Another versions states that Hephaestus was born before the marriage between Zeus and Hera, on Lemnos island in the northern Aegean Sea.
He was left here in the care of a blacksmith named Kidalionas and Hephaestus learned the blacksmith trade from his caretaker. According to one branch of myths, Hera was so ashamed of her ugly and deformed child Hephaestus that she decided on throwing him down from Olympus. Hephaestus fell from the heavens landing in the area of Lemnos and getting severely injured in the process.
Here he is picked up and rescued by sea nymphs Thetis and Eurynome , who shelter and provide for him in his early years. In an alternative version of the story, once Hera attempted to destroy Herakles Hercules with a storm after putting her husband to sleep.
However Zeus came awake and was furious on her attempts at harming his mortal son. In his rage Zeus hung the Goddess in fetters from heaven. A young Hephaistos tried to intervene and attempted to free his mother from these bonds. Zeus was further enraged and threw him out of heaven. He fell to earth landing severely wounded on the island of Lemnos, where he was taken care of and taught to be a master craftsman by the Sintians; an ancient tribe native to that island.
In the battle that followed, Hector defeated and killed Patroclus and took the armor. Concerned for her son, Thetis asked Achilles to wait while she fetched him a new set of armor. Thetis had tended to Hephaestus as a child , when he had fallen from Olympus. She thus requested the God of blacksmiths himself to create a set of armor, including a shield, to defend her son. Hephaestus is happy to oblige her and dedicates himself to forging a magnificent armor and an impressive shield for the Greek Hero.
Achilles is thankful for the armor and uses it to defeat the greatest fighter of Troy, Hector. In the 10 year long battle for Troy, the gods entered into the fight joining either on the side of the Achaeans Greeks or of the Trojans. Skamandros or Scamander was the deity of the river Scamander Karamenderes that flowed from Mount Ida across the plain beneath the city of Troy.
Skamandros fought on the side of the Trojans in the war. Once when Achilles was slaughtering the Trojan allies near the river, Skamandros was angered by the corpses which were congesting the flow of his waters. The river God confronted Achilles and feeling insulted by the warrior engaged him in battle. Knowing that Xanthos may drown Achilles the Goddess Hera called upon Hephaestus for help, and instructed her son to attack Skamandros.
Hephaestus entered the battle firstly burning the numerous corpses slain by Achilles and then boiling the waters of the river. This caused Skamandros great pain and he backed off, promising Hera and her son not to fight on the side of the Trojans again. According to some Greek mythic traditions, Hephaestus got his revenge with his mother Hera for throwing him away from the heavens.
Once he gifted Hera with a beautiful golden throne which he had crafted with his own hands. The mother Goddess was thrilled and accepted the gift with alacrity. However when she finally sat on her new throne, Hera found herself tied to it. Hephaestus had purposefully integrated numerous delicately fashioned magical cords into the piece which were invisible.
The trap was his revenge on his mother who had rejected him at birth. The Gods of Olympus rushed to Hephaestus, pleading him to release Hera and promising him a place in heaven in return. Hephaestus did not budge initially but was finally convinced when his friend Dionysus God of wine and festivity got him drunk.
In some additions to the story, just before Hephaestus was about to release Hera, Zeus appeared and expressed his concern with the situation. Though Hephaestus had decided to let go off his mother, he took advantage of the situation. In return for releasing Hera, he asked his father for the hand of Aphrodite Goddess of beauty in marriage.
Zeus felt he had no choice and relented. Hera was finally released, Hephaestus returned to Olympus again and was married to Aphrodite. So how was the lame Hephaestus able to marry Aphrodite? This led to several quarrels among the Olympians and in order to bring peace to the heavens, Hera queen of the Gods decided that Aphrodite would be married to her son Hephaestus. To Hera, he was the ideal candidate to diffuse the situation , the one who least desired Aphrodite among all other s. In another noteworthy account mentioned before, Hephaestus tricks his father Zeus to marry Aphrodite.
The long marriage of Hephaestus and Aphrodite was tumultuous and troublesome. The couple did not bear any children together but had many children with other partners independently.
He was a smithing god, making all of the weapons for Olympus and acting as a blacksmith for the gods. He had his own palace on Olympus where he made many clever inventions and automatons of metal to work for him. In one story, Hephaestus builds a tricky invention which catches Aphrodite laying with the Ares , the god of war, trapping them both in the bed to be laughed at and ridiculed by the other gods.
He is similar to Athena in his giving skill and help to mortals — in his case artists. It was believed that Hephaestus taught men the arts alongside Athena. However, he was also considered far inferior to that of the goddess of wisdom. If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. Home » Greek Gods » Hephaestus. Greek God of Fire and Metalworking Hephaestus was the god of fire, metalworking, stone masonry, forges and the art of sculpture.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Read more on our privacy policy here. Cookie Settings Accept All. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
0コメント