God · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
Hephaestus
Lame master-smith of the gods
Slowest of the gods, cleverest of hand; his traps hold even war.
The lame smith of the gods, whose answer to being wronged is craft: the unbreakable net he forges over his own bed catches Ares and Aphrodite in the act, and the gods are called in to laugh at them. His handiwork stands all through the poem — the gold and silver watch-dogs at Alcinous' doors among it.
Bonds
- Hephaestus husband of Aphrodite — married to the faithless goddess
- Aphrodite wife of Hephaestus — wed to the lame smith
- Hephaestus captor of Ares — the invisible net
- Hephaestus dwells in Olympus — smith of the gods’ houses
Appears in
- Book IV Conference of Telemachus and Menelaus
- Book VI Odysseus Discovered by Nausicaä
- Book VII Reception of Odysseus by Alcinoüs
- Book VIII Festivals in Honor of Odysseus
- Book XV Return of Telemachus
- Book XXIV Conclusion
Scenes
- Farewell Gifts — Book IV. Telemachus declines horses, takes cup
- Bathing and Transformation — Book VI. Odysseus bathes, Athena makes him radiant
- Palace and Garden — Book VII. Odysseus marvels at bronze hall, orchard
- Hephaestus’s Snare — Book VIII. Hephaestus forges net to trap lovers
- Gods Gather to Laugh — Book VIII. Gods gather, laugh at trapped lovers
- Apollo, Hermes, Poseidon — Book VIII. Apollo teases Hermes, Poseidon pleads
- Ares and Aphrodite Freed — Book VIII. Hephaestus frees Ares and Aphrodite, who flee
- Gifts and Farewell Feast — Book XV. Menelaus and Helen give goblet, robe
- Achilles’ Funeral Recalled — Book XXIV. Agamemnon recalls Achilles’s funeral games