Hephaistos   hee FEHS tos

Smith of the Gods

Also known as the Artificer of the Olympians. Hephaistos was the lame and clever son of Hera (with no apparent consort). His name may be rendered as Hephaistos or Hephaestus.

Hephaistos fashioned his own mechanical helpers to assist him in his work. They are golden and in the form of living young women; strong, vocal and intelligent (Iliad, book 18, line 417). He built tri-pods that move of their own accord to and from the feasts on Mount Olympos (Olympus) (Iliad, book 18, line 372). He built the homes of all the Olympians and fitted them with clever locks that the other immortals cannot undo. With the help of his Kyklopes (Cyclops), he hammers out lightning bolts for Zeus and all manner of subtle and gentle devices for a select few mortals.

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How He Became Lame

In The Iliad (book 1, line 590), Hephaistos reveals how he became lame: at the climax of an domestic dispute, Hephaistos stood with his mother in defiance of Zeus. The Olympian Zeus, in his rage, caught Hephaistos by the foot and hurled him from the magic threshold of Mount Olympos to the earth far below. Three days later Hephaistos landed on the island of Lemnos, broken and nearly lifeless. The goddess Thetis was partly responsible for saving the life of Hephaistos and he never forgot her kindness. She and Eurynome, mother of the Graces, had hidden Hephaistos from the wrath of his own mother after his fall. Hera was violently shamed at the sight of her lame son and would have done him further harm had not Thetis and Eurynome hidden him. He worked secretly with the two goddesses for nine years in a cave perfecting his craft before emerging to his rightful place among the Olympians.

Years later, when Thetis went to Hephaistos for armor for her son, Akhilleus (Achilles), she was greeted by Hephaistos and his wife Kharis (Charis) with open arms. The armor he made for Akhilleus was so bright, and obviously god-made, that the Trojans fled at the sight of such a divinely protected warrior. Those who didn’t flee were killed without mercy and stripped of their armor and their honor by the, seemingly invincible, Akhilleus. Even the skill of Hephaistos cannot protect mortals from the web and weave of the Erinyes (Fates).

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His Wife

In The Iliad (book 18, line 382), we are told that his wife is Charis. In The Odyssey (book 8, line 269), we hear that his wife Aphrodite (goddess of Love) was caught with Ares (the god of War) in the embrace of love. Helios (the Sun) saw the lovers and told Hephaistos of the deception. The noble smith devised a clever trap to snare the lovers and, once captured, displayed them to the other immortals. Hephaistos refused to release the ensnared couple until he received an adulterers payment from Ares. Poseidon (lord of the Sea) offered to pay if Ares defaulted and Hephaistos loosed the embarrassed lovers from their bonds. Apollon and Hermes watched the spectacle and, when asked, Hermes said he would endure thrice as many bonds if he could only share the bed of Aphrodite the golden (Odyssey, book 8, line 335).

Hephaistos is often confused with the Roman god, Vulcan.

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Hephaistos in The Iliad (listed by book and line)

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Hephaistos in The Odyssey (listed by book and line)

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How to Cite this Page

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Stewart, Michael. "Hephaistos", Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant. http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/bios/hephaistos.html (November 15, 2005)

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