Hephaestus Unveiled

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Being born beautiful isn’t a guarantee, not even for a God. Hephaestus is a perfect example of this. Being the only imperfect God had to have been tough, but Hephaestus did his best to make the most of his fate. He decided to prove himself in ways other than appearance. Though he was not blessed with a beautiful body, he was given a kind soul, with which he helped many others, and remained loyal to those who helped him along the way.
Hephaestus was not conceived in the usual way (Leadbetter). He is considered to have both a mother and a father, but he was conceived solely by his mother’s own will (Leadbetter). Hephaestus’ father Zeus betrayed Hera by having an affair with Metis which produced Athena (Leadbetter). In order to gain revenge for this perfidy, Hera conceived and bore Hephaestus alone (Leadbetter).
At birth Hephaestus had a lame leg; this enraged his mother, Hera (Baker). In response to his imperfection she threw him right off of her palace on Mount Olympus and let him fall for an entire day down to the sea (Leadbetter).
After Hera’s utter disappointment at the sight of Hephaestus and her decision to literally throw him away, he was rescued by two sea nymphs: Thetis and Eurynome (Baker). The sea nymphs took him back to the island of Lemnos, where the people accepted him with open arms and raised him (Leadbetter). Hephaestus made Lemnos his home, and built his forges under a volcano there (Leadbetter).
As the God of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, craftspeople, fine arts, and the protector of blacksmiths Hephaestus was always busy (The Glory). Hephaestus was worshipped in several manufacturing centres, as well as in Athens where his temple is located (Leadbetter). Although Hephaestus was considered misfortunate from a ...

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...s Cited

Baker, Rosalie F. "The 'FIERY' God." Calliope 18.10 (2008): 30. Primary Search. Web. 21 Apr.
2014..

Brasiliense, LB, S. Safavi-Abbasi, NR Crawford, RF Spetzler, and N. Theodore. "The Legacy of
Hephaestus: The First Craniotomy." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S.
National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. .

"Hephaestus." Hephaestus. MCMXCV - MMIX Encyclopedia Mythica, 02 Feb. 2006. Web. 16 Apr.
2014. .

"The Glory That Was Greece." The Glory That Was Greece. Leigh T. Denault, 2003. Web. 19 Apr.
2014. .

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