Mountain Hymettus In Athens

A man is hiking on Mountain Hymettus in Athens, Greece on October 29, 2023. According to the myth, goddess Athena fled to the mountainside of Hymettus, to escape from god Hephaestus who had fallen in love with her. Hephaestus followed her but she fought him off, injuring him on the foot with her spear, leaving him lame. His semen, however, fell on Athena’s thigh. She wiped it away with a scrap of wool, which she turned into a bag and flung it to the earth. The semen impregnated the goddess of the earth Gaea, thus giving birth to the mythical king of Athens, Erichthonius. Today, this spot is called “Kalopoula”, which derives from the ancient Greek phrase “Kyllou Pira” (bag of the lame), and is where the altar of Hephaestus was built.