Hephaestus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Hephaestus

57 passages from 14 ancient authors that tell of Hephaestus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Hammer, anvil, tongs: Hephaestus forged more than tools. Discover his hard childhood, his revenge on Hera, and the family behind Greek myth's smith god. For the story in one place, read our article on Hephaestus.

Hesiod (6)

Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 240–324The shield of Heracles: the besieged city and the city at peace (240-324)A besieged city shows women crying from bronze towers, old men praying outside the gates, and the dusky Fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, fighting over the fallen. Beside it is a city with seven golden gates at peace, with wedding processions, dancing and flute-playing, and then ploughmen, reapers, vintagers, boxers, huntsmen and charioteers racing for a tripod. Ocean flows round the rim with swans and fish, and the son of Zeus mounts his chariot with Iolaus.
Hesiod, Theogony 900–929tZeus's marriages and children; the birth of Athena (900-929)Zeus marries Themis (the Hours and the Fates), Eurynome (the Graces), Demeter (Persephone), Mnemosyne (the Muses), Leto (Apollo and Artemis) and lastly Hera, whose children are Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Zeus bears Athena from his own head, and Hera bears Hephaestus without Zeus. The section recounts again how Zeus swallowed Metis, who conceived Athena, and how she was born by the river Trito.
Hesiod, Theogony 930–959Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus and Heracles (930-959)Poseidon and Amphitrite have Triton, and Aphrodite bears Panic and Fear to Ares, and Harmonia, whom Cadmus marries. Maia bears Hermes, Semele bears Dionysus and Alcmene bears Heracles, who is finally wed to Hebe and lives among the gods. Hephaestus marries Aglaea, Dionysus marries Ariadne, and Perseis bears Circe and Aeetes to Helios, with Aeetes' daughter Medea at the end.
Hesiod, Works and Days 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)The gods keep the means of life hidden from men, and Zeus hides fire because Prometheus deceived him; Prometheus steals it back in a fennel-stalk. As the price for fire Zeus has Hephaestus mould a maiden, whom Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and the Graces equip with skills, charm and a deceitful nature. She is named Pandora and sent to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus's warning, and she lifts the lid of the jar and scatters evils among men, while Hope alone stays inside.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 75–149Heracles and Iolaus arm for battle (75-149)Heracles tells his charioteer Iolaus how Amphitryon came to Thebes after killing Electryon over oxen, and how Iolaus's father lost his senses through Zeus and went to serve the wicked Eurystheus. He bids Iolaus drive straight at Ares, who is raging in Apollo's grove, and Iolaus answers with encouragement. Heracles then arms himself with greaves from Hephaestus, a breastplate from Athena, a quiver, a spear and a helm, and takes up the shield, which has Fear in adamant at its centre with Strife above his brow.
Hesiod, Theogony 570–614The first woman: Zeus's price for fire (570-614)Zeus gives men an evil in return for fire: Hephaestus moulds a maiden from earth, Athena dresses her, and the other gods adorn her. Hesiod says that from her comes the race of women, a great trouble to mortal men, like drones among the bees, and that marriage and bachelorhood each bring their own sorrow. He ends with the fate of Prometheus, whom strong bonds confine.

Homer (13)

