HEPHAESTUS  , in

Greek mythology, the god of fire, analogous to, and by the ancients often confused with, the Roman god Vulcan (q.v.); the derivation of the name is uncertain, but it may well be of Greek origin . The elemental character of Hephaestus is far more apparent than is the case with the majority of the Olympian gods; the word Hephaestus was used as a synonym for fire not only in poetry (Homer, Il. ii . 426 and later), but also in common speech (Diod. v . 74) . It is doubtful whether the origin of the god can be traced to any specific form of fire . As all earthly fire was thought to have come from heaven, Hephaestus has been identified with the lightning . This is supported by the myth of his fall from heaven, and by the fact that, according to the Homeric tradition, his father was Zeus, the heaven-god . On the other hand, the lightning is not associated with him in literature or cult, and his connexion with volcanic fires is so close as to suggest that he was originally a volcano-god . The connexion, however, though it may be early, is probably not primitive, and it seems reasonable to conclude that Hephaestus was a general fire-god, though some of his characteristics were due to particular manifestations of the element . In Homer the fire-god was the son of Zeus and Hera, and found a place in the Olympian system as the divine smith . The Iliad contains two versions of his fall from heaven . In one account (i .

590) he was

cast out by Zeus and fell on Lemnos; in the other, Hera threw him down immediately after his birth in disgust at his lameness, and he was received by the sea-goddesses Eurynome and Thetis . The Lemnian version is due to the prominence of his cult at Lemnos in very early times; and his fall into the sea may have been suggested by volcanic activity in Mediterranean islands, as at Lipara and Thera . The subsequent return of Hephaestus to Olympus is a favourite theme in early art . His wife was»Charis, one of the Graces (in the Iliad) or Aphrodite (in the Odyssey) . The connexion of the rough Hephaestus with these goddesses is curious; it may be due to the beautiful works of the smith-god (xapcfvra Epya), but it is possibly derived from the supposed fertilizing and productive power of fire, in which case Hephaestus is a natural mate of Charis, a goddess of spring, and Aphrodite the goddess of love . In Homer, the skill of Hephaestus in metallurgy is often mentioned; his forge was on Olympus, where he was served by images of golden handmaids which he had animated . Similar myths are 'found in relation to the Finnish smith-god Ilmarinen, who made a golden woman, and the Teutonic Wieland; a belief in the magical power of metal-workers is a common survival from an age in which their art was new and mysterious . In epic poetry Hephaestus is rather a comic figure, and his limping gait provokes " Homeric laughter " among the gods . In Vedic poetry Agni, the fire-god, is footless; and the ancients themselves attributed this lameness to the crooked appearance of flame (Servius on Aen. viii . 814), and possibly no better explanation can be found, though it has been suggested that in an early stage of society the trade of a smith would be suitable for the lame; Hephaestus and the lame Wieland would thus conform to the type of their human counterparts . Except in Lemnos and Attica, there are few indications of any cult of Hephaestus . His association with Lemnos can be traced from Homer to the Roman age .

A

town in the island was called Hephaestia, and the functions of the god must have been wide, as we are told that his Lemnian priests could cure snake-bites . Once a year every fire was extinguished on the island for nine days, during which period sacrifice was offered to the gods of the underworld and the dead . After the nine days were passed, new fire was brought from the sacred hearth at Delos . The significance of this and similar customs is examined by J . G . Frazer, Golden Bough, iii. ch . 4 . The close" connexion of Hephaestus with Lemnos and especially with its mountain Mosychlus has been explained by the supposed existence of a volcano; but no crater or other sign of volcanic agency is now apparent, and the " Lemnian fire "—a phenomenon attributed to Hephaestus—may have been due to natural gas (see Lemnos) . In Sicily, however, the volcanic nature of the god is prominent in his cult at Etna, as well as in the neighbouring Liparaean isles . The Olympian forge had been transferred to Etna or some other volcano, and Hephaestus had become a subterranean rather than a celestial power . The divine smith naturally became a " culture-god "; in Crete the invention of forging in iron was attributed to him, and he was honoured by all metal-workers . But we have little record of his cult in this aspect, except at Athens, where his worship was of real importance, belonging to the oldest stratum of Attic religion .

A tribe was called after his name, and Erichthonius, the mythical father of the Attic

people, was the son of Hephaestus . Terra-cotta statuettes of the god seem to have been placed before the hearths of Athenian houses . This temple has been identified, not improbably, with the so-called " Theseum "; it contained a statue of Athena, and the two deities are often associated, in literature and cult, as the joint givers of civilization to the Athenians . The class of artisans was under their special protection; and the joint festival of the two divinities—the Chalceia—commemorated the invention of bronze-working by Hephaestus . In the Hephaesteia (the particular festival of the god) there was a torch race, a ceremonial not indeed confined to fire-gods like Hephaestus and Prometheus, but probably in its origin connected with them, whether its object was to purify and quicken the land, or (according to another theory) to transmit a new fire with all possible speed to places where the fire was polluted . If the latter view is correct, the torch race would be closely akin to the Lemnian fire-ritual which has been mentioned . The relation between Hephaestus and Prometheus is in some respects close, though the distinction between these gods is clearly marked . The fire, as an element, belongs to the Olympian Hephaestus; the Titan Prometheus, a more human character, steals it for the use of man . Prometheus resembles the Polynesian Maui, who went down to fetch fire from the volcano of Mahuika, the fire-god . Hephaestus is a culture-god mainly in his secondary aspect as the craftsman, whereas Prometheus originates all civilization with the gift of fire . But the importance of Prometheus is mainly mythological; the Titan belonged to a fallen dynasty, and in actual cult was largely superseded by Hephaestus . In archaic art Hephaestus is generally represented as bearded, though occasionally a younger beardless type is found, as on a vase (in the British Museum), on which he appears as a young man assisting Athena in the creation of Pandora .

At a later

time the bearded type prevails . The god is usually clothed in a short sleeveless tunic, and wears a round close-fitting cap . His face is that of a middle-aged man, with unkempt hair . He is in fact represented as an idealized Greek craftsman, with the hammer, and sometimes the pincers . Some mythologists have compared the hammer of Hephaestus with that of Thor, and have explained it as the emblem of a thunder-god; but it is Zeus, not Hephaestus, who causes the thunder, and the emblems of the latter god are merely the signs of his occupation as a smith . In art no attempt was made, as a rule, to indicate the lameness of Hephaestus; but one sculptor (Alcamenes) is said to have suggested the deformity without spoiling the statue .