The ancient Greek god Hephaestus is the god of fire and blacksmithing, he is the most skilled blacksmith in the world. He is the son of Zeus and his lawful wife, the goddess of marriage, Hera. He was born on Olympus itself, and from childhood was weak and lame. Parents doubted whether such a god should live, Hera was horrified and angry when she saw such a helpless son. In anger, she threw him from the high Olympus to the ground, but Hephaestus survived. He fell into the sea, where the daughters of Nereus and the Ocean took pity on him and took him with them to the gray-haired Ocean. In his azure grotto and grew up, Hephaestus was brought up.

The adult Hephaestus could not get rid of his lameness, as well as his ugly appearance, but he had broad shoulders and strong arms, a muscular neck and a wide chest. For his wonderful teachers - Thetis and Eurynome - he forged from silver and gold a huge variety of wonderful and unique jewelry. And all this time, Hephaestus harbored in his heart anger at his mother because she acted so unfairly and cruelly with him. And Hephaestus forged a golden throne of indescribable beauty, an armchair of enormous size, which he sent to Olympus as a gift to his mother. Hera liked the chair very much, she sat down in it and immediately found herself in fetters. The gods could not free Hera chained to the throne, only the one who forged it could do it.

Hermes flew to Hephaestus in the grotto and began to beg to return to Olympus to free Hera. But Hephaestus remembered evil and could not forgive his mother. Then Dionysus came to the aid of Hermes, who poured wine into the cup of Hephaestus until he got tipsy and went to Olympus himself. He forgot all the insults and immediately freed Hera from the fetters, and Hephaestus began to live now on Olympus. He built many beautiful golden temples on the mountain of the gods, and erected for himself a dwelling of bronze, silver and gold. The god of fire married the goddess of beauty and grace Harita, and began to live with her in his palace.

In the palace of Hephaestus there is also a place for his forge, in which he spends a long time. In the middle there is a huge anvil, and next to it are bellows and a forge with fire burning inside. And these bellows do not need to be set in motion by hands, they are magical and obey the word of Hephaestus. And God works in his huge forge, all black with ashes and cinders, all wet with sweat. He forges everything: marvelous jewelry, and unsurpassed weapons, goblets and bowls, as well as chariots that do not need horses - they themselves roll as if alive.

And after his hard work, Hephaestus washes his body and hands in a bath with incense, after which he often goes, limping, to a feast to Zeus and brothers and sisters from Olympus. And often, if the gods have disputes or quarrels, Hephaestus reconciles them, forcing them to laugh at how clumsily he pours the divine nectar into bowls. Hephaestus has a big and kind heart. However, this does not mean that the god of fire is good-natured and sweet all the time, he can also be a formidable and terrible god. Whoever angers him will immediately feel the power of his fiery hammer. With it, he smashed both the titans and the people, so no one dares to resist him in anger, since Hephaestus has the right to forge an indestructible weapon.

Hephaestus is an Olympian deity who embodied the ancient beliefs of people about the fire element. He is considered the lord of fire and the patron of blacksmithing, personifying strength and creativity.

Hephaestus was portrayed as lame and clumsy, causing much ridicule from the beautiful Olympian gods. But he was considered a kind and fair god, an opponent of quarrels and wars. A tireless worker and a skilled craftsman, Hephaestus spent all his time in the forge and knew how to create true masterpieces, because no one could compare with him in metal processing.

Origin of Hephaestus

According to legend, Hephaestus was the son of the supreme god Zeus and his wife Hera. But his birth is interpreted in two ways. There is a version that Hephaestus was the son of Hera alone, born by her in revenge on her proud husband. Parents did not like their child - he was lame in both legs, frail and ugly. Unable to endure this anymore, Zeus ordered the death of Hephaestus. On his orders, Hera threw her son from Olympus into the ocean.

But Hephaestus did not die, but was saved by the sea deities - Eurynome and Thetis. The goddesses became his tutors and patrons on long years. Hiding Hephaestus in a distant grotto, they went out and taught him various arts and crafts. The young god showed particular success in blacksmithing, processing precious metals and creating delightful decorations for their saviors.

Revenge on the Olympian gods

Hephaestus grew up and turned into a tall, broad-shouldered hero, in whose hands gigantic strength was enclosed. By that time, he had learned all the secrets of blacksmithing and reached perfection.