Homer, Odyssey 8.256–369The song of Ares and AphroditeAlcinous has the lyre fetched, and the young Phaeacians dance while Odysseus watches. Demodocus sings of how Hephaestus caught his wife Aphrodite in bed with Ares, trapping them in a net of fine bronze chains, and called the gods to see. Hermes and Apollo joke about it, and Poseidon persuades Hephaestus to set Ares free, and Ares goes off to Thrace and Aphrodite to Paphos. Odysseus is delighted at the song.
Homer, Iliad 21.326–382Hephaestus fights the riverThe flood towers over Achilles and is about to overwhelm him, and Hera calls on her son Hephaestus to turn his fire against the river. Hephaestus burns the dead on the plain and then scorches the elms, willows and tamarisks and the fish in the stream. Scamander begs him to stop and swears that he will no longer help the Trojans, and Hera calls her son off.
Homer, Iliad 18.368–467Thetis at the house of HephaestusThetis comes to the bronze house that Hephaestus built among the stars, and finds him at work on twenty tripods that move by themselves on golden wheels. His wife Charis welcomes her, and Hephaestus remembers how Thetis and Eurynome took him in when Hera cast him from heaven. Thetis begs him to make armour for her son, and he promises to do it.
Homer, Iliad 1.493–611Thetis begs Zeus; the quarrel of Zeus and HeraAfter twelve days the gods return to Olympus, and Thetis goes up to clasp the knees of Zeus and ask him to honour her son by giving the Trojans the upper hand. Zeus is troubled because it will anger Hera, but he bows his head in assent. Hera upbraids him for plotting in secret and he threatens her, until Hephaestus calms the gods by pouring wine, and they feast and sleep.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 20.1–25.7Hymns 20 to 25: Hephaestus, Apollo, Poseidon, Zeus, Hestia and the MusesSix short hymns. Hephaestus taught men crafts, so that they no longer lived in caves like beasts; the swan and the minstrel sing of Apollo; Poseidon tames horses and saves ships; Zeus is the chief of gods; Hestia tends the house of Apollo at Pytho; and the Muses and Apollo are the source of singers, while kings come from Zeus.
Homer, Iliad 5.1–94Athena empowers DiomedesAthena fills Diomedes with strength and sets a flame burning from his helmet and shield, and he drives into the Trojans, killing Phegeus while Hephaestus saves Phegeus' brother Idaeus. Athena takes Ares out of the fighting, and the Achaeans turn the Trojans, each leader killing a man. Diomedes rages across the plain like a river in flood, and the Trojan ranks cannot stand before him.
Homer, Iliad 18.65–147Thetis and the Nereids come to AchillesThetis rises from the sea with the Nereids and goes to her son, who tells her that Hector has taken the armour that the gods gave to Peleus and that he has no wish to live unless Hector falls. She warns him that his own death will follow Hector's, and Achilles says that he would die at once, since he failed to protect his friend. Thetis tells him not to go into battle until she returns with new armour from Hephaestus.
Homer, Iliad 20.1–74Zeus calls the gods to councilThe Achaeans arm by the ships with Achilles longing to meet Hector, and Zeus on Olympus calls the gods to an assembly. He tells them that he is concerned for the Trojans, since Achilles may sack the city before its fate, and lets the gods go down to help whichever side they choose. All the rivers except Ocean and all the nymphs attend.
Homer, Iliad 14.224–360Hera and Sleep: the deception of Zeus on IdaHera goes to Lemnos and asks Sleep to lull Zeus once she has lain with him, promising him the young Grace Pasithea as his wife. They go to Ida, where Sleep perches in a fir-tree in the likeness of a bird, and Hera approaches Zeus, who is seized with desire for her. He persuades her to lie with him at once, hiding them in a golden cloud, and Sleep binds him, then goes to tell Poseidon to help the Danaans while Zeus sleeps.
Homer, Iliad 18.468–540The Shield of Achilles (1): earth, sky and two citiesHephaestus sets to work with his bellows and makes a great shield of five layers, on which he forges the earth, the sea and the sky, with the sun, the moon and the constellations. He then shows two cities of mortal men: one at peace, with a wedding procession and a quarrel over a blood-price in the market-place, and one besieged, whose people sally out to an ambush by the river. Strife, Tumult and deadly Fate are among the fighters.
Homer, Iliad 18.541–617The Shield of Achilles (2): field, vineyard, herds and danceHephaestus also shows on the shield a ploughed field with ploughmen who receive cups of wine at the end of each furrow, a king's estate with reapers and binders, and a vineyard with grape-gatherers and a boy playing the lyre. Two lions attack a herd of cattle by the river, and there is a pasture of sheep and a dancing-floor like the one Daedalus made for Ariadne, with youths and maidens dancing. Round the rim he sets the great stream of Ocean, and when the shield is done he makes a corselet, a helmet and greaves and lays them before Thetis.
Homer, Iliad 19.338–424Athena feeds Achilles; the horse Xanthus speaksZeus tells Athena to put nectar and ambrosia into Achilles' breast so that hunger cannot touch him, and she flies down like a falcon. The Achaeans pour out from the ships and Achilles arms, his shield gleaming like the moon, and takes the heavy ash spear of Peleus. He tells his horse Xanthus not to leave him dead as they left Patroclus, and Xanthus, given a voice by Hera, tells him that his own day is near, though Apollo and not they killed Patroclus.
Homer, Odyssey 24.1–97The suitors in HadesHermes leads the ghosts of the suitors down to Hades with his golden wand, squeaking like bats, and they pass the streams of Ocean and the White Rock and come to the meadow of asphodel. There they meet the ghosts of Achilles, Agamemnon, Patroclus and Antilochus. Agamemnon tells Achilles of the splendour of his funeral, and that the Muses sang over him.

