| Names: | Hephaestus; Lat. Vulcan; Mulciber. |
| Epithets: | Strong-handed. |
| Powers: | Smith; crafts. Occasionally, clown for the sake of peace between Zeus and Hera. |
| Attributes and symbols: | Hammer; fire; crucibles. |
| Gifts to mortals: | Metalcraft; Pandora and her box. |
| Origin: | Hera, to score with Zeus' giving birth to Athena, parthenogenically
conceived Hephaestusand hurled him from Olympus in dismay for his weakling
appearance.
He remained lame from this fall. |
| Loves: | Aphrodite; Grace Aglaea; once pursued his pal and colleague Athena; et al. |
| Spouse: | Aphrodite (or one of the Graces). |
| Children: | Erichtonius (a snake-foot baby, conceived by Ge, while Hephaestus was chasing Athena); Palaemon; Periphetes (all his sons are lame). |
| Chosen people/ places: | Keeps workshops on the islands: Lemnos; Sicily. |
| Pageant: | Cyclopes (helpers in the smithy). |
| Allies/ favorites: | Prometheus; Athena; Thetis (cared for the rejected baby-Hephaestus; he owed her a favor). |
| Adversaries: | Ares (lover of his wife); River Scamander in the Iliad. |
| Victims: | A rather peaceful god. He caught in chains his mother Hera, to
avenge his neglect;
later, ensnared Aphrodite and Ares in bed - all were released after proper humiliation. |
| Notes: | Hephaestus benefits the Olympians in many ways: he provides
them with material
goods, and relieves the tension at divine feasts by playing a clown and making gods laugh ("Homeric laughter'). Hephaestus has the traits of the demiurge-trickster, god-creator of primitive mythologies. |