Wanting to take revenge on his mother Hera for the offense, he forged and presented as a gift an amazingly beautiful golden throne. Sitting on it, Hera was trapped - a lot of chains tied her body, and no one could break these strong bonds. The Olympic gods appealed to Hephaestus for help, but he refused them. I had to resort to trickery - Dionysus, the cheerful god of winemaking, was sent to earth, who drunk the blacksmith god to unconsciousness and delivered him to Olympus.

Life on Olympus

Arriving on Olympus, Hephaestus made peace with all its inhabitants. In gratitude for the release of Hera, Zeus invited his son to remain among the Olympian gods and choose his wife.

First of all, Hephaestus built a magnificent palace for Zeus and Hera, generously decorating it with gold and silver. In his own palace, the god of fire equipped a forge, where he spent all his free time. The master blacksmith worked hard, creating gifts and useful things for the inhabitants of Olympus: a bow and arrows for Artemis, a chariot for Helios, a crown for Ariadne. Hephaestus could often be found tired from hard physical labor, which could not be said about the other gods, who were used to spending their days idly.

The goddess of love, the beautiful Aphrodite, became the wife of Hephaestus. But this union was not happy. Aphrodite did not like her lame, soot-stained husband, and therefore sought love from the stately handsome Ares, the god of war. This topic was the reason for the constant ridicule of the blacksmith god.

Also, the father of Hephaestus was sometimes considered Helios or, according to the Cretan myth, Talos.

His first wife was the beautiful goddess Aphrodite, and the second Charita Aglaya. Hephaestus had a small affair with Athena, after which Erichthonius was born, born of Gaia-Earth. However, Hephaestus is connected with Athena not only by his son Erichthonius, but also by their craft.

From the nymph Kabiro, daughter of Proteus, Hephaestus has sons Alcon and Eurymedon, who participated in the campaign of Dionysus to India, and Kadmil (or Camillus, or Kasmil), sometimes identified with Hermes. The three sons of Hephaestus are called Kabirs.

From Anticlea, the son of Periphetes, whom Theseus killed in the city of Epidaurus.

The servant of Hephaestus was the Cyclops Kedalion, whom Hephaestus gave as a guide to Orion, Plato's epigram "The Blind and the Lame", as well as the drama of Sophocles "Kedalion" are written about him.

myths

The King of the Gods could not break his word, but advised Athena to defend herself. When she came to Hephaestus to ask him to make something for her, Hephaestus decided to take the promise of Zeus and Athena had to fight off Hephaestus. The seed of Hephaestus spilled on the foot of the goddess, she wiped it with a piece of fur and buried this piece in the Earth. This is how the son of Hephaestus and Athena appeared - Erichthonius (however, some researchers point out that Gaia-Earth gave birth to Erichthonius, which means that Gaia should be considered Erichthonius' mother).

The second time Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus by his father Zeus, the Iliad tells about this. Hera in every possible way harmed Hercules, the beloved son of her husband from the mortal woman Alcmene. When Hercules was returning from Troy, the Queen of the Gods sent a storm on his ships and scattered them, for which Zeus hung her by her feet in the sky, tying anvils to her feet. Hephaestus freed his mother, and the enraged Thunderer threw him off Olympus. Hephaestus fell into the sea off the island of Lemnos. After the overthrow of Hephaestus from Olympus, the inhabitants of the island of Lemnos, the Sinthians, saved him; there were the city of Hephaestius and Mount Mosikhl, where Hephaestus built himself a forge.

Hephaestus participated in gigantomachy. One of the one hundred and fifty snake-footed giants Mimant was killed by Hephaestus when the latter threw red-hot stones at the giants (according to one version).

Athena rejects the advances of Hephaestus (detail) Paris Bordone 1555-1560

It was Hephaestus who forged the scepter and aegis of Zeus, the thyrsus of Dionysus, the chariot of Helios, the net into which his wife Aphrodite and her beloved Ares fell. Hephaestus forged two mechanical assistants from metal, whom he used as servants in his workshop.

Having finished work in his workshop, Hephaestus goes to a feast to Zeus. He is friendly and good-natured, often stopping a quarrel between his father and Hera that is ready to flare up. The gods can hardly contain their laughter as they look at the lame God hobbling around the banquet table and pouring nectar and ambrosia on them. But Hephaestus can also be formidable. He subdued by fire even the waves of the raging rivers under Troy.

Name, epithets and character

Presumably the name Hephaestus means "volcanic". The epithets of Hephaestus are Amphigeus, that is, "mutually lame" or "mutually jointed" or Killopodion, that is, "crooked-legged." Hephaestus acts either as a fetish of the flame, or as the lord of fire. Its origin is not clearly understood.

