Hephaestus was the god of fire. He was a blacksmith whose forge was in a volcano. His helpers were one-eyed giants called Cyclopes. He worked in bronze, iron, silver, and gold. He also made things out of clay, including living creatures. From clay he made Pandora, the first mortal woman in the world.
Hephaestus made many useful things for the gods. For the messenger god Hermes, he made a winged hat and winged sandals. For the sun god Helios, he made a golden chariot to ride across the sky. For the Eros, the god of love, he made a silver bow with silver arrows.
Hephaestus was a good-natured god who usually got along well with everybody. Even so, his mother, Hera, once got angry with him. She threw him off Olympus, the mountain where the gods lived. When he hit the ground, he broke his foot. A goddess named Thetis nursed him back to health. But he walked with a limp ever after that.
Good-natured though he was, Hephaestus didn’t forgive Hera. And he finally got even with her. He made a beautiful throne out of gold and offered it to her as a gift. When she sat on it, invisible chains wrapped around her wrists. She couldn’t get out of the throne, which rose up into the air.
All the gods tried to talk Hephaestus into letting Hera loose. Hephaestus finally did when the beautiful goddess Aphrodite agreed to marry him. Theirs wasn’t a happy marriage, though. Aphrodite was really in love with Ares, the god of war.
The goddess Thetis had a half-mortal son named Achilles. When Achilles was a baby, she bathed him in the river Styx. This was supposed to make him invulnerable, meaning impossible to hurt or kill. Even so, Thetis worried when Achilles got ready to go fight in the Trojan War.
Hephaestus made the best weapons and armor in the world. So Thetis asked Hephaestus to make a shield and armor for Achilles. Hephaestus was still grateful to Thetis for helping him after his fall from Olympus. So he was happy to do as she asked.
Hephaestus’s armor didn’t let Achilles down during the war. But Thetis had made one mistake. When she had dipped Achilles in the river Styx, she had held him by the heel. So his heel was not invulnerable. Achilles was killed by an arrow in his heel.
Here are some interesting facts about Hephaestus’s story:
•Pandora, the woman Hephaestus made from clay, was said to have had a box of evils. She opened the box, letting all those evils loose in the world. Today, to “open a Pandora’s box” means to cause a lot of trouble accidentally.
•The Romans gave Hephaestus the name Vulcan. That’s where the word “volcano” comes from.
•The word “vulcanization” also comes from the name Vulcan. Vulcanization is a process for hardening rubber, especially for tires. It uses extreme heat and sulfur.
•Today, a person’s weak spot is called an “Achilles’s heel,” after the story of how Achilles died.
•Human history is sometimes divided into three periods. These are named after the materials most used for tools in those times. The earliest was the Stone Age, followed by the Bronze Age, followed by the Iron Age. The stories about Hephaestus were told in the Iron Age, when blacksmithing was very important.
Hephaestus made many useful things for the gods. For the messenger god Hermes, he made a winged hat and winged sandals. For the sun god Helios, he made a golden chariot to ride across the sky. For the Eros, the god of love, he made a silver bow with silver arrows.
Hephaestus was a good-natured god who usually got along well with everybody. Even so, his mother, Hera, once got angry with him. She threw him off Olympus, the mountain where the gods lived. When he hit the ground, he broke his foot. A goddess named Thetis nursed him back to health. But he walked with a limp ever after that.
Good-natured though he was, Hephaestus didn’t forgive Hera. And he finally got even with her. He made a beautiful throne out of gold and offered it to her as a gift. When she sat on it, invisible chains wrapped around her wrists. She couldn’t get out of the throne, which rose up into the air.
All the gods tried to talk Hephaestus into letting Hera loose. Hephaestus finally did when the beautiful goddess Aphrodite agreed to marry him. Theirs wasn’t a happy marriage, though. Aphrodite was really in love with Ares, the god of war.
The goddess Thetis had a half-mortal son named Achilles. When Achilles was a baby, she bathed him in the river Styx. This was supposed to make him invulnerable, meaning impossible to hurt or kill. Even so, Thetis worried when Achilles got ready to go fight in the Trojan War.
Hephaestus made the best weapons and armor in the world. So Thetis asked Hephaestus to make a shield and armor for Achilles. Hephaestus was still grateful to Thetis for helping him after his fall from Olympus. So he was happy to do as she asked.
Hephaestus’s armor didn’t let Achilles down during the war. But Thetis had made one mistake. When she had dipped Achilles in the river Styx, she had held him by the heel. So his heel was not invulnerable. Achilles was killed by an arrow in his heel.
Here are some interesting facts about Hephaestus’s story:
•Pandora, the woman Hephaestus made from clay, was said to have had a box of evils. She opened the box, letting all those evils loose in the world. Today, to “open a Pandora’s box” means to cause a lot of trouble accidentally.
•The Romans gave Hephaestus the name Vulcan. That’s where the word “volcano” comes from.
•The word “vulcanization” also comes from the name Vulcan. Vulcanization is a process for hardening rubber, especially for tires. It uses extreme heat and sulfur.
•Today, a person’s weak spot is called an “Achilles’s heel,” after the story of how Achilles died.
•Human history is sometimes divided into three periods. These are named after the materials most used for tools in those times. The earliest was the Stone Age, followed by the Bronze Age, followed by the Iron Age. The stories about Hephaestus were told in the Iron Age, when blacksmithing was very important.