> according to hyginus, zeus promised anything to hephaestus in order to free hera, and he asked for the hand of athena in marriage (urged by poseidon who was hostile toward her), leading to his attempted rape of her. in another version, he demanded to be married to aphrodite in order to release hera, and his mother fulfilled the request > hephaestus is to the male gods as athena is to the female, for he gives skill to mortal artists and was believed to have taught men the arts alongside athena. at athens, they had temples and festivals in common. both were believed to have great healing powers, and lemnian earth (terra lemnia) from the spot on which hephaestus had fallen was believed to cure madness, the bites of snakes, and haemorrhage; and priests of hephaestus knew how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes > he was represented in the temple of athena chalcioecus (athena of the bronze house) at sparta, in the act of delivering his mother; on the chest of cypselus, giving achilles's armor to thetis; and at athens there was the famous statue of hephaestus by alcamenes, in which his physical disability was only subtly portrayed. he had almost "no cults except in athens" and was possibly seen as a more approachable god to the city which shared her namesake. the greeks frequently placed miniature statues of hephaestus near their hearths, and these figures are the oldest of all his representations. during the best period of grecian art he was represented as a vigorous man with a beard, and is characterized by his hammer or some other crafting tool, his oval cap, and the chiton > athena is sometimes thought to be the "soulmate" of hephaestus. nonetheless, he "seeks impetuously and passionately to make love to athena: at the moment of climax she pushes him aside, and his semen falls to the earth where it impregnates gaia."
Brazil