VULCAN--HAPHÆSTUS.
_Ques._ Who was Vulcan?
_Ans._ He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, but was cast down from
heaven on account of his deformed appearance. He landed in Lemnos, but
broke his leg in the fall, and remained lame ever afterwards.
_Ques._ How was Vulcan represented?
_Ans._ As a smith standing by an anvil with tools in his hand.
_Ques._ What was his occupation?
_Ans._ He had a blacksmith shop in Lemnos, where he manufactured
Jupiter's thunderbolts, and the arms of the other gods. Vulcan was the
god of fire, and the patron of blacksmiths and armorers.
_Ques._ What were the most celebrated works of Vulcan?
_Ans._ The armor of Achil´les and of Æne´as, the beautiful necklace of
Hermi´one, the crown of Ariadne, and the brazen palace of the sun. The
shield of Achil´les was enamelled with metals of various colors, and
embossed with beautiful historical designs.
_Ques._ To whom was Vulcan married?
_Ans._ Vulcan was married to Venus, but that goddess behaved
treacherously towards him and attached herself to Mars.
_Ques._ Who were the servants of Vulcan?
_Ans._ The attendants of Vulcan were called Cyclops, because they had
each one eye in the middle of the forehead; they were the offspring of
Neptune and Amphitri´te.
_Ques._ How was Vulcan worshipped?
_Ans._ The Romans celebrated feasts in his honor called Vulcania. At
these they sacrificed animals by throwing them into the fire to be
burned to death. The Athenians also kept feasts of Vulcan, and there
was in Sicily, upon Mount Etna, a famous temple dedicated to him.
_Ques._ What was peculiar about this temple?
_Ans._ The approach to it was guarded by dogs, whose scent was so keen
that they could discover whether the persons coming to the temple were
virtuous or wicked. To the servants of Vulcan might be added Cacus,
who stole the oxen of Hercules; and the robber Cæ´culus, from whom the
noble Roman family of the Cæcilii derived their name. He was the
founder of the city of Præneste. One fable is, that certain shepherds
found Cæ´culus, when an infant, lying unhurt in a glowing fire, from
which circumstance he was supposed to be the son of Vulcan. The
shepherd, Polyphemus, resembled the Cyclops, and was, like them, a
son of Neptune. The monster devoured several of the companions of
Ulysses, but the hero, having made him drunk with wine, put out his
single eye with a firebrand and escaped. He embarked in haste, pursued
by the monster; his companions shouted defiance as they weighed
anchor, and the blind Cyclops, directed by the sound of their voices,
hurled a rock into the sea, by which their vessel was almost swamped.
Warned by this danger, they rowed silently until they reached the open
sea. Some writers have imagined that the Cyclops were a race of
miners, who, descending into the deep recesses of the earth, and
coming forth again, had a lamp attached to their foreheads, to give
them light. This, at a distance, would appear like a large, flaming
eye, and might give rise to the fable of one-eyed monsters. This
explanation is, however, far fetched and improbable.
_Ques._ Can you name any works of Vulcan, beside those already
mentioned?
_Ans._ Yes, he made for Alcinoûs, king of the Phæacians, gold and
silver dogs which guarded his house. To Minos, king of Crete, he gave
the brazen man Talus, who passed around the island three times every
day, to guard it from invasion. For himself, Vulcan formed golden
handmaidens, whom he endowed with reason and speech.