- Vulcan – Mythopedia
Vulcan married Venus, the goddess of sex, lust, and love, who provided a beautiful contrast to Vulcan’s notorious unattractiveness Theirs was a loveless and sexless marriage that produced no children Venus and Vulcan Seated on a Bed (c 1550) Italian engraving Los Angeles County Museum of Art Public Domain
- Hephaestus – Mythopedia
Virgil: Vulcan (the Roman equivalent of Hephaestus) appears in his typical epic role in Book 8 of the Aeneid (19 BCE), making a suit of armor for the protagonist Aeneas Ovid: The myths of Vulcan Hephaestus feature in some of Ovid’s poetry, such as the Metamorphoses (ca 8 CE)
- Iliad: Book 18 (Full Text) - Mythopedia
Next this, the eye the art of Vulcan leads Deep through fair forests, and a length of meads, And stalls, and folds, and scatter’d cots between; And fleecy flocks, that whiten all the scene A figured dance succeeds; such once was seen In lofty Gnossus for the Cretan queen, Form’d by Daedalean art; a comely band Of youths and maidens
- Venus – Mythopedia
On Aeneas’ shield, Vulcan depicted the future triumphs of the Romans, such as Augustus’ victory over his foes at the battle of Actium in 31 BCE (as a contemporary and survivor of the bloody civil war that ended at Actium, Virgil had every reason to appease Augustus and present his triumph as a seminal moment in Roman history)
- Mercury – Mythopedia
Though Mercury was the only child of that union, he had many half-siblings by way of Jupiter Among them were Vulcan, the god of forge and fire, Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and forethought, and Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres who was abducted by Pluto and taken to the underworld Proserpina would later be recovered, thanks in part to
- Jupiter – Mythopedia
Jupiter was the supreme god of the Roman pantheon, a god of the sky and weather and the champion of Rome and its empire His Greek counterpart was Zeus
- Pluto – Mythopedia
Pluto was the mysterious Roman god of the dead and lord of the underworld Sharing his realm with his stolen bride Proserpina, he also ruled over ores and precious stones and was known as the bringer of wealth
- Minerva – Mythopedia
At long last, she burst forth from Jupiter’s forehead, fully grown and ready for battle Some accounts claimed that Vulcan, the god of metallurgy, served as a midwife of sorts by prying open Jupiter’s head with an axe and delivering Minerva; the moment has been the subject of artistic renderings both ancient and modern
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