Hephaestus

Also known as: the famous Lame One · Family: Olympian · Role: god · First appears: Apollodorus, Library 1.3

🌐 Also appears in: The Iliad (as Vulcan) · The Aeneid (as Vulcan) · The Metamorphoses of Ovid (as Vulcan) · Greek Tragedy — The Same Myth, Three Voices (as Hephaestus)

In Apollodorus, Library 1.3, Hera is said to have borne Hephaestus without intercourse, while Zeus is named as his father in Homer’s account. After coming to Hera’s rescue, Zeus cast him from heaven; he fell on Lemnos, was lamed in his legs, and was saved by Thetis. At the river Triton, he is given as one possible figure who struck Zeus’s head with an axe so that Athena could emerge fully armed. In Hesiod, Hera bears him after quarreling with Zeus, and Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, later made Aglaea his wife.

Hephaestus killed Mimas with missiles of red-hot metal. When Zeus learned that Prometheus had stolen fire, he ordered Hephaestus to nail Prometheus to Mount Caucasus. He is also named as the possible father of Erichthonius with Athena, and after being forsaken by Aphrodite, he pursued Athena; Palaemon and Periphetes are likewise named as his sons.

His smithy is connected with Orion, and he supplied a golden breastplate for Heracles, while Athena gave Heracles brazen castanets received from him. Hephaestus cleansed Pelops at the Ocean and provided armour for Achilles.