In art, Hephaestus is usually depicted as bending over an anvil or walking with the assistance of a cane. Hephaestus riding donkey, Athenian red-figure skyphos C5th B.C., Toledo Museum of Art. [22], It is recorded that during the Vulcanalia people used to hang their clothes and fabrics under the sun. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [19] Vulcan became associated like his Greek counterpart with the constructive use of fire in metalworking. However, that was also when he realized that he was no mere mortal: he was a god. As the son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and Juno, the queen of the gods, Vulcan should have been quite handsome, but baby Vulcan was small and ugly with a red, bawling face. When Mercury caught wind of this extremely serious extramarital affair, he decided to let Vulcan know. Vulcan was also involved in a particular incident revolving around his half-sister Minerva. Cacus and Caca would represent the metallurgic and the domestic fire, projections of Vulcan and of Vesta. As a result, he turned to Vulcan to craft something that would plague them for days to come. No, we arent talking about Netflix and chocolate milk. Some scholars think that Vulcan might be the unknown god who impregnated goddesses Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste and Feronia at Anxur. Vulcan was a god who could avert this threat in Roman thought, but great care was still taken to minimize the chance of fire in the city. Regardless, Vulcans rage and Vesuvius immediate eruption caused hundreds of innocent deaths and forever marked mother natures might upon the pages of history. He even made slave-girls of gold to wait on him and do his bidding. In the case of Caeculus, his mother was impregnated by a spark that dropped on her womb from the hearth while she was sitting nearby. This god was associated with Hephaestus because of the use of fire in metalworking. Thetis was a sea nymph and found Vulcan. However, Hephaestus father seems to be unnamed which makes his backstory all the more depressing. *Volca could therefore be a cognate of the Sanskrit words ulk ("darting flame") and/or vrcas- ("brilliance, glare"). [10] Meid and Vasily Abaev have proposed on their side a matching theonym in the Ossetic legendary smith of the Nart saga Kurd-Al-Wrgon ("the Alan smith Wrgon"), and postulated an original PIE smith god named *wlknos. This would make the mountain erupt every time it happened. But unbeknownst to many, Vulcan suffered the most out of all other gods simply due to his appearance and how he was born. His fires were constructive and well-contained. [6], The origin of the name is unclear. Most historians believe that the Italian god Vulcan was partially based on had not been a craftsman, but had instead been a more elemental deity of fire. The story of an entire city getting eradicated by an eruption and the subsequent volcanic ash is no stranger to the pages of history. Vulcan sank to the depths of the ocean, where the sea-nymph Thetis found him and took him to her underwater grotto, wanting to raise him as her own son. After early civilizations, ancient Rome and Greece were next in line to reap the benefits of this secret of the gods. Vulcan. The tales about Vulcan, who is sometimes called Mulciber (the smelter), are all based on Greek myths about Hephaestus. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. The Gods agreed any humility was worth being with Venus. Jupiter also concentrated on protecting the Roman state. His mother was Juno, queen of the Gods. The son of Zeus* and Hera* (or, in some versions, of Hera alone), Hephaestus . Into its upper surface are dug several narrow channels and in front of it are the remains of a draining channel made of tufaceous slabs. Pearls were his toys. Gabbler. Most historians believe that the Italian god Vulcan was partially based on had not been a craftsman, but had instead been a more elemental deity of fire. The Ludi Vulcanalici, were held just once on August 23, 20 BC, within the temple precinct of Vulcan, and used by Augustus to mark the treaty with Parthia and the return of the legionary standards that had been lost at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC. While the myths remained the same, the gods were somewhat different. The Roman Vulcan remained a god of smithing, but became more closely associated with fire than he had been in Greece. Robust in stature, he is seen . When one of the pilfered cows bellowed, Hercules found Cacus . Pliny the Elder records that near Modena fire came out from soil statis Vulcano diebus, on fixed days devoted to Vulcan. [21], The Vulcanalia was part of the cycle of the four festivities of the second half of August (Consualia on August 21, Vulcanalia on 23, Opiconsivia on 25 and Vulturnalia on 27) related to the agrarian activities of that month and in symmetric correlation with those of the second half of July (Lucaria on July 19 and 21, Neptunalia on 23 and Furrinalia on 25). Their meaning is quite clear: at the divine level Vulcan impregnates a virgin goddess and generates Jupiter, the king of the gods; at the human level he impregnates a local virgin (perhaps of royal descent) and