Long ago, when men and gods toiled together in the ancient world, there was no Rat on earth. However, Rats are those mythical animals who will not die even in face of a nuclear infestation on the earth. Rats will not be destroyed even when the earth ceases to be. Rats can live even in case the earth becomes infected with the epidemic, or nuclear waste, and all living beings are dead. Why is Rat indestructible? Why Rat will never become extinct? There is a legend behind it all.
Hephaestus was the Greek God of Artisans. He taught mankind the craft of work and creation through artistry. He had created many beautiful things at the request of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece. He was the only Greek God who worked. Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera, and was the god of the creative fire, and was the divine artisan who worked with metals (Morford and Lenardon 76).
According to legend, Hera created Hephaestus out of jealously without the help of her husband Zeus, after the latter created Athena. However, the son created out of Hera was sickly and had a limp in one leg. This disgusted Hera, and she threw the son out of Olympus into the island of Lemnos in Greece. On this island, Hephaestus hones his skills as a metalsmith and created many beautiful creations. When his fame as an artisan grew, he was brought back to Olympus, where he created a few of the best-known works of art.
Hephaestus’s workshop was on the Olympus. He was famous for his extraordinary talent for the creation of artifacts and things that were of divine beauty. One of his creations was the shield of Achilles, which is considered to be his best-known work of art. He even created robots with human intelligence and Pandora, the first woman.
The life of Hephaestus was devoid of happiness. He had never known the love of a mother or father. His mother felt that he was a misfortune and failure as soon as he was born due to his deformity. He craved for love and instead his focus was redirected to the creation of beauty. He created beautiful objects out of ugly material. He did not find happiness even in his married life. He was married to the beautiful and sensual Aphrodite, who was unfaithful to him.
She took Ares as a lover, the god of war. Throughout his life, people whom he loved and wanted love from dejected Hephaestus. He was deformed not only physically, but emotionally too. Hephaestus confronted Aphrodite and told her that she must apologize for her conduct. But the latter paid no heed to him and simply said, “O Hephaestus, you are my husband, but you cannot satisfy me as a husband should. You are incapable of giving me the bliss of motherhood. So I must find other means to establish my maternal instincts and create a progeny who can be brought up to be as knowledgeable and adept as you.”
This hurt Hephaestus further, and he proclaimed to Aphrodite that he will now create a son of his own, without her aid, and he will not allow her to mother that child. he said, “O you fool, I am the creator of Pandora, I created Achilles’ shield. I have created intelligence in the machine and you point a figure at the potency of my creativity? You are just trying to hide your guilt with hollow words, and I will not be hurt by your treacherous words.
Today I proclaim that I will create a child, a son of my own, and solely of my own. He will be the most beautiful child you ever lay eyes on. But you will not be allowed to even hold him, as he will be my son. I will teach him the art of living and bless him with the gift of living and toiling continuously for creation. He will be thus, created that he will not need a chisel and hammer for creating the works of art. He would be so gifted that he will make it without the aid of any tool. Then you will know that I am not impotent of creation. I am the creator of beauty and brain and I will create my son.”
Therefore, after he created Pandora, the beautiful mortal woman, he felt he could create the most beautiful object in the world, even more, beautiful than Pandora. But this creation of his will not be for others. This he will create only for himself – a son who would be beautiful and would love him. Thus, Hephaestus began the creation of his son without the help of his wife Aphrodite. Hephaestus, in anger and jealously, started working on creating his son. He locked himself in his workshop on Olympus and started making the best creation of his life. He toiled on creating the figure of the most beautiful of his all creations.
In this endeavor, Hephaestus used all the best ingredients found in the world. He collected all the colors of heaven, and all the precious gems, rays of light, and all things with beautiful and precious sight started the work on his creation. In all, he collected ten thousand priceless ingredients for the creation of his son. To gift him with the blood of divinity and his mastery over artistry, he cut his figure and put it in the cauldron, and mixed it.
He mixed it for three years, and the mixture took shape of a woman. This woman was more beautiful than Pandora, and had more allure and sharpness in the eye, as this creation had the knowledge and intelligence of Hephaestus himself.
Hephaestus was not happy. He wanted something more precise, more perfect, he did not want his child to be an imitation of something that he had already created. So he set to work again, but now with his chisel and hammer. He started chiseling the face, it make it more perfect. He went on chiseling. He worked night and day, without any rest or food or sleep. Aphrodite became worried that Hephaestus may cease to be due to this restless endeavor.
So she went to Hera and recounted the story of how Hephaestus had set to work on his most beautiful creation – his son. Hera and Aphrodite went to Hephaestus’s workshop and called out to him from outside the bolted door. Hera said, “My dear son Hephaestus, why do you toil tirelessly over a creation that is not necessary. We are here to take care of you and give you all the love you want.”
An angry voice replied from inside, “Mother, you had shown all your love when you threw me out of Olympus as an infant. So what love will you show now to this man who is deformed both physically and emotionally? Go away, go away both of you. Please don’t come back. I will rest only after I make my son. Then all of you who have laughed at my disability and have hurt me will see my creation. I am the creator and I will create the most beautiful and intelligent creature. Then I will call upon all of you to rejoice with me and see that a cripple is more capable than the complete Gods.”
Hera and Aphrodite left. They did not know what to do. They were worried that Hephaestus would become mad in his lunatic desire to create the perfect creature. They were less worried about the creation than about the non-creation of the desired object. What will Hephaestus do if failed to create? So they went to Zeus for help. Zeus listened to the whole story and said, “Why have you come to me? You two have driven Hephaestus to the maddening drive and not you must stop him from spoiling his life.”
To this Hera answered, “O Zeus, I know I am responsible for this state of Hephaestus and his desire to create an object of love when his mother and wife had been unfaithful to him. But if you do not help us, I will lose a son, and I do not want to do it anymore.”
This heart-wrenching appeal softened Zeus. He said that he will try to stop Hephaestus from this work. So, Zeus started to think about how Hephaestus can be stopped. He was sure no amount of counsel will appeal to Hephaestus, and therefore, cunning must be used to stop him from work. He called upon Morpheus and Hypnos the two brothers. Morpheus was the god of dreams and Hypnos, the god of sleep.
Under Zeus’s direction, Hypnos put Hephaestus to sleep and Morpheus appeared in his dream and showed him a vision of a life with his son and wife Aphrodite. After a long sleep, Hephaestus woke up happy that he had a loving family and his wife was with him, with whom he was still enamored. But he woke up and soon realized the reality. He looked at his creation a small creature, with a small bushy body, long tail, and small hands and teeth. Hephaestus gave a cry of pain. He cried out loud, “What have I created? O Zeus, please help me undo this wrongdoing.”
At this, Zeus appeared in the workshop of Hephaestus. He looked at the creature and smiled to himself. Hephaestus, in his desire to make the most perfect creature, had chiseled and chiseled in order to get the perfect features. However, was never satisfied. In the end, he was left with this small creature. He looked at Hephaestus and asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Hephaestus said, “Please tell me what do I do with this small creature? I wanted to create the most beautiful and intelligent son for myself, but in my vanity to create the perfect creature, I made him this small thing. He is so small, that he will never be able to survive. Please help me to give him powers that will help him to encounter all troubles, and become a survivor.”
Zeus said, “I am ready to help you if you agree to stop your work on the creature.” Hephaestus agreed, and Zeus granted the creature, which he called Rat to live through all disasters and become a survivor. Thus, Rat, the son, and creation of Hephaestus, got the power to survive all destructions and evils on earth.
Works Cited
Morford, Mark P. O. and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology, 8th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.