HEPHAESTUS - The son of the Zeus and Hera, he was the god of fire, volcanoes, black smiths, metal working, he had a strong following in the cities where his skills were important to commerce and war. He was usually seen with an axe. In one account he sided with his mother Hera against Zeus who threw him so far that he fell all day and limped thereafter. Hephaestus was associated with mountain Etna on the island of Sicily. In his workshop he fashioned many wondrous things for the gods, including thunderbolts for Zeus, Athena's shield Aegis, arrows for Eros, and the chariot with which Helios the sun god rode across the sky. He also made weapons for other gods and even for some human heroes (armor of Achilles). He helped create the first human woman from clay, named Pandora, who released the evils of the world on humankind from her magic jar. Hephaestus created items used against the gods when he was wrong, such as a throne that held Hera prisoned when she cast him out of Olympus for being so ugly, a chain-link net used to trap his wife, Aphrodite, when he suspected her of cheating on him with Ares.

Posted in: Greek Mythology and Greek God Hephaestus.