Volcanology that Hephaestus, the god of fire, sat below the volcano Etna, forging the weapons of Zeus. The Greek word used to describe volcanoes was "etna", or "hiera", after Heracles, the son of Zeus. The Roman poet Virgil, in interpreting the Greek mythos, held that the giant Enceladus was buried beneath Etna by the goddess Athena as punishment for rebellion against the gods; the mountain's rumblings were his tormented cries, the flames his breath and the tremors his railing against the bars of his prison. Enceladus' brother Mimas was buried beneath Vesuvius by Hephaestus, and the blood of other defeated giants
The Saviors of God ascend to a harmonic view of these oppositions, to be a guide for thought and action. According to Kimon Friar, the English translator of many of Kazantzakis' writings, "The Saviors of God" occupies a central role in the work of the Greek author. In the second part of his lengthy introduction to "", Friar notes: The Saviors of God Ascesis: The Saviors of God (Greek and Latin: . ) is a series of "spiritual exercises" written by Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis. It was first written between 1922 and 1923, while staying in Vienna and Berlin, and subsequently published in 1927