Editing Hephaestus (section)

===Consorts, victims and children===

==== Hephaestus and Aphrodite ====
[[File:Guillemot, Alexandre Charles - Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] Surprised by [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]]'' by Alexandre Charles Guillemot (1827)]]
Though married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite had an affair with [[Ares]], the god of war. Eventually, Hephaestus discovered Aphrodite's affair through [[Helios]], the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap during one of their trysts. While the lovers lay together in bed, Hephaestus ensnared them in an unbreakable chain-link net so small as to be invisible and dragged them to Mount Olympus to shame them in front of the other gods for retribution. 

The gods laughed at the sight of these naked lovers, and [[Poseidon]] persuaded Hephaestus to free them in return for a guarantee that Ares would pay the adulterer's fine, or that he, Poseidon, would pay it himself. Hephaestus states in ''The Odyssey'' that he would return Aphrodite to her father and demand back his bride price. The [[Emily Wilson (classicist)|Emily Wilson]] translation depicts Hephaestus demanding/imploring Zeus before Poseidon offers, however, leading the reader to assume Zeus did not give back the "price" Hephaestus paid for his daughter and that this was the reason Poseidon intervened.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Emily |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PpJYDgAAQBAJ&q=EMILY+WILSON%E2%80%99S+TRANSLATION++THE+ODYSSEY |title=The Odyssey |date=7 November 2017 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=9780393634563 |pages=BOOK 8, LINES 265–367}}</ref>  Some versions of the myth state that Zeus did not return the dowry, and in fact Aphrodite "simply charmed her way back again into her husband’s good graces."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richardson |first1=Donald |title=Great Zeus and All His Children |date=1984 |publisher=Prentice-Hall |isbn=9780133649505 |page=26}}</ref> In the ''[[Iliad]]'', Hephaestus is described as married to the [[Charites|Grace]] [[Charis (mythology)|Charis]] during the events depicted in the [[Trojan War]],<ref name="auto">[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 18.382</ref> while in the ''[[Theogony]]'', he is married to the Grace [[Aglaia (Grace)|Aglaea]].<ref name=":hesd" /> The later ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' by [[Nonnus]] explicitly states that, though Hephaestus and Aphrodite were once married (she is referred to as his "ancient wife"), that they have since separated and Hephaestus is now married to Charis.<ref name="nonnus 29.317">[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/529#29.317 29.317]</ref>

In a much later, interpolated detail, Ares put the young soldier [[Alectryon (mythology)|Alectryon]], by their door to warn them of Helios's arrival as he suspected that Helios would tell Hephaestus of Aphrodite's infidelity if the two were discovered, but Alectryon fell asleep on guard duty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gallagher |first=David |url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789042027091/B9789042027091-s006.xml |title=Avian and Serpentine |date=2009-01-01 |publisher=Brill Rodopi |isbn=978-90-420-2709-1 |language=en}}</ref> Helios discovered the two and alerted Hephaestus, as Ares, in rage, turned Alectryon into a [[rooster]], which always crows at dawn when the sun is about to rise.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Gallus'' [http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:dialogues:the-rooster 3], see also scholiast on [[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Birds (play)|Birds]]'' [https://archive.org/details/scholiaonavesar01whitgoog/page/n272/mode/2up?view=theater 835]; [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]], ''Ad Odysseam'' 1.300; Ausonius, 26.2.27; Libanius, ''Progymnasmata'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=kRi-If9IAOYC&pg=PA31 2.26.]</ref>

The [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebans]] told that the union of Ares and Aphrodite produced [[Harmonia (mythology)|Harmonia]], but that of the union of Hephaestus with Aphrodite, there was usually no issue. Because Harmonia was conceived during Aphrodite's marriage to Hephaestus, for revenge, on Harmonia's wedding day to [[Cadmus]], Hephaestus gifted her with a finely worked but cursed [[Necklace of Harmonia|necklace]] that brought immense suffering to her descendants, culminating with the story of [[Oedipus]].<ref>Roman Monica and Luke, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tOgWfjNIxoMC&pg=PT213 201]</ref>

