Ἡφαιστεῖον. Also transliterated as: Hephaisteion, Hephaesteion
The temple of Hephestus (or Thesion) crowns a low hill in the Northwest end of the Agora. It is one of the best preserved Doric temples of the classical period.
It was built at the same time as the Parthenon (a temple it closely resembles in smaller scale) around 450 BC, and was completed probably some time around 415 BC.
In antiquity it housed two bronze statues of the goddess Athena and Hephestus, the god of fire and metalsmithing, so it appropriately existed adjacent to the bronze and iron working foundries in the industrial center of the Agora.
The temple was adorned with the traditional Doric metopes which depict the feats of Theseus–the reason the monument is sometimes referred to as Theseum (Θησείον). The metopes of the front are ornate with relief sculptures, but with the exception of the four foremost panes that depict the Theseus legends, they are empty at the flanks.
The inside set of columns, over the porch support a continuous Ionic Freeze of high relief sculptures depicting the fight of the Centaurs and Lapyths. Unlike the Parthenon, the decorated friezes do not wrap around the building but instead appear in the front and back elevations.
The Pediment was also adorned in ancient times with sculptures of which only fragments remain today.
