Chapter 2: The Olympians
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♠ Stesichoros 234 PMG – Poetae Melici Graeci, p. 123, ed. D. L. Page. Oxford 1962.
♠ Homer, Odyssey 15.115-19
I will give thee a well-wrought mixing-bowl. It is all of silver, and with gold are the rims thereof gilded, the work of Hephaestus; and the warrior Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me as I came thither; and now I am minded to give it to thee. Greek Text
♠ Homer, Odyssey 4.615-19
I will give thee a well-wrought mixing bowl. All of silver it is, and with gold are the rims thereof gilded, the work of Hephaestus; and the warrior Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me as I came thither, and now I am minded to give it to thee. Greek Text
♠ Homer, Odyssey 7.91-94
On either side of the door there stood gold and silver dogs, which Hephaestus had fashioned with cunning skill to guard the palace of great-hearted Alcinous; immortal were they and ageless all their days. Greek Text
♠ Hesiod, Hoiai (The Catalogue of Women) fr 209 MW – Fragmenta Hesiodea, pp. 106-7, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
♠ Anakreon 497 PMG – Poetae Melici Graeci, p. 230 ed. D. L. Page. Oxford 1962.
♠ Hesiod Hoiai (The Catalogue of Women) fr 141 MW – Fragmenta Hesiodea, pp. 68-69, ed. R. Merkelbach and M. L. West. Oxford 1967.
♠ Hesiod, Aspis 122-23
So he said, and put upon his legs greaves of shining bronze, the splendid gift of Hephaestus. Greek Text
♠ Simonides 568 PMG – Poetae Melici Graeci, p. 293 ed. D. L. Page. Oxford 1962.
♠ Homer, Iliad 5.22-24
Nay, nor would he himself have escaped black fate, had not Hephaestus guarded him, and saved him, enfolding him in darkness, that his aged priest might not be utterly fordone with grief. Greek Text
♠ Homer, Iliad 21.330-82
And forthwith she spake unto Hephaestus, her dear son: “Rouse thee, Crook-foot, my child! for it was against thee that we deemed eddying Xanthus to be matched in fight. Nay, bear thou aid with speed, and put forth thy flames unstintedly. But I will hasten and rouse from the sea a fierce blast of the West Wind and the white South, that shall utterly consume the dead Trojans and their battle gear, ever driving on the evil flame; and do thou along the banks of Xanthus burn up his trees, and beset him about with fire, nor let him anywise turn thee back with soft words or with threatenings; neither stay thou thy fury, save only when I call to thee with a shout; then do thou stay thy unwearied fire.” So spake she, and Hephaestus made ready wondrous-blazing fire. First on the plain was the fire kindled, and burned the dead, the many dead that lay thick therein, slain by Achilles; and all the plain was parched, and the bright water was stayed. And as when in harvest-time the North Wind quickly parcheth again a freshly-watered orchard, and glad is he that tilleth it; so was the whole plain parched, and the dead he utterly consumed; and then against the River he turned his gleaming flame. Burned were the elms and the willows and the tamarisks, burned the lotus and the rushes and the galingale, that round the fair streams of the river grew abundantly; tormented were the eels and the fishes in the eddies, and in the fair streams they plunged this way and that, sore distressed by the blast of Hephaestus of many wiles. Burned too was the mighty River, and he spake and addressed the god:“Hephaestus, there is none of the gods that can vie with thee, nor will I fight thee, ablaze with fire as thou art. Cease thou from strife,, and as touching the Trojans, let goodly Achilles forthwith drive them forth from out their city; what part have I in strife or in bearing aid?” Continue Reading. Greek Text
♠ Homer, Odyssey 8.266-366
But the minstrel struck the chords in prelude to his sweet lay and sang of the love of Ares and Aphrodite of the fair crown, how first they lay together in the house of Hephaestus secretly; and Ares gave her many gifts, and shamed the bed of the lord Hephaestus. But straightway one came to him with tidings, even Helius, who had marked them as they lay together in love. And when Hephaestus heard the grievous tale, he went his way to his smithy, pondering evil in the deep of his heart, and set on the anvil block the great anvil and forged bonds which might not be broken or loosed, that the lovers might bide fast where they were. But when he had fashioned the snare in his wrath against Ares, he went to his chamber where lay his bed, and everywhere round about the bed-posts he spread the bonds, and many too were hung from above, from the roof-beams, fine as spiders’ webs, so that no one even of the blessed gods could see them, so exceeding craftily were they fashioned. But when he had spread all his snare about the couch, he made as though he would go to Lemnos, that well-built citadel, which is in his eyes far the dearest of all lands. And no blind watch did Ares of the golden rein keep, when he saw Hephaestus, famed for his handicraft, departing, but he went his way to the house of famous Hephaestus, eager for the love of Cytherea of the fair crown. Now she had but newly come from the presence of her father, the mighty son of Cronos, and had sat her down. And Ares came into the house and clasped her hand and spoke and addressed her: “Come, love, let us to bed and take our joy, couched together. For Hephaestus is no longer here in the land, but has now gone, I ween, to Lemnos, to visit the Sintians of savage speech.” Continue reading. Greek Text
♠ Pherekydes 3F48 – Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 1, p. 75, ed. F. Jacoby, 2d ed. Leiden 1957.
