Vulcan (mythology)

Vulcan (Latin: Volcānus [wɔɫˈkaːnʊs] or Vulcānus [wʊɫˈkaːnʊs]) is the god of fire[4] including the fire of volcanoes, deserts, metalworking and the forge in ancient Roman religion and myth. He is often depicted with a blacksmith's hammer.[5] 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.

God of fire, metalworking, and the forge
SymbolBlacksmith's hammer
Festivalsthe Vulcanalia
Personal information
ParentsJupiter and Juno
SiblingsMars, Minerva, Hercules, Bellona, Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, etc.
Greek equivalentHephaestus
Etruscan equivalentSethlans
Hinduism equivalentAgni[1][2][3]
Japanese equivalentKagutsuchi



The origin of the name is unclear. 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.[7] This interpretation is supported by Walter William Skeat in his etymological dictionary as meaning lustre.[8]

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.[9] Wolfgang Meid has disputed this identification as phantastic.[10] Meid and Vasily Abaev have proposed on their side a matching theonym in the Ossetic legendary smith of the Nart saga Kurd-Alä-Wärgon ("the Alan smith Wärgon"), and postulated an original PIE smith god named *wl̩kānos.[11] But since the name in its normal form is stable and has a clear meaning—kurd ("smith") + on ("of the family") + Alaeg (the name of one of the Nartic families)—this hypothesis has been considered unacceptable by Dumezil.[12]

Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h has proposed the identification with the Irish name Olcan (Ogamic Ulccagni, in the genitive). Gérard Capdeville 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.[13]

According to Martin L. West, Volcanus may represent a god of the fire named *Volca and attached to the suffix -no-, the typical appendage indicating the god's domain in Indo-European languages. *Volca could therefore be a cognate of the Sanskrit words ulkā ("darting flame") and/or várcas- ("brilliance, glare").[11]


Vulcan's oldest shrine in Rome, called the Vulcanal, was situated at the foot of the Capitoline in the Forum Romanum, and was reputed to date to the archaic period of the kings of Rome,[14][15] and to have been established on the site by Titus Tatius,[16] the Sabine co-king, with a traditional date in the 8th century BC. It was the view of the Etruscan haruspices that a temple of Vulcan should be located outside the city,[17] and the Vulcanal may originally have been on or outside the city limits before they expanded to include the Capitoline Hill.[4] The Volcanalia sacrifice was offered here to Vulcan, on August 23.[14] Vulcan also had a temple on the Campus Martius, which was in existence by 214 BC.[4][18]

The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith-god Hephaestus.[19] Vulcan became associated like his Greek counterpart with the constructive use of fire in metalworking. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting that the two gods were already associated at this date.[15] However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructive capacity, and a major concern of his worshippers was to encourage the god to avert harmful fires.


Observed byAncient Rome
TypeRoman, Historical
CelebrationsBonfires in honour of Vulcan
ObservancesSacrifice of fish
DateAugust 23rd

The festival of Vulcan, the Vulcanalia, was celebrated on August 23 each year, when the summer heat placed crops and granaries most at risk of burning.[4][20] During the festival, bonfires were created in honour of the god, into which live fish or small animals were thrown as a sacrifice, to be consumed in the place of humans.[21]

The Vulcanalia was part of the cycle of the four festivities of the second half of August (Consualia on August 21, Vulcanalia on 23, Opiconsivia on 25 and Vulturnalia on 27) related to the agrarian activities of that month and in symmetric correlation with those of the second half of July (Lucaria on July 19 and 21, Neptunalia on 23 and Furrinalia on 25). While the festivals of July dealt with untamed nature (woods) and waters (superficial waters the Neptunalia and underground waters the Furrinalia) at a time of danger caused by their relative deficiency, those of August were devoted to the results of human endeavour on nature with the storing of harvested grain (Consualia) and their relationship to human society and regality (Opiconsivia) which at that time were at risk and required protection from the dangers of the excessive strength of the two elements of fire (Vulcanalia) and wind (Vulturnalia) reinforced by dryness.[22]

It is recorded that during the Vulcanalia people used to hang their clothes and fabrics under the sun.[23] This habit might reflect a theological connection between Vulcan and the divinized Sun.[24]

