Hephaestus — Ancient Greek God

Hephaestus, God of Forge, Fire, and Volcanoes
Roman name: Vulcan
Hephaestus and Ares were the sons of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of all the Greek gods. Ares was the god of war. He liked to destroy things. Hephaestus was his opposite. He liked to build things. Hephaestus built all the gods' homes on Mount Olympus, including his own. If any of the gods needed anything built or created, he was always glad to do it. Some of their requests were rather unusual, but Hephaestus always found a way that made them happy.

He was not as successful with his marriage. Hera, his mother, arranged a marriage between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite was not pleased about it, but what could she do? Hera was even more powerful than she was. Mostly, Aphrodite ignored her husband.

When Zeus directed Hephaestus to built a woman out of clay, he created the lovely Pandora. Some say Hephaestus created Pandora with characteristics he wished his own wife had - gentleness, kindness, and thoughtfulness - all the things his own wife was not. Zeus was so happy with the way Pandora turned out that he rewarded Hephaestus by making him the god of volcanoes as well as fire and forge.

Hephaestus' Name
It is not known what the name Hephaestus means. However, since it’s similar to few pre-Greek toponyms (Phaistos), it is supposed that Hephaestus is a very old deity.

Son of Zeus and Hera
Homer says that Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera. However, he is unclear whether he was born lame or whether he was lamed after his father threw him from Olympus for intervening on behalf of his mother during a quarrel between Zeus and Hera.

Hephaestus Hated by His Mother
Hesiod, however, claims that Hephaestus is solely Hera’s child and that she gave him birth by parthenogenesis to get back at her husband who had done the same with Athena. In this version of the story, after bringing him to the world, Hera was so disgusted with Hephaestus’ looks and ashamed of his deformity that she was the one who threw him out. Hephaestus was severely hurt from the fall, but he was rescued by Thetis and Eurynome, who sheltered him in a cave under the Ocean for the following nine years.

Hephaestus’ Revenge on Hera
Later on, Hephaestus got his revenge. He made a golden throne, so beautiful that Hera accepted it right away. However, the minute she sat on it, she was all tied up by the numerous delicately fashioned cords invisible to anyone’s eyes but their creator’s. Many gods tried to persuade Hephaestus to free Hera, promising him a place on Olympus in return. However, he was unremorseful and released his mother only when Dionysus got him drunk.

Hephaestus’ Women and Children
For an ugly god, Hephaestus couldn’t have fared much better when it comes to women.