What is Vulcan (mythology)?
{{No sources}} [[File:Velázquez - La Fragua de Vulcano (Museo del Prado, 1630).jpg|thumb|300px|''The Forge of Vulcan'', by [[Diego Velázquez]].]] '''Vulcan''' is [[Deity|a god]] of [[fire]] in [[Roman mythology]]. His Greek equivalent is the god [[Hephaestus]]. He is the son of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], and the husband of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]. In Roman mythology, he was one of the top 12 gods in the heavens - the 12 gods that made up the [[Dii Consentes|Dei Consentes]], the council of Gods.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Roman god Vulcan|url=https://rome.mrdonn.org/romangods/vulcan.html|access-date=2021-09-04|website=rome.mrdonn.org}}</ref> == Mythology of Vulcan == Vulcan was born extremely ugly. His mother, [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], tried to throw him off a cliff, but failed to kill her son. Instead, she put him in a volcano and told him to stay there for most of his young life. Little did she know that her young boy would grow to be a very talented [[blacksmith]] for all the gods and goddesses of [[Olympus]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-04-09|title=Vulcan - Roman God of Fire and the Forge|url=https://mythology.net/roman/roman-gods/vulcan/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Mythology.net|language=en-US}}</ref> Vulcan made thrones for the other gods to sit on in [[Mount Etna]]. Through his identification with the Hephaestus of Greek mythology, he came to be considered as the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, jewelry and armor for various gods and heroes, including the thunderbolts of Jupiter. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. His smithy was believed to be underneath Mount Etna in Sicily. Vulcan had a happy childhood with dolphins as his playmates and pearls as his toys. Late in his childhood, he found the remains of a fisherman's fire on the beach and became fascinated with an unextinguished coal, still red-hot and glowing. Vulcan carefully shut this precious coal in a clam shell and took it back to his underwater grotto and made a fire with it