Another custom observed on this day required that one should start working by the light of a candle, probably to propitiate a beneficial use of fire by the god.[25] In addition to the Vulcanalia of August 23, the date of May 23, which was the second of the two annual Tubilustria or ceremonies for the purification of trumpets, was sacred to Vulcan.[20][26]


A flamen, one of the flamines minors, named flamen Vulcanalis was in charge of the cult of the god. The flamen Vulcanalis officiated at a sacrifice to the goddess Maia, held every year at the Kalendae of May.[27]

Vulcan was among the gods placated after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64.[28] In response to the same fire, Domitian (emperor 81–96) established a new altar to Vulcan on the Quirinal Hill. At the same time a red bull-calf and red boar were added to the sacrifices made on the Vulcanalia, at least in that region of the city.[29]

Andrea Mantegna: Parnas, Vulcan, god of fire





This power is, however, considered useful if directed against enemies and such a choice for the location of the god's cult could be interpreted in this way too. The same idea underlies the dedication of the arms of the defeated enemies,[31] as well as those of the surviving general in a devotion ritual to the god.[32]


Another meaning of Vulcan is related to male fertilizing power. In various Latin and Roman legends he is the father of famous characters, such as the founder of Praeneste Caeculus,[34] Cacus,[35] a primordial being or king, later transformed into a monster that inhabited the site of the Aventine in Rome, and Roman king Servius Tullius. In a variant of the story of the birth of Romulus the details are identical even though Vulcan is not explicitly mentioned.[36]


Some scholars think that he might be the unknown god who impregnated goddesses Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste and Feronia at Anxur. In this case he would be the father of Jupiter.[37] This view is though in conflict with that which links the goddess to Jupiter, as his daughter (puer Jovis) and his mother too, as primigenia, meaning "primordial".


In the case of Caeculus, his mother was impregnated by a spark that dropped on her womb from the hearth while she was sitting nearby.[38] Servius Tullius's mother Ocresia was impregnated by a male sex organ that miraculously appeared in the ashes of the sacrificial ara, at the order of Tanaquil, Tarquinius Priscus's wife.[39] Pliny the Elder tells the same story, but states that the father was the Lar familiaris.[40] The divinity of the child was recognized when his head was surrounded by flames and he remained unharmed.[41]




Vulcan is related to two equally ancient female goddesses Stata Mater,[45] perhaps the goddess who stops fires and Maia.[46]

Herbert Jennings Rose interprets Maia as a goddess related to growth by connecting her name with IE root *MAG.[47] Macrobius relates Cincius's opinion that Vulcan's female companion is Maia. Cincius justifies his view on the grounds that the flamen Volcanalis sacrificed to her at the Kalendae of May. In Piso's view the companion of the god is Maiestas.[48]

According to Gellius as well, Maia was associated with Vulcan; and he backs up his view by quoting the ritual prayers in use by Roman priests.[49][50]

The god is the patron of trades related to ovens (cooks, bakers, confectioners) as attested in the works of Plautus,[51] Apuleius (the god is the cook at the wedding of Amor and Psyche)[52] and in Vespa's short poem in the Anthologia Latina about the litigation between a cook and a baker.[53]



Hypothetical origin

The origin of the Roman god of fire Vulcan has been traced back to the Cretan god Velchanos by Gérard Capdeville, primarily under the suggestion of the close similarity of their names.[55] Cretan Velchanos is a young god of Mediterranean or Near Eastern origin who has mastership of fire and is the companion of the Great Goddess. These traits are preserved in Latium only in his sons Cacus, Caeculus, Romulus and Servius Tullius. At Praeneste the uncles of Caeculus are known as Digiti,[56]a noun that connects them to the Cretan Dactyli.


In Crete, Velchanos was the god of initiatory practices of youngsters.[57]



Foundation of Rome

Velchanos was the supreme god of early Cretan religion, where the festival of the βελχάνια (Velchania) as well as a month Ϝελχάνιοσ (Welchanios) are attested: a gloss by Hesychius states that "Velchanos is Zeus among the Cretan".[59] He was the first god of the cavern of Mount Ida, where he had an oracle, and was honoured also in Cyprus.



