Hephaestus And Greek Mythology

What are myths? Myths are traditional stories explaining natural phenomenon in the universe. Greek came up to these myths because they want to explain things logic can’t explain and of what they can’t understand. In general, most myths include gods/goddesses/heroes that teach a moral (lesson) or to explain how things came to existence. Myths also help provide order in situations where no other explanation is apparent. For how humans were created on Earth, a myth was made for that.

Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera. When he was born, his mother banished him off Mount Olympus because he was considered ugly and disfigured. As a matter of fact, he had a hunchback and natural clumsiness. Furthermore after his fall, Hephaestus urged to seek revenge for his rejection by Hera. He fashioned a beautiful magic gold throne for her as a gift. When Hera sat down. Unbreakable chains trapped her. Under those circumstances, the Olympian gods pleaded to Hephaestus to return to their heavenly domain. As a result, Hephaestus was back on Mount Olympus to stay as Dionysus gifted him Aphrodite (god of beauty and love) as a bride. As the gods and goddesses begin to know him, they realized he was very compassionate and loving. Hephaestus was a craftsman, so he created some human clay figures. Zeus then granted

the clay figures to be human with all human qualities and emotions. Therefore, Pandora was the first mortal woman on Earth followed by others Hephaestus and Zeus formed. This myth explains how humans came into existence and has a moral to not judge others before you get to know them.
Hephaestus is the god of fire, forge, blacksmith, sculpture, metals, artisans, and volcanoes.

In other words, he is a master craftsman of the gods on Mount Olympus. As well as the son of Hera and Zeus. Hephaestus is very important to Olympus because his wonderfully skilled mind and hands can build almost anything. Such as weapons, thrones, and robots. With this in mind, he created Zeus’ thunderbolts, Pandora (first human), Hercules and Achilles’ armor, Apollo and Artemis’ arrow, Helios’ chariot, his own gold and silver robot legs to support him, and more. Out of all gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus, Hephaestus stood out with his character. He was very determined and

clever.
Although his legs are weak and broken, Hephaestus is the strongest god on Mount Olympus. The god of fire is immortal with superhuman strength, superhuman speed, and can’t get sick with Earthly diseases. Despite the fact that Hephaestus is considered the “ugly and lame” god because of his fall from Mt. Olympus and how he was born, the god of fire is the most the peace loving, hard working, lovable, and kind god. However, most gods don’t appreciate and aren’t fond of him. Hephaestus is very skilled in metalworking, stonework, and other crafts that were typically performed by Greek men. Amazingly, he could control both fire and metal to do his will and also had the ability to make his creations move.
Myths still exist today because they can serve the world entertainment and stories that people can’t explain through experiment/observations. We continue to study mythology because we can learn about world cultures, where different ideas/origins come from and key themes in life.