Apollodorus (4)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.14.1–8Cecrops, Athena and Poseidon, and the early kings of AthensCecrops, a son of the soil, is the first king of Attica, and in his reign Athena and Poseidon contend for the land and the gods award it to Athena. The section covers Cecrops's daughters, Cephalus, Cinyras and Adonis, the kings Cranaus, Amphictyon and Erichthonius (born from Hephaestus's seed), the gift of wine to Icarius and Erigone's death, and ends with Pandion and the story of Procne, Philomela and Tereus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.4.1–7The Iliad in brief: Achilles' anger, Patroclus and HectorThe Epitome gives a short account of the events of the Iliad: Achilles withdraws from the fighting because of the quarrel over Briseis, Paris and Menelaus fight a single combat, and Hector drives the Greeks back to the ships. Patroclus, wearing Achilles' armour, is killed by Hector. Achilles takes up Hephaestus's new armour, kills Hector and drags his body, holds games for Patroclus, and Priam ransoms Hector's body.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.4.1–5Leto, Apollo and Artemis; Python, Marsyas and OrionAsteria flees Zeus and becomes the island Delos, where the hunted Leto bears Artemis and then Apollo. Apollo takes over the oracle at Delphi by killing the snake Python, kills Tityus for assaulting Leto, and has Marsyas flayed after a musical contest. Artemis kills Orion on Delos, and two reasons are given, a challenge at quoits or violence against the Hyperborean maiden Opis; the section ends with Poseidon's children by Amphitrite.

Aeschylus (2)

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1–87Prologue: Prometheus is nailed to the rockPower and Force bring Prometheus to a remote Scythian wilderness and order Hephaestus to chain him to the rock for stealing fire and giving it to mortals. Hephaestus pities his kinsman, but carries out the order of Zeus and drives in the fetters, while Power mocks the prisoner and tells him that he will have to learn to bear Zeus' rule. They go, and Prometheus is left alone.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 609–686Second episode: Io tells her storyPrometheus tells Io who he is, that he gave fire to mankind, and that Zeus and Hephaestus bound him, but he will not say why he is punished. At the Chorus' urging she tells how dreams urged her to go to the meadow of Lerna to meet Zeus, how her father Inachus received oracles that told him to cast her out, and how she was changed into a cow and pursued by Argus and by the gadfly.

Euripides (2)

Euripides, Electra 432–486First choral song: the ships to Troy and the death of AgamemnonThe Chorus sings of the famous ships that went to Troy with their countless oars, of the dolphins that leaped by their prows, and of Achilles' gift of the shield and arms made by Hephaestus. They tell of the death of Agamemnon, and of the cunning of Clytemnestra, and pray that the day may come when she will pay with her own blood.
Euripides, Cyclops 576–623Fourth episode: the Cyclops carries off SilenusThe Cyclops, reeling with wine, takes Silenus for Ganymede and drags him inside, while Silenus protests. Odysseus tells the satyrs that the Cyclops is sunk in slumber and the brand is already smoking in the cave. He prays to Hephaestus and Sleep, and the Chorus longs to see Bromius again.

