Myth
It was a normal day on Mount Etna. Hephaestus was on the way to his forge under the volcano to take a final look at the new spear he forged for Athena before he bestowed it to her. As he arrived at his workshop, the energy felt a bit off. All his workers seemed uneasy when he entered. He slowly walked around and demanded an explanation. Then he sees that right in the middle of his workshop, his most prized forging hammer was missing. His anger starts building up and demands to know who did this. “Sir...it...it was…” one servant began to stutter. “Well don’t stand around stupidly like Koalemos, say it! I demand to know who has taken my forging hammer!”
“It was Ares sir. He is still angered about the confrontation that happened 2 weeks ago with Aphrodite,”
“For the love of Zeus, Ares was the one that committed adultery with my wife again! He has no right to be angry when he was the one that broke the holy law of matrimony first. He should be ashamed.”
“I'm going to Mount Olympus to find him and retrieve back what’s rightfully mine.” Hephawstus continues.
“Sir, I’m afraid lord Ares is not on Mount Olympus as of right now,”
“Then where is he?”
“He’s in the mortal world at the moment sir. He’s in the land down under,”
“Looks like I’m heading off then,” Hephaestus says then heads off.
*Meanwhile, deep in the forests of Australia* “Hmph, that limping forger is going to be coming after me soon.” says Ares. “What’s he going to do, stare me down and make me freeze like stone the way Medusa does? For someone that looks as ugly as a cyclops, his personality is much calmer compared to one. He’s going to need all the oceans of Poseidon to put out the fire building in my heart.” Ares then hears some twigs cracking behind him. “I see you have found me brother,”
“You have no right to call me brother after your countless mistakes. You still didn’t learn your lesson from that time in the past when you were humiliated in front of the other gods for your infidelity? I came here to retrieve what you took. Hand me my hammer.” Hephaestus demands. “You know what brother, fine,” Ares says then turns around and throws the fiery forging hammer at Hephaestus. “What are you doing?!” Hephaestus says as he dodges and the fiery hammer plunks into the ground. Ares continues to chase Hephaestus until Hephaestus finally yells at him to stop. “Enough is enough. Apologize, acknowledge your mistakes, and return me my hammer or else I will cause chaos by sparking a fire in a random forest on the mortal world each day,” Hephaestus says then returns to Mount Olympus. Ares just laughs and disappears into the forest. Ares never decides to apologize and each day, a random forest fire starts on earth contributing to global warming and climate change.
The main characters of this myth are Hephaestus and Ares. The main reason I chose these two to battle is due to the feud that stirred between them ever since Aphrodite cheated on Hephaestus with Ares.
Mount Etna
The myth first begins on Mount Etna. “Mount Etna is the closest thing that ancient Europe ever had to a sacred mountain” (Mormino, 2006). It is a volcano and Hephaestus’ forge is located right under it. This is where he forges all his weapons and more for not only himself but for others as well.
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is known as the home of the 12 major Greek gods Greek mythology. As indicated by many authors, the mountain was formed after the Titanomachy, the epic fight between the Olympians and the Titans in power that they overthrew (Geller, 2017). It was covered from being seen by humans by mists which continually darkened its pinnacles. Clouds constantly concealed the summit of the mountains so it would never be seen by human eyes (Geller, 2017). The 12 Olympian gods that lived on the mountain are “Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Demeter, Hester, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hephaestus and Ares” (Geller, 2017).
Hephaestus
The first character mentioned in the story is one of the 12 major Greek gods Hephaestus. He is on the way to his workshop where he forges because he “is the Greek god of fire, metalworking, blacksmithing, forging, and masonry” (Madeleine, 2019). Hephaestus was born in Olympus by Hera. He was unattractive and had a deformation that made him lame. Consequently, he was exiled from Olympus and thrown off from a cliff into the ocean by Hera. There are two legends that portray the justification of Hephaestus’ deformation (Madeleine, 2019). One legend portrays that Hephaestus was brought into the world with the deformation while another suggests that Hephaestus got the injury to his foot when he was tossed from the cliff on Olympus (Madeleine, 2019). In my myth, Ares refers to Hephaestus as a “limping forger” because he limps due to his deformation. He is ugly, stocky, and does not have the perfection of the other 12 major gods. He is portrayed with an oval cap, a hammer, and an anvil (GreekMythology.com). Further in life, Hephaestus was ordered by Zeus to marry Aphrodite, another Olympian and the goddess of love and beauty for one of 2 reasons (Madeleine, 2019). One legend says that Hephaestus had made his mother, Hera, a throne to sit on, and when she sat upon the throne, she couldn't stand. Subsequently, Zeus requested Hephaestus to wed Aphrodite, the most excellent goddess, as a trade-off for releasing Hera from the throne (Madeleine, 2019). The other legend expresses that Zeus requested Aphrodite to wed Hephaestus to avoid a war among the divine gods of Olympus. As Aphrodite was the goddess of affection, she was the most beautiful and desired goddess among all divine beings. The request for Hephaestus to wed Aphrodite would keep the harmony between the gods (Madeleine, 2019). Hephaestus had his own castle on Mount Olympus which contained his workshop loaded up with his blacksmith's iron and howls. Hephaestus made the entirety of the weapons and reinforcement for all the Olympian gods (Madeleine, 2019). Some items that he made includes the breastplate shield Athena carried, the winged sandals and helmet for Hermes, Aphrodite’s belt, Achille’s armor, a chariot for Helios, and the bows and arrows for Eros (Madeleine, 2019).
