Hephaestus

Hephaestus was the Olympian god of forges, fire, technology, craftsmen, sculptors, volcanoes, and blacksmiths. He was a son of Hera and Zeus.

After being killed by Deicidia during the Battle of Olympus, Hephaestus' Dying Wish was for his automatons to protect his forges and to guard the sacred locations of the gods. He was reincarnated as Phyresus in Larissa, Thessaly.

Birth and Rivalry with Hera
Through her own power, Hera impregnated herself with Hephaestus, which may explain why he was deformed at birth. When Hera saw the unsightly appearance of her son, she threw him from Mount Olympus, crippling him forever. Afterwards, Hera spread a false rumor that it was actually Zeus, his father, himself who hurled Hephaestus down from Olympus. Hephaestus landed in the sea, where he was found and raised by Thetis, a kind Nereid. However, Hera's act of cruelty haunted Hephaestus, and he sought revenge.

After spending nine years under the sea with Thetis, Hephaestus finally rode back to Mount Olympus on the back of a donkey. As he rode into the Olympian Throne Room, all of the gods (especially Hera and Ares) were shocked into silence by his hideousness. With him, Hephaestus had brought magnificent new thrones for all of the Olympians. Hera's throne was made from shining pure translucent blue adamantine, making it particularly grandiose. Although suspicious at first, a very impressed Hera quickly seated herself in it, and instantly, she was tightly bound by invisible and unbreakable chains. The chains grasped Hera so tightly, that she could not breathe, and all of the divine ichor in her veins flowed to her hands and feet. Ares and Hermes tried to convince Hephaestus to release his mother, but the latter remained stubborn and inexorable. Finally, his youngest half-brother Dionysus (the god of wine), decided to take matters into his own hands. Dionysus began visiting Hephaestus' forge from time to time, and peacefully chatting with him. The two gods quickly became friends, and a week later, Dionysus introduced Hephaestus to wine, and finally convinced the intoxicated god to forgive Hera, and took him back to Mount Olympus on the back of a donkey. There, Hephaestus declared his forgiveness of Hera's act of cruelty and released her. Afterwards, Hephaestus and Hera made peace with each other.

As the new Blacksmith of the Olympians, Hephaestus soon created the metal giant Talos, the Colchis Bulls, and other various elaborate automatons, which were his specialty. He also built the impenetrable armor of Achilles, a powerful and great tool.

Athena and Erikthonius
Hephaestus' father Zeus eventually began experiencing terrible headaches (caused by Athena, the child of his swallowed wife Metis, banging around inside his head, desperate to escape), so Hephaestus offered to put Zeus out of his misery by splitting open the latter's head with his awl and hammer. While most of the other Olympians held a struggling Zeus down on his throne, Hephaestus banged his awl into his father's head with a mighty blow, creating a fissure, thick enough for Athena to squeeze her way out, after which she grew into a full-size goddess, much to the astonishment of the other gods. Hephaestus subsequently stitched up the fissure in Zeus's head.

Hephaestus had managed to develop strong unrequited feelings for Athena, all the more because they had similar interests in tools and crafts respectively, as well as a penchant for solving mechanical problems. Unfortunately for him, however, Athena, as one of the Virgin Goddesses, was incapable of romance, and never desired to marry anyone. A lovesick Hephaestus would not be deterred, however, and persistently followed and flirted with the beautiful goddess, finally attempting to rape her and flinging himself at her, wrapping his arms around her waist. In the process, some of his ejactulatory fluid rubbed off on Athena's bare leg where the skirt was parted, much to her chagrin. She kicked Hephaestus away and snatched up a piece of cloth to wipe the godly moisture off of her, hurled the cloth off Olympus, and ran away from her persistent lover.

The cloth, containing the essence of both Hephaestus and Athena, would subsequently transform into a mortal baby boy Erikthonius, a mortal child of both gods. Athena placed her son into a wooden chest, along with a magically conjured serpent, with the intention of Erikthonius's godly qualities eventually being enhanced by the serpent, making him immortal. Athena then took the chest to the Athenian Acropolis (her most sacred place) and gave it to the daughters of Kekrops (the first king of Athens), and warned them not to open it. While the princesses agreed, they would be overcome with curiosity after only one night and they opened the chest. However, seeing Erikthonius and the serpent rendered them insane, and they promptly jumped off the side of the Acropolis's cliffs, plummeting to their deaths. As a result, the spell was broken before Erikthonius could become immortal, and the serpent slithered away, inducing Athena to raise him herself. Athena would eventually take out her vengeance on the girls' father, Kekrops, whom a grown-up Erikthonius would banish, usurping his Athenian throne.

