The Implications of Hephaestus’s Role as the Inventor of Metallurgy in the Chronographia of John Malalas
John Malalas presents Hephaestus as a king of Egypt who was deified as an inventor who made weapons and so provided his subjects with nourishment and strength in war. In the context of the Greco-Roman discussion of the progress of civilization and the identification of inventors, this may seem innoc...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 2024, Volume: 117, Issue: 3, Pages: 506-531 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
John, Malalas 490-578, Chronographia
/ Hephäst
/ Metallurgy
/ Genesis
/ Creation
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| IxTheo Classification: | BE Greco-Roman religions CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations CD Christianity and Culture HA Bible KAD Church history 500-900; early Middle Ages NBD Doctrine of Creation |
| Further subjects: | B
euergesia
B inventors and inventions B Hunting B Weapons B Hephaestus B Metallurgy B John Malalas B deification (Christian critique of) |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | John Malalas presents Hephaestus as a king of Egypt who was deified as an inventor who made weapons and so provided his subjects with nourishment and strength in war. In the context of the Greco-Roman discussion of the progress of civilization and the identification of inventors, this may seem innocuous, even a commendation. But this discourse does not unite war and hunting, as Hephaestus’s inventions do. This combination seems to allude by inversion to the biblical ideal of harmony among people and between people and beasts, and so makes Hephaestus an agent of human delinquency. This denigration is confirmed by the magical initiation of Hephaestus’s ironsmithing. It is, however, by implication and allusion, rather than outright denunciation, that Malalas achieves his critique of the traditional gods and their deification. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816024000208 |