younger beardless type is found, as on a See also:vase (in the See also:British Museum), on which he appears as a See also:young man assisting Athena in the creation of See also:Pandora. At a later See also:time the bearded type prevails. The god is usually clothed in a See also:short sleeveless See also:tunic, and wears a See also:round close-fitting cap. His See also:face is that of a See also:middle-aged man, with unkempt See also:hair. He is in fact represented as an idealized Greek craftsman, with the See also:hammer, and sometimes the pincers. Some mythologists have compared the hammer of Hephaestus with that of See also:Thor, and have explained it as the See also:emblem of a See also:thunder-god; but it is Zeus, not Hephaestus, who causes the thunder, and the emblems of the latter god are merely the signs of his occupation as a smith. In art no See also:attempt was made, as a See also:rule, to indicate the lameness of Hephaestus; but one sculptor (See also:Alcamenes) is said to have suggested the deformity without spoiling the statue. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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