The author of ''[[Octavia (play)|Octavia]]'' (traditionally attributed to [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], but now agreed to not be his) writes that "[we] delude ourselves that [Eros] was born from Venus and sprung from the loins of Vulcan", implying the notion that Eros/Cupid was the son of Vulcan/Hephaestus was a decently common one in late antiquity.<ref>[[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Octavia (play)|Octavia]]'' [https://www.attalus.org/poetry/octavia.html 564]</ref> [[Nonnus]] also seemingly presents Eros as the son of Aphrodite and Hephaestus,<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca02nonnuoft/page/392/mode/2up?view=theater 29.333]</ref> but it has been suggested that the use of ''{{lang|grc|πολυφράδμων}}'' (a word that can mean both 'wise' and 'cunning') to describe Aphrodite and the emphasis given in Hephaestus fearing that Eros would be born crippled like him, only for the child to be abled-bodied, strongly implies that Nonnus means for Ares to be understood as the real father, while Aphrodite passed her son as Hephaestus'.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/178/mode/2up?view=theater 5.135–43]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Shorrock |first=Robert |title=The Challenge of Epic: Allusive Engagement in the Dionysiaca of Nonnus |date=2001 |publisher=BRILL publications |isbn=978-90-04-11795-2 |series=Mnemosyne |volume=20 |pages=54–5}}</ref> Ulrich von Wilamovitz's conjecture of a badly preserved scholium on the ''[[Argonautica]]'' to read that [[Ibycus]] made Eros the son of Aphrodite and Hephaestus is widely accepted by scholars, but cannot be proven as the ancient text is unreadable.<ref>{{cite book |last=Breitenberger |first=Barbara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCCl0yBS4UsC |title=Aphrodite and Eros: The Development of Erotic Mythology in Early Greek Poetry and Cult |date=May 13, 2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-415-96823-2 |location=NYC, New York |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MCCl0yBS4UsC&pg=PT171 171–172]}}</ref>

Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek [[Phrygia]]n and [[Thrace|Thracian]] mystery cult of the [[Kabeiroi]], who were also called the ''Hephaistoi'', "the Hephaestus-men", in Lemnos. One of the three Lemnian tribes also called themselves Hephaestion and claimed direct descent from the god.

==== Hephaestus and Athena ====
[[File:Athena Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus.jpg|thumb|''[[Athena]] Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus'' by [[Paris Bordone]] (between c. 1555 and c. 1560)]]
Hephaestus is to the male gods as Athena is to the female goddesses, for he was believed to have taught the mortals crafts and arts alongside Athena.<ref>Od. vi. 233, xxiii. 160. Hymn. in Vaulc. 2. &c.</ref> At Athens, they had temples and festivals in common.<ref group="lower-alpha">See Dict of Ant. s. v. Hêphaisteia, Chalkeia.</ref> Both were believed to have great healing powers, and Lemnian earth (terra Lemnia), from the spot on which Hephaestus had fallen, was believed to cure madness, snakebite and haemorrhage; priests of Hephaestus knew how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes.<ref>Philostr. Heroic. v. 2; Eustath. ad Hom. p.&nbsp;330; Dict. Cret. ii. 14.</ref> He was represented in the temple of Athena Chalcioecus (Athena of the Bronze House<ref>The Museum of Goddess Athena, [http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Sparta/index.htm Sanctuary of Athena Chalkiokos at Sparta]</ref>) at Sparta, in the act of delivering his mother;<ref>Paus. iii. 17. § 3</ref> on the chest of Cypselus, giving Achilles's armor to Thetis;<ref>v. 19. § 2</ref> and at Athens there was the famous statue of Hephaestus by Alcamenes, in which his physical disability was only subtly portrayed.<ref>Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 30; Val. Max. viii. 11. § 3</ref>  He had almost "no cults except in Athens".<ref name="Greek Folk Religion" /> The Greeks frequently placed miniature statues of Hephaestus near their hearths, and these figures are the oldest of all his representations.<ref>Herod. iii. 37; Aristoph. Av. 436; Callim. Hymnn. in Dian. 60</ref> In [[Athens]], there is a [[Temple of Hephaestus]], the ''Hephaesteum'' (miscalled the "Theseum") near the [[agora]]. Athena is sometimes thought to be the "soulmate" of Hephaestus.<ref>Stein, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JwgtCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11], which goes on to say: "Yet a kind of cloudy mysteriousness shrouds their relationship; no single tradition was ever clearly established on this subject, and so what confronts us is a blurred image based on rumors and conflicting reports."</ref> Nonetheless, Hephaestus "seeks impetuously and passionately to make love to Athena: at the moment of climax she pushes him aside, and his semen falls to the earth where it impregnates Gaia."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillman |first1=James |title=Facing the Gods |publisher=Spring Pubns |year=1980 |isbn=978-0882143125}}</ref>

