Hephaestus and
Aphrodite
Yet another child of Zeus and Hera is in
the spotlight again. Here we will see the three Goddesses Hera,
Thetis, and Aphrodite intertwined once again, this time it is around
the life of Hephaestus, the God of Fire and Blacksmith.
Hephaestus,
God of Fire and Blacksmith
Zeus’ and Hera’s child, Hephaestus, was an exception to the normal gods
in that he had a physical deformity. You see Hephaestus was born
small and sickly. Because of this, both Hera and Zeus disowned
him as their son. It seems to be a mystery whether it was
actually Zeus or Hera who threw him down Mount Olympus.
Nevertheless, they were both ashamed of the baby and disowned him as
their child. It was said that after being flung down Mount
Olympus, Hephaestus fell for seven days until he hit the ground on the
island of Lemnos.
Thetis, the kind and gentle sea goddess, found the poor bruised
baby on the shore of the island of Lemnos. She took the injured
baby, cared for him as a mother, and nursed him back to health.
However, Hephaestus’ leg was broken so badly in the fall that he would
never be able to walk.
Hephaestus gives Thetis the new armour of
Achilles
Nevertheless, Hephaestus’ body grew strong and he became a master
craftsman. He made beautiful objects of gold, many of which he
gave to goddesses who had helped him, especially Thetis. Several
years later, Hera saw Thetis wearing an exquisite brooch and wanted to
know who had made it. When Thetis told Hera that it was
Hephaestus that had made it, Hera regretted what she had done to him
after he was born.
Upon admitting they had made a mistake by throwing Hephaestus off of
Mount Olympus, Zeus and Hera invited him back to Olympus to live.
They created a huge workshop for him and he became the worker of the
gods. He made them treasures such as golden palaces, weapons, and
tools. His artistry was the pride of Olympus. Zeus and Hera
still felt sorry for their actions and offered their rejected son
Aphrodite’s hand in marriage.
Aphrodite visiting Hephaestus in his smithy
Although nobody knew who her parents were, Aphrodite was as beautiful
as sunlight on the sea and had to be a goddess herself as wherever she
stepped, flowers sprang up and the air smelled as sweet as
spring. All of the gods fell in love with her at first
sight. Because of his guilt and to avoid trouble, Zeus gave her
hand in marriage to his son, Hephaestus.
Because she wanted to continue her life with the gods, Aphrodite agreed
to the marriage. However, all she saw when she looked at
Hephaestus was a sweaty, dull fellow who worked entirely too many
hours. Aphrodite was a creature who loved passion, glamour, and
physical beauty. She would have much rather married someone like
Hephaestus’ brother, Ares, the god of war. When she looked at
him, she saw physical beauty and excitement, quite the contrary to his
boring and ugly brother. Obviously, Aphrodite had trouble
understanding that beauty was only skin deep.
Regardless of the way Aphrodite viewed Hephaestus, he felt as if he was
the luckiest god alive to have such a beautiful wife. In hopes of
making her happy, Hephaestus showered his wife with beautiful
gifts. One such gift was a golden girdle, which was a magical
belt that made anyone who wore it irresistible. (This was
probably not the best gift he could have made for his rather impulsive
and flirtatious wife.)
Because Hephaestus worked so many hours, he had few extra hours to
watch over his wife. Aphrodite enjoyed this as it gave her time
to have love affairs with others. She spent all of her extra time
flirting and making love to others. (Aside from being able to
attract all gods and humans, she had a very unique quality.
Regardless of how many children she had or how many times she had made
love, Aphrodite could bathe in the sea and become a virgin
again.) Although Hephaestus found out about her affairs and even
knew that the children she had soon after they were married were his
brother Ares’, he kept her as his wife.
Image Bibliography:
Lle
siede apres J.-C., photo by Vulcain.
Websource: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Images/him/hephaestus5814
Thetis receives Achilles new armor from Hephaestus, photo
by Anton van Dyck (1599-1641). Websource: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Images/him/hephaestus0536.jpg
Venus in der Schmiede des Vulkan, photo by Gaetano
Gandolfi (1734-1802). Websource:
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Images/him/hephaestus0830.jpg
Bibliography:
Asimov, Isaac. Words from the Myths.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston: 1961.
Switzer, Ellen and Costas. Greek Myths:
Gods, Heroes, and Monsters. Their Sources, Their Stories,
and Their Meanings. Atheneum: New York, 1988.
I chose the information from these sources and simplified them into a
child’s lyric.
Email Me, Erika DeLuca