Pherekydes says that nine Korybantes were born from Apollo and Rhetia, and that they took up residence in Samothrake. From Kabeiro, daughter of Proteus, and Hephaistos three Kabeiroi and three nymphs called Kabeirides were born, and sacred rites were instituted for each of the triads. (Transl. E. Bianchelli)
♠ Apollonios of Rhodes, Argonautika 1.202-4
With him came Palaemonius, son of Olenian Lernus, of Lernus by repute, but his birth was from Hephaestus; and so he was crippled in his feet, but his bodily frame and his valour no one would dare to scorn. Greek Text
♠ Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.436-37
By thee the land of Epidaure behelde the clubbish sonne
Of Vulcane dead. Latin Text
♠ ApB 3.16.1 – Apollodoros, Bibliotheke (Library)
Aethra bore to Aegeus a son Theseus, and when he was grown up, he pushed away the rock and took up the sandals and the sword, and hastened on foot to Athens. And he cleared the road, which had been beset by evildoers. For first in Epidaurus he slew Periphetes, son of Hephaestus and Anticlia, who was surnamed the Clubman from the club which he carried. For being crazy on his legs he carried an iron club, with which he despatched the passers-by. That club Theseus wrested from him and continued to carry about. Greek Text
♠ Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.1.4
For Theseus rid of evildoers the road from Troezen to Athens, killing those whom I have enumerated and, in sacred Epidaurus, Periphetes, thought to be the son of Hephaestus, who used to fight with a bronze club. Greek Text
♠ Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.18.13
Athena is running away from Hephaestus, who chases her. Greek Text
♠ Danais fr 2 PEG – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, p. 122, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
♠ Hellanikos 4F39 – Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 1, p. 119, ed. F. Jacoby, 2d ed. Leiden 1957.
♠ Pseudo-Erathosthenes, Katasterismoi 13 – Mythographi Graeci vol. 3.1, pp. 16-18, ed. A. Olivieri. Leipzig 1897.
♠ Kallimachos, Hekale fr 260.18-23 Pf – Callimachus, ed. R. Pfeiffer, pp. 247-53. 2 vols. Oxford 1949-53
♠ Scholia A at Homer, Iliad 2.547 – Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem, vol. I, p. 118, ed. W. Dindorf and E. Maass. Oxford 1875.
♠ ApB 3.14.6 – Apollodoros, Bibliotheke (Library)
Some say that this Erichthonius was a son of Hephaestus and Atthis, daughter of Cranaus, and some that he was a son of Hephaestus and Athena, as follows: Athena came to Hephaestus, desirous of fashioning arms. But he, being forsaken by Aphrodite, fell in love with Athena, and began to pursue her; but she fled. When he got near her with much ado (for he was lame), he attempted to embrace her; but she, being a chaste virgin, would not submit to him, and he dropped his seed on the leg of the goddess. In disgust, she wiped off the seed with wool and threw it on the ground; and as she fled and the seed fell on the ground, Erichthonius was produced. Greek Text
♠ Hyginus, Fabulae 166
When Vulcan was summoned to free his mother whom he had bound, in anger because he had been thrown from Heaven, he denied that he had a mother. When Father Liber had brought him back drunk to the council of the gods, he could not refuse (this) filial duty. Then he obtained freedom of choice from Jove, to gain whatever he sought from them. Therefore Neptune, because he was hostile to Minerva, urged Vulcan to ask for Minerva in marriage. This was granted, but Minerva, when he entered her chamber, defended her virginity with arms. As they struggled, some of his seed fell to earth, and from it a boy was born, the lower part of whose body was snake-formed. They named him Erichthonius, because eris in Greek means strife, and khthon means earth. When Minerva was secretly caring for him, she gave him in a chest to Aglaurus, Pandrosus, and Herse, daughters of Cecrops, to guard. Latin Text
Edited by Elena Bianchelli, Retired Senior Lecturer of Classical Languages and Culture, Univ. of Georgia, January 2021
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