On Olympus, Hephaestus entertains the gods with jokes, treats them with ambrosia and nectar, and generally acts in a certain service role, which also indicates his non-Greek origin. Apollonius of Rhodes in the "Argonautics" tells that Hephaestus dug for the Colchis king four springs flowing from under the vine - milk, wine, oil and water. Horace draws Vulcan-Hephaestus against the backdrop of a blooming spring nature. All this testifies to the chthonic connection of Hephaestus with the forces of nature. The myths about Hephaestus also reflect the flourishing of arts and crafts in the era of patriarchy. In Attica, one of the phyla (units) bore the name of Hephaestus, and he himself was revered among the main deities by the inhabitants of Attica - "the sons of Hephaestus."

Initially, Hephaestus served as an expression of the powerful element of fire and was regarded as a great creative being, but later, having joined the ranks of the Olympic gods, he became subordinate to Zeus, gradually lost his strength and significance, and finally turned into a skilled craftsman, melting and processing metals through fire.

The Orphic hymn depicts Hephaestus as some kind of cosmic force in all its fetishistic integrity. He is a master and an artist, but he is also light, fire, ether. He guards houses, cities and tribes, but he is also the moon and all the stars, a shining, all-devouring demon, i.e. Hephaestus - and Olympus, and the underworld, and higher creativity, and elemental demonism.

In Roman mythology, Hephaestus corresponds to Vulcan, in Egypt - to Ptah (or Phta).

Cult and symbolism

Hephaestus was predominantly revered in Athens, where he was the god of craft, but could not compete with the more ancient Prometheus and Daedalus. Hephaestus is connected with the island of Samos through his mother Hera of Samos, because. it was she who was chained to the throne by Hephaestus, so the cities of Hephaestopolis and Hephaestion were located on Samos. In Crete, there is not the slightest indication of the cult of Hephaestus. The cult of Hephaestus was brought to the mainland from the Aegean islands by Hellenic settlers. Thus, the chthonic non-Greek deity became one of the most revered gods among the artisans and craftsmen of Athens.

The cult was strong in Sicily and in Campania, Etna and Vesuvius located there always plunged the inhabitants into awe, it was believed that the forges of God were located inside these volcanoes.

In Athens, in honor of Hephaestus, ritual competitions with torches were held. Young men with torches in their hands participated in these races, the winner was the one who first reached the finish line with an unextinguished torch.

The symbols of Hephaestus are the anvil and blacksmith's tools.

Impact on culture and art

The twentieth hymn of Homer and the LXVI Orphic hymn are dedicated to Hephaestus. Actor the tragedy of Aeschylus "Chained Prometheus", the satyr drama of Achaea of ​​Eretius "Hephaestus", the play of an unknown author "Hephaestus", the comedy of Epicharm "Feasters, or Hephaestus".

Unlike other impeccably beautiful and stately gods, Hephaestus is distinguished by its ugliness and physical defects. It was his mind and skill, the inner creative component and the ability to create, that made him one of the most worthy gods. In art, it is customary to portray him as very strong, with a powerful torso and arms. Often a cap is depicted on his head, which was worn by artisans in Greece, he wears a short tunic, characteristic of workers. Also often in paintings or sculptures, artists leave his right shoulder naked.

Hephaestus was often depicted in frescoes, vase paintings and sculptures by the ancient Greeks. It is also found in later Roman depictions. And in the Renaissance, artists very often took mythology as the plot of their paintings, and Hephaestus, as well as other gods, can be seen in the paintings of the Renaissance.

Hephaestus in modern times

In honor of Hephaestus, the minor planet (2212) Hephaestus, discovered on September 27, 1978 by the Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, is named. This is a near-Earth asteroid, characterized by an extremely elongated orbit and, because of this, has become quite widely known.

The protein "Hephaestin", which is involved in the metabolism of iron and copper, is also named after Hephaestus.

The famous kitchen line is named after Hephaestus household appliances in Belarus.

God of crafts Hephaestus

Hephaestus and his lameness. Hephaestus, the son of Zeus and Hera, was born on the bright Olympus. The child was ugly: with thin crooked legs, a frail little body and an exorbitantly large head. Hera got angry because her child was so ugly, and threw him down from Olympus. Hephaestus fell to the ground and broke his leg. So, in addition to natural unsightliness, he also received a limp. On earth, he was sheltered by Eurynome, the daughter of the gray-haired elder Ocean, and Thetis, the daughter of the prophetic sea elder Nereus.