generates a king. While he made the soil richer and protected the city, he could also represent a destructive force. W. Meid "Etrusc. Vulcan is also said to have created thrones for all the other deities on Mount Olympus, as he never compromised quality. Having developed sympathy for mankind, Prometheus decided to defy Jupiter and trick him into gifting humanity fire. The early Italian gods did not have the human characteristics that those of Greece did, so they would have had no need for the weapons and armor a smith would create. She would be the Goddess of love and beauty known as Venus. Like his Roman counterpart, Hephaestus was the Greek god of fire and blacksmithery. Vulcan. Notes This character or object is an adaptation of Vulcan (mythology), a character or object in traditional stories. He made an unbreakable gold net designed as a trap for Mars and Venus. We cant just talk about Vulcan without taking a closer look at his Greek equivalent in Hephaestus. As a smith, he used fire to create tools, armor, weapons, and luxury items. VULCAN Meaning of Vulcan The god of fire, the forge and the blacksmiths. Mars. Like most Greek gods, Hephaestus was combined with local deities when he was adopted by the Romans. His role is often a "deus ex machina" one, but he and his wife (called Venus) are still essential to the overall plot. Short-tempered and quick to draw the trigger, Vulcans anger has been the center of attention in many myths in Roman mythology. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Buildings were often destroyed and finally, in 64 AD, a devastating fire engulfed much of the city. It was the highest administrative position in the town of Ostia. As the son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and Juno, the queen of the gods, Vulcan should have been quite handsome, but baby Vulcan was small and ugly with a red, bawling face. The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. To appease Vulcan during this dangerous time, fish and small animals were thrown into bonfires. His chief festival, the Volcanalia, was held on August 23 and was marked by a rite of unknown significance: the heads of Roman families threw small fish into the fire. She took him to her underwater home and raised him as her son. He is not a character in the novel and is now the "god of guns" in this version, using the forge at his ammunition factory as a symbolic representation of a volcano. War, Violence, Strength (pertaining to violent power), Fighting (the physical aspect), Violent Conquest, Sadism, Torture (physical and psychological), Brutality, Courage, Recklessness, Athleticism, Physical Endurance, Violent Rape, Extermination (of animals, insects, the enemy, ethnic groups, etc. At first, Vulcan refused to believe it, but his anger started to swell so much that sparks began to fly off the summit of Mount Etna. At Ostia the cult of the god, as well as his sacerdos, was the most important of the town. In case you are wondering who they are in Greek tales, they are Ares, Enyo and Hebe, respectively. When the Greek gods were combined with those of Italy, their mythology was largely the same as it had been in Greek literature. At the same time a red bull-calf and red boar were added to the sacrifices made on the Vulcanalia, at least in that region of the city.[29]. Another meaning of Vulcan is related to male fertilizing power. [63], According to Virgil, Vulcan was the father of Caeculus.[64]. Regardless, both Vulcan and Hephaestus are masters of their craft. God of War. Vulcan's siblings in Roman mythology included the star-studded lineup of Mars, Bellona and Juventas. In this illustration, Mars is depicted on horseback. Nonetheless, the Roman concept and need of a deity looking over fire, blacksmithery and volcanoes were much needed in the pages of mythology. The Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD was the most devastating, resulting in the destruction of two-thirds of the city. The Roman Vulcan remained a god of smithing, but became more closely associated with fire than he had been in Greece. This chain was used to bind Prometheus and keep him confined to a rock. However, the most famous of Vulcans creations are the lightning bolts that Jupiter uses to deliver absolution. On the third day he beat the cooled metal into shapes: bracelets, chains, swords and shields. She was revered as the queen of the Underworld but was considered a friendly and helpful deity because she brought new life with her each spring. Juno became suspicious. [80], Another temple was erected to the god before 215 BC in the Campus Martius, near the Circus Flaminius, where games in his honour were held during the festival of the Volcanalia.[70]. Vulcan wanted to help relieve his fathers pain, so he took a large ax. His cult is located outside the boundaries of the original city to avoid the risk of fires caused by the god in the city itself. In Dumzil's interpretation the Vulturnalia were associated with the protection of riping grapes from a hot and dry southwestern wind named Vulturnus, not with the river Tiber, as Mommsen had supposed, or Vulturnus of Campania. 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