a male counterpart to Pallas Athena gives skill to artists god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes son of Zeus and Hera husband of Aphrodite often depcited as "lame and crippled" known as Vulkan among Romans Peter Paul Rubens :: Vulcan forging the Thunderbolts of Jupiter (1638)