In the azure grotto at the bottom of the Ocean, they raised Hephaestus, and he became a skilled craftsman. He made many beautiful vessels, combs, brooches of gold and silver for his rescuers. Even the Olympic gods, having heard about his skill, turned to him with requests, and Hephaestus helped everyone, fulfilled all orders.

Golden Throne of Hera. Hera alone he never did anything. But one day it seemed to the gods that Hephaestus changed his anger to mercy - he sent Hera a beautiful golden throne. The delighted goddess immediately sat down on him - and then shackles appeared from somewhere, which tightly chained her to the throne. All the efforts of the other gods were in vain, and it was not possible to free Hera.

Then they turned to Hephaestus. But he accepted the gods with a proud air and answered their requests with an unconditional refusal - his mother treated him in childhood so that now he has no desire to help her. The great Olympians were depressed, not knowing what to do now, and then Dionysus suggested: “Now let me try to persuade him!” Taking with him several skins of wine, he went to Hephaestus and offered him a drink to his acquaintance. He agreed. The first bowl was followed by the second, followed by the third, fourth ... when Hephaestus was already completely drunk and because of this more accommodating, Dionysus told him how Hera, chained to the throne, was suffering.

Hephaestus leaves for Olympus. By this time, Hephaestus had become kinder and fed up with his revenge, so he agreed to go to Olympus and free his mother. But it is one thing to agree, and quite another to get to Olympus. Hephaestus was already so drunk that he could not only walk, but also stand on his feet. Then Dionysus called his retinue and ordered to put him on a donkey. And so Hephaestus was put on horseback, a wreath of vine leaves was put on his head, and so that he would not fall off, the satyrs began to support him from the sides. So, in a noisy Dionysian fiass, bawling drunken songs, a new member of the family of the Olympian gods entered Olympus. Drinking wine did not deprive Hephaestus of his skills, so he easily freed Hera and completely reconciled with her.

The main forge of Hephaestus. Moreover, he not only reconciled, but once suffered greatly for his mother. It happened at a time when Zeus severely punished Hera, and none of the gods dared to argue with him. Only Hephaestus tried to stand up for his mother, and then the Father of immortals and mortals threw him off Olympus a second time. Hephaestus fell on the island of Lemnos and broke his other leg; therefore he was sometimes called "Lame with two legs". Since the inhabitants of Lemnos treated him well, he fell in love with the island. Here, in his honor, the city of Hephaestius was named, and here, under the fire-breathing mountain, was his main forge, in which he worked together with the Cyclopes who helped him.

Hephaestus brings the gods a good mood. On Olympus, Hephaestus built majestic palaces for all the gods and for himself, and in his own he arranged another forge. Covered in sweat, all black from dust and soot, he works in it all his free time. Wonderful things are made in his workshop: invincible weapons, jewelry made of gold and silver, bowls and goblets. Having finished work and having washed himself, Hephaestus, limping a little, goes to the feast of the gods, to his father, Zeus the Thunderer. Friendly and good-natured Hephaestus, and he often manages to stop the quarrel between his parents. When he begins to hobble around the table, pouring nectar into golden goblets, the gods cannot see this without laughing. Fun begins at a feast, all grievances and misunderstandings are forgotten.

Aphrodite is the wife of Hephaestus. The wife of the most ugly of the gods was the most beautiful goddess - Aphrodite. Hephaestus, who had a complaisant character, loved his wife very much and did not attach importance to the fact that she was not always faithful to him. He himself spent more time in his forges than with his wife. Of course, his lameness prevented him from working, but he built himself out of gold servants who could move and follow all his orders. [Hephaestus was inseparable from his craft, so he was always depicted as a blacksmith - in a pointed leather hat, with a hammer and tongs in his hands. However, not only blacksmiths, but all artisans considered him their god.]

Hephaestus and human affairs. Hephaestus was so busy and passionate about his work that he does not interfere in earthly affairs at all. He happened to make different things for people (for example, for the king of Colchis, Eet, he made copper bulls, for Achilles - his weapons and armor, for Hercules - a golden shell, greaves and a helmet), but in general they are not interested in their wars, and even in He intervened in the Trojan War only once, when with his fire he tamed the raging Scamander River, which threatened to drown Achilles.

God of War Ares

Birth of Ares. As far as Hephaestus is alien to wars, his brother, the violent Ares, the god of war, loves them just as much. It is said that he was born in an unusual way. When Hera was angry with Zeus because he gave birth to Athena himself, without her participation, she went to the far shores of the Ocean, where she touched herself with a magical flower that was able to cope with any infertility. From this touch, Ares was born, who inherited the obstinate nature of his mother.

