Temple of Hephaestus

The Agora of Athens is dominated by the Hephaistheum, which stands, surrounded by strips of lawn and clumps of oleander, atop the hill of Kolonos Agoraios on the northwest side of the Agora. This Temple was dedicated to Hephaestus, the blacksmith God, and Goddess Athena. Two lateral stairways lead up to it. For many years this Temple was assumed to be the Sanctuary dedicated to Theseus, whose exploits are featured on its metopes. In fact the real Theseum, built by Kimon in 475 B.C.E., stood on the east side of the Agora, at the foot of the Acropolis. The Hephaistheum by contrast was built in about 449 B.C.E., two years before work began on the Parthenon, and its architect is unknown. Having escaped destruction several times, the Temple remained practically intact until the mid 7th century C.E., when it was occupied by the Christian church.

The Hephaistheum is a Doric hexastyle Temple. Its stylobate and superstructure are of Pentelic marble. The front and rear porches are distyle, in antis. The inner colonnade originally included two levels of Doric columns, surmounted by a wooden entablature. A monumental door separated the pronaos from the naos (the inner sanctum), which was dominated by a colossal statue of Hephaestus. The statue of Athena occupied the second place.

The reliefs of the frieze, along with the metopes of the Temple, are sculpted in Parian marble and represent the labors of Hercules and the exploits of Theseus. Only eighteen of the sixty-eight metopes were sculpted; the fifty others were probably painted. The pediments were adorned with sculptures, of which only the smallest traces remain. The frieze of the pronaos illustrates the mythical contest of the Athenians and Lapiths against the Centaurs.

The Cult

Another aspect of Hephaestus' relationship to Athena comes to fore here where he is not the consuming God of fire, but the bridegroom, husband, and father of the divine child. In the month of Pyanopsion the festival of Apatura was celebrated, at which the youth of Athens, in phratries (brotherhoods) under the protection of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria, received the initiation which they needed in order to get married. At this festival Hephaestus was particularly celebrated: men, dressed in their most beautiful garments, lit the torch at the fire of the hearth, sang in praise of their God, and sacrificed to him. There is no report in the fragmentary evidence of a torchlight procession, but such can safely be assumed, and for the Corinthian Hellotia a report of such is handed down explicitly.

On the last day of the same month began the festival which Hephaestus and Athena shared in common, the Chalkeia. This day was celebrated like a wedding: the artisans presented grain swingles to the Goddess. The secret of this festival was not given away, with the result that more stories were told about it, such as that Athena was given to Hephaestus and placed in a chamber for him, or that he followed her and embraced her. All variations allow the Goddess to leave the embrace a virgin, but they allow a child to originate nine month latter from this same embrace.

Only in a later period was the festival of Chalkeia - named such after the material and art of the founders and smiths - celebrated exclusively by artisans as though it were a festival of Hephaestus. Earlier it belonged among the most important festivals of Athena and was called Athenaia.

Views

• Aerial view of Agora
• Aerial view of Agora, from NW, with Hephaistheum, Acropolis, part of Areopagus
• View from Acropolis
• West end of Bouleuterion with Hephaistheum in distance, from S
• Hephaistheum in distance, from SE
• Overall view from SE
• Distant view of the Temple, from NE
• General view: Hephaistheum at top; Metroon lower right; steps of Propylaea lower left, from SE
• View toward SW up the stairway leading to the Temple of Hephaestus on the Kolonos Agoraios Hill
• View from N section of Metroon toward NW and monumental stairway to Temple of Hephaestus, from SE
• View from Tholos (lower left), across the E side of the Metroon, toward N and Temple of Hephaestus
• View toward NW, across the Agora to the Hephaistheum
• Temple and W side of Agora from Areopagus
• Northwest area of Agora with Hephaistheum on left, from S
• West Agora with Hephaistheum in background, from SE
• View from SW
• View from Stoa of Attalos
• View from E end of South Stoa II towards NW and Hephaistheum
• Temple of Hephaestus and Giants from Stoa of Attalos
• Remains of steps leading up Kolonos Agoraios to Hephaistheum, from NE
• Remains of steps leading up Kolonos Agoraios to Hephaistheum, from N
• Northeast face of the Acropolis with the Agora below, from E
• Front of the Temple of Hephaestus, from below and E
• Tholos in foreground; New Bouleuterion to left; Metroon to right; Hephaistheum in distance, from SE
• Entrance to Temple, from E
• Entrance to Temple, from E
• View through the entrance, from E
• View past NE corner, from SE
• The E, front colonnade, from S
• East entablature and pediment
• Southeast corner from SE
• Southeast corner, from SE
• West end of S side, from SE
• East half of the S side, from S
• South side, from E-SE
• South side, from SE
• South side colonnade, from SE
• North side, from NE
• Detail of central section of W frieze
• Beams and frieze of W porch
• Detail of S corner of west pediment
• Metopes at E end of S entablature
• Northeast corner with Apples of Hesperides metope
• Southwest corner with Hercules and Lion metope
• West half from SW

See also

• Timeline: The Greek Period
• Perseus Project: Temple of Hephaistos

Source

• Temple of Hephaestus - Wikipedia

Location

---

Home » Museum » Temples Gallery » Temple of Hephaestus