If you missed my article on Maui, you can find it here.
Vulcan, whose Greek counterpart is Hephaestus, is the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge. He made all kinds of beautiful jewelry and fierce weapons. He became the smith to the gods and was “awarded” Venus as a wife. He is also one of the twelve Olympian Gods though he chose to live under the island of Vulcano.
Vulcan is the son of Jupiter (Zeus), king of the Gods. His mother is Juno (Hera), queen of the Gods. Juno may be Vulcan’s birth mother, but Thetis raised him as her own because Juno rejected him for being ugly. Because Vulcan’s father is Jupiter, he has a large number of siblings. Some of them are Bellona, Bacchus, Apollo, and Mars (Ares). He is married to Venus (Aphrodite), but they don’t have a true marriage, only in name, as Venus is repulsed by Vulcan and is unfaithful. Vulcan had a son,Cacus. Unfortunately, Cacus was a monster that was eventually killed by Vulcan’s brother, Hercules.
As stated above, Vulcan was an ugly baby. I am not talking about the alien look all babies have when they first come out. He was red and disfigured. It is surprising as he came from Jupiter and Juno. In any case, he was so ugly that Juno threw him off the mountain. When he finally stopped falling, it was because he hit the water. In the fall, Vulcan’s leg was severely broken.
As Vulcan sank, Thetis, a water nymph, found the baby and took him in. She brought him home and nursed him back to health, and raised him as her son. Even with Thetis’s care, Vulcan’s leg did not heal properly, and he walked with a limp. Fortunately, Vulcan found fire and saw what it could do to metal. While playing with it, he found he could make nifty things. Vulcan made gifts for his mother, which she displayed proudly.
At dinner on Mount Olympus, Juno admired Thetis’s necklace that had been made by Vulcan and wanted the name of the smith. When all was said and done, Juno got the name, only to find out her son had lived and is a master smithy. Juno demanded Vulcan return to his home on Mount Olympus, and he said no. To soften the blow, Vulcan made Juno a finely crafted chair. It was made of silver and gold, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. When Juno, giddy with excitement, sat in the chair, spring sprung and trapped her in the chair. When Jupiter summoned Vulcan to release Juno. To get Vulcan to release Juno, they promised him a wife. Not just any wife. He would marry Venus. This is why I say he was “awarded” a wife.
Even after the debacle with Juno and her throne, Vulcan was the one to make the thrones for the Olympian Gods on Mount Olympus. He also was the one to form Pandora from clay. If you don’t remember Pandora, maybe you remember her box. It let out all the bad things in the world, sickness, frailty, evil, and more. She kept hope in the box, though.
What do you think of Vulcan? He could definitely be a powerful player in Smite. To be able to pound metal into shape, you must be a strong person. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of his hammer. Tell me your thoughts in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle.
