Would you like to be like me?
I was raised in a dark cave by the sea
My legs are crippled, would you like to know why?
Gods cast me down and they left me here to die
And though as ugly and deformed my being is
I thank the care of fair sea nymphs and sweet Thaetis
Now I’m a grown man, I’m strong, and more:
I’ll tell you what I’m holding here is for:
This is my hammer and look and behold:
The world shall know why I’m Hephaistos called
Distinguished through my aptitude with metals and steel
I use the energies of fire with exuberance and zeal
"He-phai-stos!” (I’m the crippled exile)
Chapter 2: Hephaistos in his Forge
Deep in the crater below
Where lava streams through Earth’s veins
Deep where the works come into life
Where suffocation reigns
My hammer hits the anvil
Synchronized with Earth’s breath
Toxic vapors exhaled
While I forge the tools of death
Swords to cut a deity short
To win a Trojan war
The armor made for Achilles
That’s what I made it for
Chapter 3: A Commission
This is the strangest commission
Received from none but Zeus
A female forged from metal
How can I refuse?
A fine shining example
So Zeus, having his way
Continued to commission
A woman made of clay
And with the divine spark within
And magic on the side
Hephaistos made Pandora
Her eyes fiery and bright
“Come Pandora, delighted gods, they’ll bestow upon you
The wondrous traits to suit you well and man and mankind too!”
There’s all manner of good things , some not as good maybe
(A foolish, mischievous, idle nature next to curiosity)
A final gift, a gilded box
To keep shut tight on a shelf
Pandora kept the fine container
But could not contain herself.
(After many years, Pandora eventually unlocked the box and lifted the lid,
A decision she would soon deeply regret:)
Chapter 4: Disaster Unleashed!
A hissing sound and a horrible odor permeated the air around her
Pandora had released all the Wickedness and Malevolence
Zeus had locked into the box -A box designed by Hephaistos himself-
Zeus had hidden all everything that would plague man forever:
Sickness! Death! Turmoil! Strife!Jealousy! Hatred! Famine! Passion…
Everywhere the evil spread!
Everywhere the evil spread!
Chapter 5: The Chapter of Mankind
Hephaistos’ child, crying tears of sorrow and desperation.
Used as a pawn in a greater play, a game of retaliation
For the wrath of a spiteful Zeus was on Prometheus
The secret of fire, wasted on Man, both to be hated thus
Catastrophe a reocurring theme
In the chapter of Mankind,
Foolishness and curiosity
Clear the path of doom we find
Epilogue: A Blacksmith’s Work is Never Done
Hephaistos is hammering away with force
below the crater erupting with sparks and rage forever
Hephaistos is hammering away with force below
Hephaistos is hammering away with force below
Hephaistos is hammering away with force below.