Olympian Riot and Hephaestus' Punishment
Hera, enraged at her husband's infidelity, decided to start the first (and last) Olympian riot against Zeus. Hera managed to gain the support of Poseidon (who secretly desired to become King of the Olympian gods), as well as Apollo, and Athena. Hephaestus, however, chose to remain neutral, as he deemed his mother's idea of a riot ridiculous. As a result, after Zeus was freed by Briares, the King of Olympus did not punish him.

However, Hephaestus could not bear to see his mother Hera hanging chained right above the terrifying Void of Chaos as her punishment for the riot. As a result, he finally set her free. Hera tearfully embraced Hephaestus and promised to never to call him ugly ever again. Zeus, however, was infuriated. He violently stormed into Hephaestus' chambers, easily overpowered him, and flung Hephaestus all the way from Mount Olympus to Lemnos (which broke every bone in his divine body). In time, however, Hephaestus' wounds were healed, and he returned to Olympus. Zeus was somewhat ashamed of his past angry fit with his son, and (in a rare act) apologized and welcomed his son back with open arms.

Marriage to Aphrodite
The goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, was causing a lot of problems on Olympus due to her radiant beauty. While Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, and Hermes all wanted her for themselves, Hephaestus didn't participate in the commotion, and instead sat in the shadows, quiet and dejected, knowing that his ugliness stripped him of any chance of competing for the gorgeous Aphrodite. Hera, feeling that her godly family was about to unravel, was determined to prevent that, and hastily ordered the other Olympians to silence themselves. As the goddess of marriage, she felt an obligation to pick the perfect husband for the new goddess and proclaimed that such a perfect match was her son Hephaestus, much to Ares and Aphrodite's dismay. Hephaestus himself was so surprised, that he fell off of his throne. Athena was quick to agree with Hera as well, pointing out that if Aphrodite were to marry anyone else, all of the other male gods would never stop fighting about it, while it would be nearly impossible for them to be jealous of Hephaestus. Hence, Zeus married both of them right then and there, with Hephaestus promising to be a loving husband.

Humiliating Ares and Aphrodite
While Hephaestus did keep his word, Aphrodite would stay away from her husband as much as possible, with them never having any kids. She soon began an affair with Ares, the handsome god of war, which became the worst kept secret on Mount Olympus, with Hephaestus being the only person that didn't know, possibly because he wanted to believe that his wife could love him.

However, he did finally become suspicious after the birth of Aphrodite's first son, Eros, the god of love, whose very handsome features bore a striking resemblance to Ares'. Her next child, Harmonia, was equally beautiful, without any resemblance to Hephaestus. Finally, the all-seeing Titan of Sun, Helios took pity on Hephaestus and revealed Aphrodite's infidelity to the latter. The devastated blacksmith god fashioned an unbreakable yet extremely thin golden net and wove it over the bedposts in his bedroom. He then claimed to be departing to Lemnos for a few days and left.

Ares and Aphrodite then retired to the latter's bedroom but were imprisoned and immobilized by the net as soon as they jumped into bed. A returned Hephaestus then proceeded to lead the rest of the gods into his bedroom, determined to humiliate the cheating pair. He first called Hermes, and asked him to send the message to all the gods. However, Zeus and Hermes found the situation hilarious, and were promptly joined in prolonged contagious laughter by the other gods, with Apollo jeering at Ares and Athena at Aphrodite. Finally, however, Poseidon managed to collect himself and requested that Hephaestus release the pair. The blacksmith god begrudgingly agreed, but only on the condition of Zeus repaying him all the gifts that he had made for Aphrodite's dowry. Poseidon then insisted that Ares be released as well, vouching to ensure that the war god would pay any price that would settle this debt. Hephaestus agreed, requesting a price of 10 wagon loads of the best armor, weapons, and war spoils from Ares' fortress. With an agreement reached, Hephaestus finally released them both.