Ares on the battlefield. Only fierce battles can please this god. He loves it when one by one the slain heroes fall to the ground. In sparkling weapons, Ares frantically rushes among the combatants, followed by his two sons, Phobos and Deimos - "Fear" and "Horror", the goddess of discord - Eris, the bloodthirsty Enyo, who inspires confusion in the fighting warriors. Boils, battle rumbles; exults blood-splattered Ares. He cuts indiscriminately left and right, heaps piles of wounded bodies around him. He utters a triumphant cry when he slays a warrior with his terrible sword and hot blood rushes to the ground. No one can cope with the ferocious and formidable Ares, but if he really disperses in battle, if too many heroes lose their lives because of him, Zeus allows Pallas Athena to oppose him, and then the formidable god of war is subdued. Athena defeats him with wisdom and calm strength and forces him to leave the battlefield.

Ares, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. Outwardly, Ares is very attractive: he is strong, athletic, tall. Therefore, Aphrodite could not resist his beauty: she began to secretly meet with Ares, thus disgracing her husband, Hephaestus, in front of all the gods. The benevolent master did not suspect anything for a very long time, but one day the bright Helios, who sees and knows everything, told him about his wife's betrayal. Hephaestus planned to take revenge. And then one day, when he, as always, went to his forge, Ares appeared on a date with Aphrodite. However, this time everything ended for them in failure and shame: they were entangled in a thin golden net, in which they floundered like fish caught in a net, and all the gods invited by Hephaestus laughed at them. When they finally managed to get out, they fled and did not dare to appear on Olympus for a long time, fearing ridicule. But then Hephaestus forgave his wife, and everything went on as before.

Ares. Roman
copy from Greek
original

Ares is captured. Despite the fact that Ares has this appearance, he is rather cowardly and does not tolerate pain. When, in the battles near Troy, the hero Diomedes, with the help of Athena, wounded him with a spear, the cry of Ares was as strong as the cry of ten thousand people. And once he was even taken prisoner. It happened like this. There once lived the brothers of Aload, Ot and Ephialtes, the sons of Poseidon. They were so strong that they threatened, having piled on top of each other Pelion and Ossa, the mountains adjacent to Olympus, to overthrow the gods from heaven to earth. So they captured Ares. The mighty god of war was planted in a huge copper barrel and closed in it. Only after the death of the strongmen, the gods were able to free Ares from imprisonment.

Ares children. His children, born of mortal women, were as violent and cruel as Ares: the king of Thrace, Diomedes, fed his mares with the meat of travelers who had wandered into his possessions, the king of Elis, Oinomai, killed the grooms of his daughter Hippodamia, the king of one of the Greek tribes, Phlegius, set fire to the temple of Apollo in Delphi. Fortunately for people, most of them were finished off by the heroes who cleansed the earth of monsters and villains.

Ares in the eyes of the Greeks.

It is quite natural that no one liked Ares - neither the gods (with the exception of Aphrodite, Phobos and his other satellites), nor people. Even Zeus himself said that Ares was most hated by him of all the immortals. Therefore, there were few temples of Ares, and few images of him have come down to us. Yes, and how it was to relate with love to God, whose very nicknames spoke of his character - “Bloody”, “Destroyer of people”, “Destroyer of cities”, “Furious”, “Furious”, “Raging”! The symbols of Ares were also formidable - a spear, a helmet, a lit torch; his horses bore the names "Shine", "Flame", "Noise", "Horror", and everywhere the chariot of Ares was accompanied by packs of dogs on the ground, and packs of kites in the sky.

God of fire and blacksmithing, armorer of the gods.

Hephaestus was born lame, so an irritated Hera threw him off Olympus. He fell directly into the Ocean, but did not suffer, as the sea goddesses Eurynomus and Thetis took care of him. In their underwater grotto, Hephaestus grew up and learned blacksmithing.

Having achieved mastery, Hephaestus made a magnificent golden throne and sent it to his mother, but this gift was dictated more by revenge than by love. As soon as Hera sat on the throne, the handcuffs worked, chaining her to him. None of the gods managed to free her, so they had no choice but to send for the author of this insidious invention.

The arrival of Hephaestus on Olympus had far-reaching consequences: he rebuilt and refurbished all the dwellings of the gods. No one knows what the living conditions of the gods were before the appearance of Hephaestus there, and only from reports of his activities do we learn that he built them magnificent palaces of gold, silver and bronze. Naturally, Hephaestus took care of himself.

