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 fell into the ocean and was raised by Thetis and Eurynome (“Hephaestus”). He once tried to protect his mother from Zeus advances as a result, the father of the God’s flung him down from Olympus (which caused his physical disability). He fell on an island of Lemnos where he became a master of craftsman. He was later accepted back on Olympus, and became the craftsman of God’s, creating majestic armors, shields and weapons (blacksmith for the gods) (“Hephaestus”). In some accounts, he was said to be the son of Zeus and Hera; In others, he was the son of Hera alone, conceived in order to get back at Zeus for bringing forth Athena (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”).
I personally think that Hephaestus is a very interesting Greek God to study, he’s got a lot of interesting characteristics.

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

Hephaestus”).
Hephaestus was known for making a gold basket that Europa, daughter of the King of Sidon, used to gather flowers when she happened upon Zeus in the meadow (“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Hephaestus crafted the armor that Achilles wore in the Trojan War. The same arms, despite their connection to diversity, brought about the death of Ajax(“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Erichthonius was the son of Hephaestus: he was half man half serpent(“Hephaestus- Facts and Information on Greek God Hephaestus”). Over all Hephaestus is a very cool character from Mount Olympus. Hephaestus was a great Greek God.