Greek myths of Hephaestus


Venus in the Forge of Vulcan by Pieter Thijs






The Forge of Vulcan by Diego Velázquez, (1630).



According to Virgil, Vulcan was the father of Caeculus.[63]



The main and most ancient sanctuary of Vulcan in Rome was the Volcanal, located in the area Volcani, an open-air space at the foot of the Capitolium, in the northwestern corner of the Roman Forum, with an area dedicated to the god and a perennial fire. It was one of the most ancient Roman shrines.[64] According to Roman tradititon the sanctuary had been dedicated by Romulus. He had placed on the site a bronze quadriga dedicated to the god, a war trophy from the Fidenates. According to Plutarch, though, the war in question was that against Cameria, that occurred sixteen years after the foundation of Rome.[65] There Romulus would have also dedicated to Vulcan a statue of himself and an inscription in Greek characters listing his successes.[66] Plutarch states that Romulus was represented crowned by Victory.[65] Moreover, he would have planted a sacred lotus tree[67] in the sanctuary that was still living at the time of Pliny the Elder and was said to be as old as the city.[68] The hypothesis has been presented that the Volcanal was founded when the Forum was still outside the town walls.[69]

The Volcanal was perhaps used as a cremation site, as suggested by the early use of the Forum as a burial site.[70] Livy mentions it twice, in 189 and 181 BC, for the prodigies of a rain of blood.[71]

The area Volcani was probably a locus substructus. It was five meters higher than the Comitium[72] and from it the kings and the magistrates of the beginnings of the republic addressed the people, before the building of the rostra.[73]






Outside Rome








The Vulcan statue located in Birmingham, Alabama is the largest cast iron statue in the world.[84]


A 12-foot-tall and 1200-pound Vulcan statue at California University of Pennsylvania serves as the school's mascot.[85]

In 2013, Reuters reported that the name "Vulcan" was being promoted as a name for "newly discovered" moons of Pluto.[86] The moons had been discovered in 2011 and 2012, bringing the count of known moons of Pluto to five. Though the name Vulcan won a popular vote, the International Astronomical Union decided in June 2013 to finalize the names as Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra.[87]

The name "Vulcan" has been used for various other fictional planets, in and out of the Solar System, that do not correspond to the hypothetical planet Vulcan, theorized by Urbain Le Verrier shortly after his discovery of Neptune to orbit the Sun closer in than Mercury. The planet Vulcan in the Star Trek franchise, for instance, is specified as orbiting 40 Eridani A.






Vulcan is a character in the Starz TV series American Gods, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. He is not a character in the novel and is now the "god of guns" in this version, using the forge at his ammunition factory as a symbolic representation of a volcano.[90]

Vulcan is a character in the John Prine song, "The Lonesome Gods of Science" from his last album, The Tree of Forgiveness released in 2018.[91]

One of Warhammer 40.000's most recurring characters, Vulkan, is inspired by him. He is also related to volcanoes and fire.

See also

  • Kaveh the Blacksmith
  • Kurdalægon
  • Tlepsh
  • Agni
  • Atar
  • Apam Napat
  • Adur Burzen-Mihr
  • Adur Gushnasp
  • Vulcan Iron Works
  • Vulcanization