An Athenian [[founding myth]] tells that the city's patron goddess, [[Athena]], refused a union with Hephaestus. Pseudo-Apollodorus{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} records an archaic legend, which claims that Hephaestus once attempted to rape Athena, but she pushed him away, causing him to ejaculate on her thigh.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}<ref name="Burkert-143">{{citation |last=Burkert |first=Walter |title=Greek Religion |page=143 |year=1985 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-36281-0 |author-link=Walter Burkert}}</ref> Athena wiped the [[semen]] off using a tuft of [[wool]], which she tossed into the dust, impregnating [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] and causing her to give birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]],{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}<ref name="Burkert-143" /> whom Athena adopted as her own child.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}} 

The Roman mythographer Hyginus{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} records a similar story in which Hephaestus demanded Zeus to let him marry Athena since he was the one who had smashed open Zeus's skull, allowing Athena to be born.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}} Zeus agreed to this and Hephaestus and Athena were married,{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}} but, when Hephaestus was about to consummate the union, Athena vanished from the bridal bed, causing him to ejaculate on the floor, thus impregnating Gaia with Erichthonius.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}<ref>Hyginus made an imaginative etymology for ''Erichthonius'', of strife (''[[Eris (mythology)|Eris]]'') between Athena and Hephaestus and the Earth-child (''chthonios'').</ref> Nonnus refers to this tale of Erechthonius being born of the Earth after a "makeshift marriage", but says that Athena then nursed Erechthonius on her "manlike breast".<ref name="nonnus 29.317" />

==== Others ====
According to most versions, Hephaestus's consort is Aphrodite. However, some sources say that Hephaestus is married to one of the [[Charites]]. In Book XVIII of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'', the consort of Hephaestus is [[Charis (mythology)|Charis]], with whom he lives in a bronze-wrought home on Olympus.<ref name="auto" /> The same name, Charis, is used later in [[Lucian]]'s ''[[Dialogues of the Gods]]''<ref>[[Lucian]], ''[[Dialogues of the Gods]]'', [https://www.theoi.com/Text/LucianDialoguesGods1.html#17 Hermes and Apollo (II)]</ref> and [[Nonnus]]'s ''[[Dionysiaca]]''.<ref name="nonnus 29.317" /> However, [[Hesiod]] names the member of the Charites who is married to Hephaestus as [[Aglaia (Grace)|Aglaea]],<ref name=":hesd">Hesiod, ''[[Theogony]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D938 945]</ref> and the [[Orphic]] Fragments compiled by [[Otto Kern]] say that by Hephaestus, Aglaea became mother of [[Eucleia]], [[Eupheme (deity)|Eupheme]], [[Euthenia]], and [[Philophrosyne]].<ref name="orphic182">[[Orphic]] [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/212/mode/2up fr. 182 Kern, p. 213].</ref> Some scholars conclude that these references refer to the same goddess under different names,<ref>Bell, [https://archive.org/details/womenofclassical00bell/page/14/mode/2up?view=theater s.v. Aglaia (1), p. 15].</ref> although in the ''Dionysiaca'' both Aglaea and Charis appear as separate characters (Aglaea refers to Charis as a separate attendant of Aphrodite when speaking to [[Eros]]).<ref>Nonnus, ''Dionysiaca'' [https://topostext.org/work/529#33.51 33.51 ff.]</ref> [[Károly Kerényi]] notes that "charis" also means "the delightfulness of art" and supposes that Aphrodite is viewed as a work of art, speculating that Aphrodite could also have been called Charis as an alternative name, for in the ''Odyssey'' Homer suddenly makes her his wife.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kerényi |first1=Karl |title=The gods of the Greeks |date=1974 |publisher=London : Thames and Hudson |page=94 |isbn=9780500270486 |url=https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/72/mode/2up?q=charis |access-date=13 June 2021}}</ref>

