Editing Hephaestus (section)

=== Return to Olympus ===
<!--[[Hera]] redirects here-->
Hephaestus was one of the Olympians who returned to Olympus after being exiled.

In an archaic story,<ref group="lower-alpha">Features within the narrative suggest to Kerenyi and others that it is archaic; the most complete literary account, however, is a late one, in the Roman rhetorician [[Libanios]], according to Hedreen (2004).</ref><ref name="Hedreen_2004">Guy Hedreen (2004) The Return of Hephaistos, Dionysiac Processional Ritual and the Creation of a Visual Narrative. ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', '''124''' (2004:38–64) p.&nbsp;38 and note.</ref>{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=156&ndash;158}} Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by forging her a magical golden throne, which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to stand up again.<ref group="lower-alpha">A section "The Binding of Hera" is devoted to this archaic theme in Kerenyi (1951, pp&nbsp;156&ndash;158), who refers to this "ancient story", which is one of the "tales of guileful deeds performed by cunning gods, mostly at a time when they had not joined the family on Olympus".</ref> The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he refused, saying "I have no mother".{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=156&ndash;158}} It was Ares who undertook the task of fetching Hephaestus at first, but he was threatened by the fire god with torches.<ref>[[Libanius]], ''[[Progymnasmata]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=kRi-If9IAOYC&pg=PA15 7]</ref> At last, [[Dionysus]], the god of wine, fetched him, intoxicated him with wine, and took the subdued smith back to Olympus on the back of a mule accompanied by revelers &ndash; a scene that sometimes appears on painted pottery of Attica and of Corinth.<ref>Axel Seeberg (1965) Hephaistos Rides Again. ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', '''85''', pp.&nbsp;102&#x2013;109, describes and illustrates four pieces of Corinthian painted pottery with the theme</ref><ref>A black red-figure [[calpis]] in the collection of Marsden J. Perry was painted with the return of Hephaestus (Eldridge, 1917, pp&nbsp;38&#x2013;54).</ref><ref name="Eldridge_1917">L. G. Eldridge (1917) An Unpublished Calpis. ''American Journal of Archaeology'', '''21'''.1, pp&nbsp;38&#x2013;54 (January–March 1917).</ref> According to [[Fabulae|Hyginus]], Zeus promised anything to Hephaestus in order to free Hera. Hephaestus asked for the hand of Athena in marriage (urged by [[Poseidon]], who was hostile toward her), leading to his attempted rape of the goddess, who rejected his advances.<ref>Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#166 166]</ref> In another version, he demanded to be married to Aphrodite in order to release Hera, and his mother fulfilled the request.<ref>Slater, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=CEEABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 199-200] "And [Hera] was released only when she swore to the truth of his birth story, or, in another version, promised Aphrodite to her son."</ref>

The theme of the ''return of Hephaestus'', popular among the Attic vase-painters whose wares were favored among the [[Etruscans]], may have introduced this theme to Etruria.<ref group="lower-alpha">The return of Hephaestus was painted on the Etruscan tomb at the "Grotta Campana" near [[Veii]] was identified by Petersen (1902); the "well-known subject" was doubted in this instance by Harmon (1912).</ref><ref name="Petersen_19022">Petersen (1902) ''Über die älteste etruskische Wandmälerei'', pp&nbsp;149[[wiktionary:ff.|ff.]] Rome.</ref><ref name="Harmon_19122">A. M. Harmon (1912) The Paintings of the Grotta Campana. ''American Journal of Archaeology'', 16.1, 1&#x2013;10 (January–March 1912);</ref> In the vase-painters' portrayal of the procession, Hephaestus was mounted on a mule or a horse, with Dionysus holding the bridle and carrying Hephaestus' tools (including a [[Labrys|double-headed axe]]). In the painted scenes, the padded dancers and phallic figures of the Dionysan throng leading the mule show that the procession was a part of the [[dithyrambic]] celebrations that were the forerunners of the [[Satyr play|satyr plays]] of fifth-century Athens.<ref>The significance of the subject for the pre-history of Greek drama is argued by Webster (1958, pp&nbsp;43[[wiktionary:ff.|ff.]]) and more recently by Hedreen (2004, pp&nbsp;38–64).</ref><ref name="Webster_19582">T.B.L. Webster (1958) Some thoughts on the pre-history of Greek drama. ''Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies'', '''5''', pp&nbsp;43[[wiktionary:ff.|ff.]]</ref> The traveller [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] spoke of having seen a painting of Hephaestus in the temple of Dionysus in Athens. The temple had been built in the 5th century, but may have been decorated at any time before the 2nd century CE. When Pausanias saw it, he said:
{{Blockquote|There are paintings here &ndash; Dionysus bringing Hephaestus up to heaven. One of the Greek legends is that Hephaestus, when he was born, was thrown down by Hera. In revenge he sent as a gift a golden chair with invisible fetters. When Hera sat down she was held fast, and Hephaestus refused to listen to any other of the gods except Dionysus &ndash; in him he reposed the fullest trust &ndash; and after making him drunk Dionysus brought him to heaven.|author=[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]|source=1.20.3}}