  1. Hayrapetean, Srbuhi Pōghosi (1995). A History of Armenian Literature: From Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century. Caravan Books. p. 34. ISBN 9780882060590.
  2. Cox, George William (1867). A Manual of Mythology in the Form of Question and Answer. p. 47.
  3. Talley, Jeannine Elizabeth (1978). The Blacksmith: A Study in Technology, Myth and Folklore. University of California, Los Angeles. p. 101.
  5. Corbishley, Mike "Ancient Rome" Warwick Press 1986 Toronto.
  10. W. Meid "Etrusc. Velkhans- Lat. Volcanus" Indogermanische Forschugungen, 66 1961.
  11. West, M. L. (2007-05-24). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. OUP Oxford. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9.
  13. Gérard Capdeville Volchanus. Rechérches comparatistes sur le culte de Vulcain Rome 1994.
  16. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, II.50.3; Varro V.74.
  17. Vitruvius 1.7; see also Plutarch, Roman Questions 47.
  18. Livy, Ab urbe condita 24.10.9.
  22. In Dumézil's interpretation the Vulturnalia were associated with the protection of riping grapes from a hot and dry southwestern wind named Vulturnus, not with the river Tiber, as Mommsen had supposed, or Vulturnus of Campania.
  23. Paulinus of Nola Letters XXXII, 139.
  24. G. Dumezil Fetes romaine d'étè et d'automne Paris Gallimard 1975; It. transl. Feste Romane Genova Il Melangolo 1979 pp. 60 ff.
  25. Pliny the Younger Letters III, 5.
  26. Ovid, Fasti 5.725–726.
  27. Macrobius Saturnalia I 12,18; Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae XIII 23, 2.
  28. Tacitus, Annals 15.44.1.
  30. Plutarch Questiones Romanae 47; Vitruvius De architectura I,7,1
  31. Servius Ad Aeneidem VIII 562.
  32. Livy Ab Urbe Condita Libri VIII 10.
  33. G. Dumezil La religion romaine archaique Paris, 1974, part 2, chap. 2; It. tr. Milan 1977 pp. 277–280.
  35. Vergil Aeneis VIII 198.
  36. Plutarch Romulus II 3–6
  38. Vergil Aeneis VII 680.
  39. Ovid Fasti VI 627.
  40. Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia XXXVI 204.
  41. Ovid Fasti VI 625–636.
  42. Andrea Carandini La nascita di Roma Turin, 1997, p. 52.
  43. Dionysius Halicarnasseus Antiquitates Romanae II 50, 3.
  44. Varro Lingua Latina V 73: see above.
  45. CIL VI, 00802, found in Rome.
  46. Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae XII 23, 2: "Maiam Volcani".
  47. H. J. Rose A dictionary of classical antiquities It. transl., Turin, 1995.
  48. Macrobius Saturnalia I 12, 18.
  49. A. Gell. Noct. Att. XIII, 23, 2
  50. Maiestas and Maia, though, are possibly the same divine person: compare Ovid's explanations of the meaning of the name of the month May in his Fasti: V 1–52 Maiestas; 81–106 Maia both as possible eponyms of May.
  51. Plautus Aulularia 359.
  52. Apuleius Metamorphoses VI 24, 2.
  53. Iudicium coci et pistoris iudice Vulcano.
  54. Hyginus Fabulae 158.
  56. Solinus II 9; Arnobius Adversus Nationes III 41, 1; 43, 3.
  59. Hesychius Γ 315 Latte.
  61. "Hephaestus and Aphrodite". Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  62. "Vulcan". Mythopedia. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  63. Virgil, Aeneid 7.678–681; Servius on Aeneid 7.678.
  64. Cf. above note 10, 11 and 12.
  65. Plutarch Romulus 24.
  66. Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antitquitites II 54, 2.
  67. The Italic lotus, diospyrus lotus, or melilotus, Columella De Re Rustica VII 9; Galen.
  68. Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia XVI 236.
  69. G. Dumézil La religione romana arcaica Milano Rizzoli 1977 p. 285.
  71. Livy Ab Urbe Condita Libri XL 19, 2.
  72. Dionysius of Halicarnassus Antiquitates Romanae II 50, 2.
  73. Dionysius of Halicarnassus Antiquitates Romanae XI 39, 1.
  74. Plutarch Publicola, 16
  76. Livy Ab Urbe Condita Libri IX 46.
  77. CIL VI 457.
  78. Richter BRT iv 15–16.
  79. Von Duhn Italische Gräberkunde i. 413 sqq.
  80. C. Pavolini La vita quotidiana a Ostia Roma-Bari,1986
  81. AE 1953, 00073; G. Gaggero Introduction to Suetonius's Life of the twelve Caesars Milan 1994
  82. Strabone Geografia. L'Italia V,4,6, Milan 1988
  83. Pliny the Elder Nat. Hist. II, 240
  87. International Astronomical Union Decides Against Naming Pluto Moon 'Vulcan'The Atlantic.
  88. "The Automation Review (Comedic Fantasy)".
  89. Summers, David Lee (Spring 2015). "The Automation". Tales of the Talisman. 10 (4): 108.
  90. "American Gods Introduces New Character Vulcan, God of Guns".
  91. New York Times obituary