Distinguished Figures in Mechanism and Machine Science by Marco Ceccarelli & Yibing Fang

Author:Marco Ceccarelli & Yibing Fang
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030323981
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

2.2 The Forge of Hephaestus

In the ancient Greek religion, Hephaestus was a god of fire. Initially, he was a deity of Asia Minor and the Aegean islands. He held an important position among the Olympians. Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera and was born lame at both his legs. His mother could not bear his lameness and, after a serious argument with his father, hurled him from Olympus into the Aegean Sea, near Lemnos Island. Thetis, a Nereid, who was to be the mother of Achilles, and Eurynome, her sister, saved him. His marriage to Aphrodite (in Lt. Charis or Venus) was ill-sorted and ill-fated. As the god of fire, Hephaestus became the heavenly metallurgist and patron of metal workers (It was believed that fires emitted from volcanoes marked the position of his several forges). According to Mythology, he was fashioning the thunderbolts of Zeus. His worship reached Athens before 600 BCE. In the art, Hephaestus is usually depicted as a bearded middle-aged man, wearing a short, sleeveless robe and a round, tight cap, covering his untidy hair.

According to Homer, most advanced machines and devices operated in Hephaestus’ forge, including automated and autonomous machines:(a)The self-propelled tripods

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.