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Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera and the smith god, lord
of artifacts and patron of crafts. Though he was the most industrious of
the gods, he was born twisted and ugly and Hera hated him on sight; she
flung him Mount Olympus and be broke both legs in the fall and was lame
ever after, but he was found on the beach by a sea goddess, Thetis, who
took to her grotto to raise as her own. He contrived beautiful ornaments
of coral and pearl for his foster mother and entertained her by setting
live jewels to swim in the warm waters, which we know now as tropical fish.
He still fretted in exile, though and resolved to take his rightful place
among the gods; he did this with a ruse, sending Hera a golden throne as
a gift, but when she sat in it, it clamped down on her and she wasn't permitted
to get up until he had extracted a promise from the gods to be accepted
back into the Pantheon. As revenge, Hera married him to Aphrodite, who
tormented him with her infidelity, but he loved his wife so much that Hephaestus
managed to find some happiness despite. However, he did not spend much
time on Olympus, but preferred his workshop in the crater of Mt. Aetna
in Sicily, where he stood at his anvil forging Zeus's thunderbolts and
weapons for special heroes. He made up with his mother and made her many
beautiful and marvelous gifts and taught many new skills to his apprentices,
the one-eyed Cyclopes, even though they were born skillful. Despite his
modest manner and horrid appearance, he was revered among mankind, for
forgery was considered the most potent form of sorcery, for the smiths
were believed to be able to lend magical properties to the weapons he forged.
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