Prussian mythology ("krivė krivaitis") and female "waidelinns" (similar to Roman vestales). Various later authors simply copied information from Grunau and the "Sudovian Book" adding no or very little new information. The 1249 Treaty of Christburg mentioned Curche, an idol worshiped during harvest festivals. Scholars were unable to positively determine its gender, function, or etymology. Various suggested functions include god of food (Simon Grunau), smithing god (similar to Slavic Svarog and Greek Hephaestus), god creator (derived from related Lithuanian word "kurti" – to create), god of harvest and grain, evil spirit, god of fire. Some even doubted whether it was a god at
Hephaestus saw it, he said: According to most versions, Hephaestus's consort is Aphrodite, who is unfaithful to Hephaestus with a number of gods and mortals, including Ares. However, in Book XVIII of Homer's "Iliad", the consort of Hephaestus is a lesser Aphrodite, Charis ("the grace") or Aglaia ("the glorious") – the youngest of the Graces, as Hesiod calls her. In Athens, there is a Temple of Hephaestus, the "Hephaesteum" (miscalled the "Theseum") near the agora. An Athenian founding myth tells that the city's patron goddess, Athena, refused a union with Hephaestus. Pseudo-Apollodorus records an archaic legend, which claims that Hephaestus once