Greek God Hephaestus: The Imperfect God

The Imperfect God

Hephaestus was the Greek God of blacksmiths, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. He is symbolized with a hammer, an anvil, and a pair of tongs (“Hephaestus”). Hephaestus worked with a rare metal deadly to monsters, Celestial Bronze. The arrows of Eros (known also as cupid) were fashioned by Hephaestus as well(“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). He is the son of Zeus and Hera. Born deformed he was thrown out by his parents once they knew he was imperfect (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). There are many theories about Hephaestus and how he came to be, I’m going to tell you a couple from a few different places. Hera threw him from Olympus because he was crippled;

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 goodness or wisdom (“Hephaestus”). He was worshipped primarily in Athens, where he had a temple(“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Hephaestus’s ugly appearance was the reason Zeus chose him to marry Aphrodite, but despite this she had many affairs with both god’s and men (“Hephaestus”). He was the only ugly God among perfectly beautiful immortals (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Aphrodite had an affair with her brother, Ares, he came up with a plan in which he humiliated both lovers to the other gods (“Hephaestus”). Aphrodite gave Harmonia an extraordinary necklace made by Hephaestus. The piece of jewelry brought disaster to later generations(“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Hephaestus personally is really cool in my opinion. His forge or workshop was located under a volcano, and the work he did within it caused frequent eruptions (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). In his workshop, Hephaestus had assistants that were made out of gold and who helped him with his work (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). In art, Hephaestus is usually depicted as bending over an anvil or walking with the assistance of a cane (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Hephaestus was a patron of the arts, he was a kind and peace-loving god (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God