On the island of Lemnos, however, Hephaestus' consort was the sea [[nymph]] [[Cabeiro]], by whom he was the father of two metalworking gods named the [[Cabeiri]]. In Sicily, he had another consort, the nymph [[Aetna (nymph)|Aetna]], and their sons were two gods of Sicilian [[geysers]] called [[Palici]], who are elsewhere called the sons of [[Zeus]] by Aetna, or of Zeus by [[Thalia (nymph)|Thalia]] (another daughter of Hephaestus), or of [[Adranos]].<ref>Witczak and Zawiasa, pp. 55–57.</ref>

Like many male Greek gods, Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. The following is a list of Hephaestus's offspring, by various mothers. Beside each offspring, the earliest source to record the parentage is given, along with the century to which the source (in some cases approximately) dates.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
! scope="col" style="width: 100pt;" | Offspring
! scope="col" style="width: 95pt;" | Mother
! scope="col" style="width: 55pt;" | Source
! scope="col" style="width: 70pt;" | Date
! class="unsortable" scope="col" style="width: 10pt;" |
|-
| [[Eucleia]], [[Euthenia]], [[Eupheme (deity)|Eupheme]], [[Philophrosyne]]
| [[Aglaia (Grace)|Aglaea]]
| [[Orphic]] fr.
| data-sort-value=50 |
| <ref>West, p. 221; Orphic fr. 272 II Bernabé (pp. 230&ndash;231) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/212/mode/2up fr. 182 Kern, p. 213]].</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]]
| [[Gaia]]
| Hyg. ''[[Fabulae|Fab.]]''
| data-sort-value=17 | 1st cent. AD
| <ref>Kerenyi, p. 123; Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#166 166]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.6 1.2.6]; ''[[Pauly-Wissowa|RE]]'', [https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/RE:Erichthonios_2 Erichthonius (2)].</ref>
|-
| [[Atthis (mythology)|Atthis]]
| [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollod.]]
| data-sort-value=18 | 1st/2nd cent. AD
| <ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', s.v. Erichthonius (1); [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.14.6 3.14.6].</ref>
|-
| The [[Palici]]
| [[Aetna (nymph)|Aetna]]
| [[Silenus Calatinus|Silenos]]
| data-sort-value=13 | 2nd cent. BC
| <ref>Witczak and Zawiasa, pp. 57; [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], s.v. Παλίκη [= ''[[Brill's New Jacoby|BNJ]]'' 175 F3].</ref>
|-
| The [[Cabeiri]], the Cabeirides (nymphs)
| rowspan="2" | [[Cabeiro]]
| [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]]
| data-sort-value=7 | 5th cent. BC
| <ref>Hard, p. 220; ''[[Brill's New Jacoby|BNJ]]'' 3 F48; [= [[Strabo]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng1:10.3.21 10.3.21]].</ref>
|-
| Camillus
| [[Acusilaus]]
| data-sort-value=6 | 6th/5th cent. BC
| <ref>Hard, p. 220; ''[[Brill's New Jacoby|BNJ]]'' 2 F20; [= [[Strabo]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng1:10.3.21 10.3.21]].</ref>
|-
| [[Periphetes]]
| Anticlea
| [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]
| data-sort-value=18 | 1st/2nd cent. AD
| <ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.16.1 3.16.1].</ref>
|-
| Ardalus
| rowspan="6" | ''No mother mentioned''
|
|
| <ref>Grimal, s.v. Hephaestus, p. 192.</ref>
|-
| [[Cercyon]]
| Hyg. ''[[Fabulae|Fab.]]''
| data-sort-value=17 | 1st cent. AD
| <ref>Gantz, p. 253; Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#38 38].</ref>
|-
| [[Olenus]]
| Hyg. ''[[De astronomia|De astr.]]''
| data-sort-value=16 | 1st cent. BC/AD
| <ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=olenus-bio-1&highlight=olenus s.v. Olenus]; Hyginus, ''[[De astronomia]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.13.5 2.13.5].</ref>
|-
| [[Palaemon (Greek myth)|Palaemon]]
| [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollod.]]
| data-sort-value=18 | 1st/2nd cent. AD
| <ref>Grimal, s.v. Hephaestus, p. 192; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.16 1.9.16].</ref>
|-
| Pylius
| [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photios]]
| data-sort-value=33 | 9th cent. AD
| <ref>[[Photius]], ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Bibliotheca]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/237#190.48 190.48].</ref>
|-
| [[Thalia (nymph)|Thalia]]
| [[Aeschylus]]
| data-sort-value=7 | 5th cent. BC
| <ref>Witczak and Zawiasa, pp. 56.</ref>
|}