Hephaestus (also called Mulciber), was the oldest son of Zeus and Hera. He had the misfortune of being lame, and as a result, his appearance disgusted Hera. He was also clumsy, ill-tempered, and ugly. She was so displeased that she flung him out of heaven. It must be said that in some accounts Zeus threw him out for taking sides in an argument between Zeus and Hera, and the fall caused his lameness. The reason for his fall notwithstanding, he landed in the sea near the island of Lemnos, which is now sacred to him. Milton refers to the fall of Hephaestus in Book I of "Paradise Lost"

"...From morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer's day; and with the setting sun
Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star,
On Lemnos, the Ægean isle."

     Hephaestus was rescued by Thetis and Eurynome, who raised him and gave him his first smithy. Soon Hephaestus became a master craftsman. One day Hera noticed a lovely broach that Thetis was wearing; one made by Hephaestus. Once Hera recognized that Hepahestus had made it, and that he was her son, she welcomed him back to Olympus and arranged his marriage to Aphrodite. Aphrodite probably was not too happy with this marriage, because even though she had three children while she was married to Hephaestus, all were fathered by Ares.

     He was a kindly, peace loving god, popular on earth as in heaven. As with Athena, he was important in the life of the city of Athens. The two were the patrons of handicrafts, the arts which along with agriculture are the support of civilization; he the protector of the smiths as she of the weavers. When children were formally admitted to the city organization, the god of the ceremony was Hephaestus.

     He made for Zeus the dreaded aegis and the scepter, for Achilles and Memnon their armour, for Zeus the first woman Pandora, and the thrones for the Olympian gods.

     Hephaestus was the divine personification of the fire that burns within the earth and bursts forth in volcanic eruptions, fire that has no connection with the sun or the lightning of heaven.

ACTIVITIES:
Hephaestus activity

KEY TEST WORDS: (Know the material behind these items.)
Hephaestus, Vulcan, Mulciber, forge, anvil, hammer, quail.

The Olympians

The Lesser Deities

FOOTNOTES:
In works of art Hephaestus is represented as an aged bearded man, with serious furrowed face, wearing a short chiton and a pointed cap, "pilos," the mark of workmen or fishermen, hammering at an anvil, his attitude showing the lameness.

SOURCES:
Jane Smith
Bulfinch's Mythology
Edith Hamilton's Mythology