Apollonius Rhodius (4)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.685–782Circe purifies Jason and MedeaAt Aeaea Circe, daughter of Helios, purifies Jason and Medea of the murder. When she learns the whole story she drives them from her house with reproaches. Hera sends Iris to fetch Thetis and to ask Hephaestus and Aeolus to help Argo.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.885–981The Sirens, the Wandering Rocks and ScyllaAt dawn the Argonauts leave Aeaea; Orpheus drowns out the Sirens' song with his lyre, though Butes dives in and is saved by Cypris. The Nereids pass Argo through the Wandering Rocks, with Hera and Hephaestus watching, and the heroes sail on past Thrinacia and the cattle of Helios.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.1–166Hera and Athena ask Cypris to make Medea love JasonThe poet calls on Erato, and Hera and Athena decide to go to Cypris to ask her to make Aeetes' daughter Medea fall in love with Jason. Cypris finds her son Eros playing dice with Ganymede, and persuades him with the promise of a ball that once belonged to Zeus.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.167–298Medea falls in love with JasonIn council Jason proposes to try Aeetes with words first and goes to the palace with the sons of Phrixus, Telamon and Augeias. Hera hides them in mist; Chalciope greets her sons, and Eros shoots Medea with an arrow as Jason stands among them, so that she is struck with love for him.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 3.1–268Hymn to Artemis: the goddess's childhood wishesAs a small girl on her father's knees, Artemis asks Zeus to let her stay a maiden for ever and to give her a bow, a short tunic, sixty nymphs of Oceanus for her choir and twenty nymphs of Amnisus to tend her hounds, and Zeus smiles and grants it, adding cities. She visits the Cyclopes on Lipara for her arrows, takes hounds from Pan in Arcadia and captures four golden-horned deer for her chariot. The poet praises her favourite places and companions, among them Britomartis, Cyrene and Atalanta, and her shrines at Miletus and Ephesus. He ends with a warning to those who wronged her, such as Oeneus, Otus and Orion.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.73.1–5.77.8The gods' discoveries and their Cretan originsZeus is said to have given each god a field of invention: the Muses the letters and poetry, Apollo the lyre, healing and the bow, Hermes the herald's staff, Athena the olive, and Dionysus the vine. The chapters then give an older Heracles, Artemis, Plutus, and the claim that most of the gods began in Crete and spread to other lands.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.169–271Ares and Aphrodite; Leucothoe and ClytieLeuconoe takes up the tale and tells how the Sun saw Ares (Mars) and Aphrodite (Venus) together and told Hephaestus (Vulcan), who trapped them in a net. Aphrodite takes revenge by making the Sun love Leucothoe, daughter of Orchamus, and he comes to her disguised as her mother. Clytie, the Sun's earlier love, tells Orchamus, who buries his daughter alive, and the Sun turns her into frankincense, while Clytie, abandoned, pines and becomes a heliotrope.

