vulcan (mythology)

Vulcan, in Roman mythology, is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. He was god of fire and volcanoes, and the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, and armor for gods and heroes. His smithy was believed to be situated underneath Mount Aetna in Sicily. At the Vulcanalia festival, which was held on August 23, fish and small animals were thrown into a fire. Vulcan's shrine in the Forum Romanum, called the Volcanal, appears to have played an important role in the civic rituals of the archaic Roman Kingdom. Vulcan was the father of Caeculus. Vulcan's analogue in Greek mythology is the god Hephaestus, click on link for more details. He is called Mulciber ("softener") in Roman mythology and Sethlans in Etruscan mythology. A statue of Vulcan located in Birmingham, Alabama, is the largest cast iron statue in the world.

See also