Vulcan in Ancient Roman Mythology II

His mother, the queen of gods, had rejected the Roman god Vulcan but he found love and a home with a sea nymph named Thetis. When he grew older, the secret of his parentage became revealed. Finally, Juno had learned that the baby she had once rejected was now a blacksmith with great talent. She was enraged and demanded Vulcan return home. He refused the request. This article tells the tale of what happened next.

Vulcan refused to return to his mother, but he did send her a gift. Juno received an elaborately constructed chair comprised of silver and gold with mother-of-pearl accents. Pleased with the gift, Juno happily accepted it, but as soon as she sat in the chair, her weight triggered an unexpected surprise. Hidden springs and metal bands came alive in the chair and sprang into action. She soon found herself pinned to the chair.

Letting out shrieks and struggling to break free, the more Juno fussed , the mechanical throne only gripped her body tighter. Vulcan had truly created a clever contraption with this chair. Juno was trapped in the chair for three days. Her anger continued to increase. She could not sleep and was unable to stretch her limbs. She couldn’t even eat during her confinement to the chair.

Finally, Jupiter came to her rescue and was able to get her free. He promised Vulcan that if he freed Juno, he would give him a fine catch for a wife. Venus was the goddess of love and beauty and Jupiter promised her to Vulcan. Agreeing to the exchange, Juno was set free and Vulcan took Venus as his wife. Later on, he built a smithy under Mount Etna on the island of Sicily.

Life with Venus was not always roses and she was unfaithful to her husband whenever she had the chance. Her actions would drive Vulcan crazy and when he got angry, he beat the red-hot metal with such a force that smoke was sent into the air and sparks started to fly. All of this could be seen coming out from the top of the mountain. This was one of the ways that the ancient Romans would explain a volcanic eruption.

Other myths involving Vulcan took into account his connection with fire. One tale spoke of mankind stealing the secrets of fire. As punishment for this act, Jupiter told the other gods to create poisoned gifts for man. Vulcan was responsible for creating the lovely yet foolish Pandora , molding her from clay and giving her body form.

Vulcan has also been mentioned in myths for building thrones for some of the gods that called Mount Olympus their home.