Pausanias (7)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.41.1–7Chaeronea: the sceptre as the only work of Hephaestus, Amathus' necklace and unguentsPausanias argues that the sceptre of Agamemnon is the only genuine work of Hephaestus, setting aside the Lycian bowl and the chest of Eurypylus. He considers the necklace of Harmonia at Amathus, concluding from Homer's description that it is not the golden necklace of Eriphyle. He ends with Mount Petrachus above Chaeronea, where Cronus was said to be deceived with a stone, and with the unguents the city distils from lilies, roses, narcissus and iris.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.20.1–7Athens: Street of Tripods, theatre of Dionysus and Sulla’s capture of AthensThe Street of Tripods holds the Satyr of Praxiteles, with the story of Phryne tricking him into naming his finest work. The oldest sanctuary of Dionysus lies beside the theatre, with Alcamenes’ image and paintings of Hephaestus brought to heaven, Pentheus, Lycurgus and Ariadne. Near it stands a copy of Xerxes’ tent burnt by Sulla, which prompts an account of Mithridates, Aristion and Sulla’s siege and sack of Athens.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.14.1–7Athens: Enneacrunus, Triptolemus, temple of Hephaestus, Heavenly AphroditeNear the Music Hall is the fountain Enneacrunus, with temples of Demeter and Kore and of Triptolemus. Pausanias gives the Argive and Athenian versions of the Triptolemus story and the variant parentages in Musaeus, Orpheus and Choerilus, but declines to describe the Eleusinium because of a dream. He also notes the statue of Epimenides, the temple of Good Fame, a temple of Hephaestus beside a blue-eyed Athena, and the sanctuary of Heavenly Aphrodite, a cult that came from the Assyrians through Paphos and Ascalon.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.14.1–10Olympia: Zeus Averter of Flies, the white poplar and the altars in order of sacrificePausanias notes the wonders of the altar, including the kites and Hercules’ sacrifice to Zeus Averter of Flies, and explains the use of white poplar wood. He lists the altars of Olympia in the order the Eleans sacrifice on them, from Hestia and Olympian Zeus to Artemis, Athena, Alpheus, Hephaestus, Hercules and his brothers, then the altars of Hera, the Muses and the Nymphs near the Pelopium.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.26.1–7Athens Acropolis: Olympiodorus, the Erechtheum and the golden lampOlympiodorus leads the Athenians to retake the Museum hill from the Macedonians, with Leocritus first over the wall, and later helps recover Piraeus and Eleusis. Pausanias then describes the Leucophryenian Artemis and Endoeus’ seated Athena, and the Erechtheum with its altars of Zeus, Poseidon, Erechtheus, Butes and Hephaestus and a well of sea-water with the mark of the trident. He ends with the ancient image of Athena and Callimachus’ golden lamp.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.18.1–16Sparta to Amyclae: Ammon, Cnagian Artemis and the throne of ApolloPausanias lists images and shrines near the statues of Pausanias, including Athena Ophthalmitis, the sanctuary of Ammon and Cnagian Artemis, and then follows the road to Amyclae by the river Tiasa and the sanctuary of the Graces. At Amyclae he describes the tripods and dedications and Bathycles’ throne of the Amyclaean Apollo, listing its mythological reliefs on the front and underneath.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.53.1–11Tegea: Apollo, God of Streets, the sons of Tegeates and the sanctuaries of the cityPausanias explains why Tegea has images of Apollo, God of Streets: Apollo and Artemis took vengeance on those who ignored Latona, and Limon killed his brother Scephrus, for which the festival rite re-enacts a pursuit by the priestess of Artemis. He reports the migration of Cydon, Archedius and Gortys to Crete and the Cretan version of those names. He lists the Tegean tribes, the temples of Demeter and the Maid, Paphian Aphrodite, Dionysus and Apollo with an image by Chirisophus, the Common Hearth, and the high place of Clarian Zeus, then the roads to Laconia and their sanctuaries.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (3)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.94–182Memnon comes to TroyMemnon arrives with a host of Aethiopians and is welcomed by Priam, who pledges him in the golden cup that Hephaestus made and that passed down through the kings of Troy. Memnon goes to his rest. On Olympus Zeus tells the gods that tomorrow's battle will cost many lives and that none of them may intervene.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.1–120The arms of AchillesThetis lays Achilles' arms in the midst of the Argives. The shield made by Hephaestus shows heaven and earth and sea, wild beasts and wars on one side, and on the other cities, harvests and dances, with the hill of Honour. Beside it lie the helmet, the corslet and the sword.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.1–120The spoil of TroyThe Argives plunder Troy. Menelaus leads Helen from the burning city, and Cassandra falls to Agamemnon, Andromache to Neoptolemus and Hecuba to Odysseus. Xanthus mourns with his Nymphs, and the Argives sacrifice and feast at the ships.

