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The temple of Hephaestus Archaeological Society at Athens © Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία -
The Areopagus and the temple of Hephaestus in the background (Thiseio) Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Temple of Hephaestus at Theseion William Haygarth Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The temple of Hephaestus in Theseio William Haygarth Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseio). The eastern peristyle of the temple from the north. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseio) with Mount Lykabettus Richard Dalton Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View and plan of the Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion). Hypothetical reconstruction. Barbié de Bocage Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The temple of Hephaestus in Theseio Henri Beck Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The temple of Hephaestus (Theseio) Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Decorative element from the temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion). Theseus riding the Marathonian bull (representation from a damaged relief). James Stuart, Nicholas Revett Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion) in the Ancient Agora: Fig. 1. Plan and elevation. Fig. 2. Details of the coffered ceiling. Fig. 3. Section of the roof. Fig. 4. Facade. Fig. 5. View of the thregus. A,B,C: The metopes and frieze of the temple. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Fragments from the metopes of the Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion) in the Ancient Agora of Athens Edward Dodwell Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The temple of Hephaestus (Thiseio) in the area of the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis from the northwest Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Fragment of the metopes of the Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion) Edward Dodwell Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The western view of the Temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion). The frieze can be seen. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The sculpture in the frieze of the pronaos of the temple of Hephaestus: The battle of Theseus and the Pallantides. James Stuart, Nicholas Revett Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Temple of Hephaestus (Theseion): The sculpture on the frieze of the posticus, representing the Centauromachy. James Stuart, Nicholas Revett Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Temple of Hephaestus (Theseion): Four of the metopes in the Eastern front. Fig. 15 Ruined basso relievo. Fig. 16: Hercules with the girdle of Hippolita. Fig. 17 Fig, 18 Hercules taking the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. James Stuart, Nicholas Revett Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of the western part of Athens. In the background, the Hill of the Nymphs, from where Stademann painted his Panorama. August Ferdinand Stademann Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The temple of Hephaestus (Thiseio) from the northwest Etienne Rey Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The temple of Hephaestus in Theseio William Haygarth -
The temple of Hephaestus Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Portico of Theseum Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus James 'Athenian' Stuart The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Festival at the Theseion James Skene The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
View of Athens with the temple of Hephaestus Thomas de Thomon The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Plaster cast of metope from the Hephaisteion The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Fragment of a marble stele with extract from a decree with regulations for public sacrifice at Athens. Found near the Hephaisteion. The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus from the NW Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Interior of the temple of Hephaestus Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus Charles Robert Cockerell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Study of the pediment and metopes of the temple of Hephaestus James 'Athenian' Stuart The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
View of the Areopagus and the Theseion James Skene The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The temple of Hephaestus Charles Robert Cockerell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Ancient inscription from the Temple of Hephaestus (Theseion) Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη
At the western boundary of the Ancient Agora, on the hill of Agoraios Kolonos, stands the temple of Hephaistos, an all-marble Doric temple of exceptional craftsmanship. Also known as the Hephaisteion, it is the best-preserved ancient temple in metropolitan Greece. It was formerly referred to as the Theseion, as it was believed to be dedicated to Theseus. The broader area also adopted this name in the modern period.
The temple dates back to the middle of the 5th century BCE and is considered among the architectural masterpieces of the Periclean era. It is distyle in antis, featuring two columns between the antae of the narrow sides, it has a pronaos, a cella (the main temple) and an opisthodomos, and it is externally surrounded by a Doric colonnade (6 by 13 columns). It is made of Pentelic marble, while Parian marble was used for parts of the superstructure and the sculptural decoration. Inside the cella, a double colonnade in a Pi-shape existed, with the walls covered in stucco, likely to accommodate paintings. There was the pedestal on which the statues of the worshipped gods stood, Hephaistos and Athena.
The external sculptural decoration is not continuous, but emphasis is placed on the eastern side of the monument, which was directly visible to the crowd in the square of the Ancient Agora: the ten relief eastern metopes depict scenes from the labours of Hercules, while on the long sides only the four eastern ones are decorated with episodes from the labours of Theseus. On the contrary, in the western part of the temple the metopes are undecorated. The frieze running through the pronaos portrays six Olympian gods watching mythical contests, possibly Theseus’ victorious fight against the Pallantides. The frieze of the opisthodomos, at the width of the cella, illustrates the Centauromachy. Although only fragments remain from the pediments, their study has shown that the eastern one would represent either the “Apotheosis of Hercules” on Mount Olympus or the birth of Athena from her father Zeus, while the Centauromachy adorned the western pediment.
The temple of Hephaistos is mentioned by Pausanias, a fact that helped in its identification. The traveller makes special mention of the bronze cult statues of Hephaistos and his sister Athena housed in the temple, works of the sculptor Alcamenes. These sculptures were crafted in the years after the temple’s foundation, likely during the period of the Peace of Nicias (421-415 BCE) that brought an end to the first phase of the Peloponnesian War. Hephaistos, the god of metallurgy, and Athena Ergani, the patroness of arts and craftspeople, were jointly honoured in the Ancient Agora, where many artisans and craftsmen had set up their workshops.
During the Hellenistic period, in the 3rd century BCE, a garden was created in the area surrounding the sanctuary. Excavations revealed pits, some of which still preserved large clay pots that would have been used for the embellishment of the space. In the Roman period, the temple was not damaged neither by the invasion of the Heruli in 267 CE nor by the Goths in the 4th century CE. Later, during the 7th century, it was turned into a Christian church dedicated to Saint George. This change in use resulted in the preservation of the building on the one hand, and the destruction of its sculptural decoration by the Christians on the other. A few years after the establishment of the Greek state in 1830, the temple of Hephaistos was turned into a museum for the safekeeping of antiquities, while in the first decades of the 20th century, a systematic study of the temple began through excavations by the American School for Classical Studies in Athens.