Athena
Athena is the goddess of war, warcraft, and wisdom. Athena “is often depicted in art with armour, a golden helmet, a shield, and holding a spear” (Cartwright, 2012). She is Zeus’ first born child and his favourite daughter. Athena is born after Zeus swallowed her mother, Metis. She was born from his head and many say that Hephaestus was the one who split Zeus’ head open with an axe - from where Athena emerged fully grown. In the myth I mention how Hephaestus is crafting a new spear for Athena. It’s because Athena’s preferred weapon in battle is a spear. She also has a shield with the face of medusa on it that she uses as a form of protection, a reason in which also why I added the small comment Ares made about Medusa, tying into the story.
Koalemos
Koalemos is the god of stupidity and foolishness (Atsma). In my myth when Hephaestus was asking the workers to reveal who stole his forging hammer he said “Well don’t stand around stupidly like Koalemos, say it!” because the worker was standing around foolishly not knowing what to say.
Ares
Ares is the Greek God of war. He is often associated with barbarous combat, bloodshed, and annihilation. Ares is one of the most unliked Olympians due to his abrupt temper, hostility, and thirst for strife (Cartwright, 2017). In my myth Hephaestus talks about Ares committing adultery with his wife, Aphrodite, again. Ares famously seduced Aphrodite years ago where the two had an affair. When Hephaestus would head off on work trips, Ares snuck into Hephaestus’ home to where he would make love with Aphrodite. Hephaestus grew suspicious so he set up a trap to where it would seem that he was leaving, but he would just catch the two lovers red handed. He caught them in a thin net and called all the other gods to see the adulterers as they were caught. That’s why I wrote “You still didn’t learn your lesson from that time in the past when you were humiliated in front of the other gods for your infidelity?” in my myth. I also wrote that Ares and Aphrodite were caught red handed again 2 weeks prior to the time setting of the story.
Poseidon
Poseidon is the Greek God of the sea. He rules all the bodies of water in the world so that’s why Ares said Hephaestus will need all the oceans of Poseidon to put out the fire building in his heart
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek God of love, passion, desire, and beauty. She is Hephaestus’ wife. In Hesiod’s Theogony, the goddess was conceived when Cronos emasculated his dad Uranus with a sickle and cast the genitalia into the ocean from where Aphrodite emerged. However in Homer’s Iliad, she is the child of Zeus and Diane.
Medusa
“Medusa was one of three sisters born to Phorcys and Ceto known as the Gorgons” (Garcia, 2019). She is a woman that has snakes as her hair and if you stare into her eyes, you will turn into stone. That’s why I added “Stare me down and make me freeze like stone the way Medusa does?” in my myth.
Cyclops
A cyclops is a giant one eyed creature that has the body formation of a human but is much larger (Cartwright, 2019). In my myth I wrote “For someone that looks as ugly as a cyclops, his personality is much calmer compared to one” where Ares is calling Hephaestus as ugly as a cyclops. Cyclops are known to be aggressive so that’s why Ares said considering how ugly Hephaestus’ is (which can be related to the ugliness of a cyclops) his personality is much calmer compared to one.
Bibliography
Atsma, A. J. (n.d.). KOALEMOS. COALEMUS (Koalemos) God or Spirit of Stupidity & Foolishness. Retrieved March 29, 2021 from https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Koalemos.html.
Cartwright, Mark. “Ares.” World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 24 Mar. 2017, Retrieved March 18, 2021 from www.ancient.eu/Ares/.
Cartwright, Mark. “Athena.” World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 24 May 2012, Retrieved March 18, 2021 from www.ancient.eu/athena/.
Cartwright, Mark. “Cyclops (Creature).” World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 13 Nov. 2019, www.ancient.eu/Cyclops_(Creature)/.
Garcia, Brittany. “Medusa.” World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 20 Aug. 2013, Retrieved March 21, 2021 from www.ancient.eu/Medusa/.
Geller. “Mount Olympus.” Mythology.net, 14 Jan. 2017, Retrieved March 18, 2021 from mythology.net/greek/greek-concepts/mount-olympus/.
GreekMythology.com. “🔥 Hephaestus :: Greek God of Blacksmiths and Fire.” Greek Mythology, Retrieved March 19, 2021 from www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hephaestus/hephaestus.html.
Madeleine. “Facts about the Greek God of Fire: Hephaestus.” THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, 13 Sept. 2019, Retrieved March 21, 2021 from www.theoi.com/articles/facts-about-the-greek-god-of-fire-hephaestus/.
Mormino, V. (2006). Etna: Europe's Sacred Mountain - Best of Sicily Magazine. Visit Best of Sicily. Retrieved March 26, 2021 from http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art217.htm.