Vulcan (mythology)

Vulcan
God of fire, metalworking, and the forge
Vulcan, wearing an exomis (tunic) and pilos (conical hat), c. 1st century AD.
Symbol	Blacksmith's hammer
Parents	Jupiter and Juno
Greek equivalent	Hephaestus
Etruscan equivalent	Sethlans
Festivals	the Vulcanalia

Vulcan (Latin: Volcānus or Vulcānus; pronounced [wɔlˈkaːnʊs], [wʊlˈkaːnʊs]) is the god of fire including the fire of volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in ancient Roman religion and myth. Vulcan is often depicted with a blacksmith's hammer. The Vulcanalia was the annual festival held August 23 in his honor. His Greek counterpart is Hephaestus, the god of fire and smithery. In Etruscan religion, he is identified with Sethlans.

Vulcan belongs to the most ancient stage of Roman religion: Varro, the ancient Roman scholar and writer, citing the Annales Maximi, records that king Titus Tatius dedicated altars to a series of deities among which Vulcan is mentioned.

The origin of the name is unclear and debated. Roman tradition maintained that it was related to Latin words connected to lightning (fulgur, fulgere, fulmen), which in turn was thought of as related to flames. This interpretation is supported by Walter William Skeat in his etymological dictionary as meaning lustre.

It has been supposed that his name was not Latin but related to that of the Cretan god Velchanos, a god of nature and the nether world.Wolfgang Meid has refused this identification as phantastic. More recently this etymology has been taken up by Gérard Capdeville who finds a continuity between Cretan Minoan god Velchanos and Etruscan Velchans. The Minoan god's identity would be that of a young deity, master of fire and companion of the Great Goddess.