Vulcan: Roman god of volcanoes or conflagrations.
Story of Vulcan:
Vulcan was born to the king and queen of gods, Jupiter and Juno, who had been thrown off Mount Olympus because he wasn’t born as a handsome baby. When he had fallen into the sea and broken his leg, he was found by Thetis, a water nymph. She took him to her underwater home and raised him as her son.
When he was reaching adulthood, he had found burning coals on the shore, being interested, he took them home and made a fire with them. He spent hours with the fire and the hotter he made the fire, he realised there were stones that sweated with gold, silver and iron.
He beat the stones to different shapes and made accessories, swords and shields. He made many gifts for his foster mother, who had worn them while visiting Mount Olympus.
Juno, Vulcan's birth mother, had learned of his abilities and demanded that Vulcan return back to her. Vulcan refused to leave his underwater home. He built a beautiful chair made of gold and silver with inlays of mother-of-pearl and sent it to Juno. The Queen of the Gods was very happy with the gift. When Juno sat in the chair, her weight engaged hidden springs and metal bands. They sprung from the chair and held Juno. The more she yelled and struggled, the more the chair held her. Vulcan had sent Juno a chair that was designed to be a trap.
After being trapped there for days, her husband contacted Vulcan and said if he released Juno, he’d give Vulcan a wife. She would be the Goddess of love and beauty known as Venus. Vulcan agreed. He built a workshop in Sicily under Mount Etna. According to legend, should Venus be unfaithful, Vulcan would become angry and beat metal that is red-hot with extreme force.
Explanation: Vulcan was responsible for volcanoes because he became angry with his wife and beat metal with brute force, causing volcanoes to form and lava to erupt.
Relation to science: Volcanoes are caused by the tectonic plates colliding and the more dense plate moving beneath the thicker plate. Vulcan’s story speaks of him beating metal which builds up and erupts.
