The divine fires of creation: Homeric hephaestos as a comet/meteor god

Abstract

Hephaestos belongs to the guardian-gods or “creators” of the Universe and functions as a pivotal force among the “proto-Hellenic” deities. This paper focuses, firstly, on the strong relationship between Hephaestos and the Pelasgian substratum of circum-Mediterranean region. The Pelasgian nuclei of prehistoric Attica remained active through the dual worship of Athena and Hephaestos and the close connection of the Athenian city-state with the island of Lemnos even in Classical Era. Furthermore, Kabeiroi, these primordial and mysterious daemons of NE Aegean, were introduced by the Pelasgians of 12th century BC, when removed from Boeotia to Samothrace, Imbros and Lemnos. According to another ancient tradition, they were children of Hephaestos and the daughter of sea-god Proteas. All the same, another striking complication arises. The Kabeirian Mysteries were celebrated yearly and were related to the element of fire. They lasted for nine (9) days, as a remembrance of the nine year period during which Hephaestos remained at the bottom of the sea. This is the second axis of investigation. Although today, Vulcan is a name given to the near- Earth asteroid 2212, modern thinkers consider of Hephaestos as a symbol of earthen fires and related geological phenomena produced by volcanic activity. But Hephaestos’ cult embraces challenging elements that require astronomical interpretation. Various ancient traditions include thoughtprovoking details: (a) Lemnian labyrinth was famous in antiquity. Apart from being viewed as a symbol of our planetary system or as an astronomical map, labyrinth is also mystically connected to the protection from tsunamis, a serious side-effect of impact episodes. (b) Ancient writers state that Lemnian earth was characterized by some special features, appearing with in impact events and with destruction levels all over the world of extraterrestrial origin. (c) Pandora, one of the most fabulous works of the technician god was made by earth, water and divine fire. Furthermore, Pandora’s box was used to compile all the positive and negative parameters of Life. When some invisible forces are released, then destruction strikes humanity. Respectively, impacts have always been seen both as a curse and as a blessing for life on Earth. Metallurgy changed the evolution of human history. Floods, epidemics and other disasters caused by extraterrestrial invaders did also. (d) Hephaestos fell from Heaven, either on land (in the latitude of NE Aegean), or into deep sea (an underwater impact), where he remained invisible, working in his forge. Scientific research has shown that both arguments function logically. Furthermore, impact events can trigger increased volcanic activity, as the geo-archive of our planet has already revealed. (e) If the Homeric Iliad is deciphered from the standpoint of Archaeoastronomy, Hephaestos is also related to the meteor swarm of Perseides. Finally, god’s deformity and his reappearance in the latitude of Eastern Mediterranean may include the element of periodicity, may be as a comet. In fact, a great deal of information acquired from Iliad seems to refer to the extensive catastrophes of the beginning of 2nd millennium BC. Consequently, Hephaestos may function as a symbolic archetype of past impact events, being one of the pivotal figures within the gnostical system of the Pelasgians during 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Phaethon’s ride, the famous fall of Troy and 12th century catastrophes were added later, forming another mythological “layer” of information in the palimpsest of ancient astronomical knowledge in the circum-Mediterranean region.