Not wanting even here to abandon his grimy craft, Hephaestus set up a superbly equipped workshop in his palace. Homer enthusiastically talks about his bellows, which worked automatically, obeying the mental commands of Hephaestus. Nevertheless, Hephaestus did not disdain physical labor, so he was often seen sweaty and tired, which cannot be said about the other gods.

It is clear that such a jack of all trades was very popular among the gods. At the same time, they did not really take him seriously and were not averse to making fun of his lameness (sometimes not only jokes were heard, but also the most “Homeric laughter” of the gods - for example, when Hephaestus once tried), and his wife Aphrodite shamelessly deceived him with Ares.

Only Hera was sympathetic to Hephaestus, who apparently realized that she had once treated him unfairly. Therefore, in Hera's frequent disputes with Zeus, Hephaestus always stood on her side. Sometimes it cost him dearly: during the next scandal, Zeus literally threw him out of Olympus.

Hephaestus flew in a huge arc (or trajectory, in the language of modern ballistics) for a whole day until he landed on the island of Lemnos. The local inhabitants treated him kindly, and Hephaestus felt at home on Lemnos: he even set up a forge for himself in the volcano Mosikhle.

When Hephaestus moved from the Greek pantheon to the Roman one (taking the name), he equipped himself with another forge in Sicily, under Mount Etna, and another one on the nearby Aeolian Islands. Obviously, he already had a whole blacksmith shop there, since several Cyclops giants had to be taken to help.

Hephaestus almost did not interfere in the life of mythical heroes. He limited himself to the manufacture of weapons and, like any arms manufacturer, sold them to both belligerents. For example, at the request of Thetis, he gave her son Achilles, but at the same time, fulfilling the desire of the goddess Eos, he made similar weapons for Memnon, the opponent of Achilles. He did not interfere in the wars, with one exception: during the battle under the walls of Troy, Hephaestus, at the request of Hera, tamed the Xanth (Scamander) river with his fire, the god of which wanted to drown Achilles in his waves. But the more diligently he defended his admirers and fellow craftsmen, especially blacksmiths and all those working with fire. And in general, people had every reason to be grateful to him: according to the Homeric Hymns, it was Hephaestus, with the help of Athena, who taught people crafts and arts so that they would not live in forests and caves, like wild animals, but in comfortable houses and cities where you can easily and calmly spend your life from spring to winter.

In honor of Hephaestus, the Greeks held magnificent festivities. In Athens, there were two types of such holidays: Hephaistos and Chalkeys. The first were celebrated at first every year, and from 329 BC. e. - every fourth year, in mid-November; the second were held annually, and were celebrated primarily by blacksmiths. In Athens, a Doric-style temple was dedicated to Hephaestus, built in 450-440. BC e. and subsequently adorned with a cult statue by Alkamenes. The temple still towers over the ruins of the Agora - it is the best preserved of all Greek temples. (It is erroneously called Theseion, as the sculptures of the temple depict the exploits of Theseus. Only a recent topographic study of Athens has shown that it was originally dedicated to Hephaestus, before the ancient temple was converted into the temple of St. George in the 5th century AD.)

Unlike vase paintings and reliefs, quite a few antique statues of Hephaestus have survived, perhaps the most famous is the small bronze “Hephaestus with a blacksmith tool”. Many coins from Asia Minor Greece with the image of Hephaestus have been preserved - evidence of the wide spread of his cult in those parts.

Of the numerous works of European artists, we will name only the most significant: the paintings "Workshop of Vulcan" by Van Heemskerk (c. 1536, National Gallery in Prague) and Tintoretto (after 1577), "Hephaestus makes armor for Achilles" by Romano (1532-1534), "Venus in the workshop of Vulcan by Rubens and Van Dyck (both created in 1630-1632), Vulcan's Forge by Velazquez (1630), Boucher's Vulcan takes Venus and Mars by surprise (1754), Daumier's Vulcan (1835, National Gallery in Prague ), "Aphrodite and Ares Captured by Hephaestus" by Prochazka; the sculptures "Volcano" by Brown (1715, National Gallery in Prague) and the marble "Volcano" by Thorvaldsen (1838).

Roman Vulcan almost coincides with Hephaestus, but the Romans emphasized more of his original ancient Latin character as a god of destructive power.

In poetry, the image of Hephaestus as a Lemnos blacksmith is used: “The Lemnos god bound you ...” - A. S. Pushkin, “Dagger” (1821).