Nonnus of Panopolis (11)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 29.291–381Book 29: At the ford; Rheia's dream sends Ares awayAt the ford Dionysos' shout drives the Indians into the water, and he challenges Deriades to a duel. Pan kills Melaneus to avenge Hymenaios. At night a false dream sent at Rheia's bidding tells Ares that Aphrodite has returned to Hephaistos, and he leaves the battlefield for Cyprus and Lemnos.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 27.241–341Book 27: Zeus' council of the gods on OlymposOn Olympos Zeus appeals to Apollo, Athena and Hephaistos to defend Dionysos, reminding each of their ties to him, and complains that Hera, Athena and Ares seem to side with Deriades. The gods depart: Apollo, Athena and Hephaistos go to help Dionysos, while Hera leads Ares and Hydaspes to the other side, with Deo supporting her.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.122–228Book 5: Harmonia's necklace; the children of CadmosThe gods bring wedding gifts, and Aphrodite gives Harmonia a serpent-shaped necklace that Hephaistos had made. Harmonia bears four daughters, Autonoe, Ino, Agaue and Semele, and a son, Polydoros. Cadmos gives Autonoe to Aristaios.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 3.131–215Book 3: Electra's palace and its garden; Emathion and DardanosCadmos looks over the house Hephaistos built for Electra, with its garden, its golden torch-bearing boys and its gold and silver dogs. Emathion, who rules Samothrace, rides up, and his brother Dardanos is said to have left for the mainland after the deluge. The first and second floods, of Ogygos and of Deucalion, are recalled.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 6.0–85Book 6: The gods desire Persephone; Demeter asks AstraiosAll the gods in Olympos woo Persephoneia, and Demeter fears most that Hephaistos will win her. She goes to the seer Astraios, whose sons the Winds entertain her at a banquet. Afterwards she asks him for an oracle, and he consults his sphere of the heavens.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 25.271–379Book 25: Dionysos downcast; Rheia's message and shieldThe Indian city mourns its dead, a blind old man is cured by the wine-stained river, and the scent of the vine spreads through the streets. Dionysos, kept from battle by Hera's jealousy, is visited by Attis, who brings a shield made by Hephaistos for Rheia and tells him that the Indian city will fall in the seventh year of the war.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 27.75–143Book 27: Deriades' threats; the Indians march outDeriades goes on to threaten Aiacos, the Cyclopes, the Telchines and Erechtheus, and imagines forging his own thunderbolts. He tells his men to cut down the Bassarids while he and Morrheus deal with Dionysos and Aristaios, and the Indians march out on elephants, horses and foot.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 29.167–290Book 29: Hymenaios fights on; the women join the battleThe fighting goes on: Aristaios, the sons of Cabeiro, the Corybants and many Bacchic women, among them Eupetale, Terpsichore and Staphyle, drive back the Indians, while old Trygie is left behind. Dionysos heals the wounded Bacchants with wine and ivy and fights on with greater fury.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 30.0–99Book 30: Morrheus wounds Eurymedon; Hephaistos' fire and Hydaspes' rescueAres withdraws to heaven, and Morrheus complains to Deriades that the Bacchants' leaves and thyrsi are deadlier than steel. Deriades scoffs at his fear, and Morrheus wounds the Cabeiros Eurymedon. Hephaistos binds Morrheus in a fiery noose, but Hydaspes quenches the flames and hides him in a cloud.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 30.100–159Book 30: Morrheus kills Phlogios; Eurymedon kills TectaphosHephaistos carries his wounded son from the field and heals him. Morrheus kills the dancer Phlogios, and Tectaphos, whom Deriades once starved in a pit, cuts down several Satyrs before Eurymedon kills him with a battle-axe. The dying Tectaphos calls for his daughter's help.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 42.196–321Book 42: Pan's advice and Dionysos' failed wooingDionysos confides in the lovesick Pan, who advises him to feign modesty and indifference, praise Beroe's beauty above the goddesses', and win her by hints and silent gestures. Dionysos tries to woo her with words about vines, fields and harvest and offers to be her labourer, but she answers nothing. He then takes her hunting-net and pretends to admire it.

Epic Cycle (1)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 6.1–5AethiopisProclus' summary tells how Memnon, the son of Eos, comes to help the Trojans in armour made by Hephaestus, and how Thetis tells her son about him. Achilles is killed by Paris and Apollo and Aias carries the body away. A fragment adds the Amazon, the daughter of Ares, who came after the burial of Hector.

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 62–66Hymns 62-66: Justice, Equity, Law, Mars, VulcanThree hymns praise the principles that order the world: Justice, whose piercing eye sits beside the throne of Zeus, Equity, the friend of just conduct, and Law, the king of gods and men. Mars is invoked as the unconquered god who rejoices in darts and bloody wars, and Vulcan as the strong bearer of unwearied fire.