Hephaestus
Greek · deity · primordial · deity
Greek smith-god, master craftsman of Olympus; lame from a fall thrown from Olympus (varying etiologies: Hera throws him because of his birth-deformity per Hesiod; Zeus throws him for siding with Hera in marital quarrel per Homer). Forge mythologically located on Lemnos, beneath Mt Etna, or beneath Mt Olympus depending on source. Husband of Aphrodite; cuckolded by her affair with Ares. Forged the Shield of Achilles (Iliad 18) and the Aegis of Zeus.
Parentage
Children
Domains
- metalworking craft
- fire divine
Powers
- Animate metalwork into living automata
- Forge wondrous, magical artifacts
Epithets
- Ἀμφιγυήεις
- κυλλοποδίων
- κλυτοτέχνης
- πολύμητις
- περικλυτός
- Λήμνιος
Relations
- lover: Anticleia of Epidaurus
- spouse: Aphrodite
- interpretatio: Volcanus
- equated with: Ptah
- interpretatio: Ptah
- interpretatio: Kothar-wa-Hasis