Hephaestus

By S.S.

Hephaestus was the god of metalworking and was very skilled. With the amazing skills he had an ugly body and was lame, because of this he was rejected as a child. Being lame did not stop the ancient Greeks from adoring him and honoring Hephaestus and his legacy of metalworking lives on through the ages.  Along with Hephaestus’ awesome skill was the ugly body that he had and was the reason he was rejected as a child. When he was born Zeus was so mad that his child was ugly he threw Hephaestus off Mt. Olympus. Hephaestus sailed threw through the air for a day and a night and then landed on the island of Lemnos broken and injured. He was found on the island by Thetis, the gentle sea nymph that nursed him back to health. He was eventually forgiven by Zeus and he was let back onto Mt Olympus. He legs were never strong afterwards, so he created two robots out of silver and gold that helped him about and in the forge. Hephaestus had great skill and precision in metalworking, and he was just the man for the job. He was the protector of all smiths and the maker of the gods’ powerful weapons and their great thrones on Mt. Olympus. Hephaestus was lame, which associated him directly with the smiths of Greece because many of them were lame so they could not serve in the military. One of Hephaestus’ most skillful pieces was the first woman; he made her when Zeus was angry at men for stealing fire from the gods and their punishment was to have women on the Earth. With all of Hephaestus’ wonderful works, the ancient Greeks honored him and some of their respect and admiration lives on today. He was the first recognized extremely skilled smith of the time and because of that the Greeks respected him. His name would go down in history as the greatest smith and forges might share his name because of his skill. He was also the god of the ceremony where children are formally admitted to city organization. He is sometimes known as one of the patrons of handicraft along with Athena the Goddess of War. Hephaestus’ magnificent skill and accomplishments shine over his body and he will always be remembered as the master metalworker of the gods.