Hephaestus is a God of fire, volcanoes, metal work, blacksmiths, metallurgy, forges, sculpting, carpenters and artisans. A smith's hammer, anvil and pair of tongs are his symbols. Hephaestus may be based on older Attic gods. He's the son of Greek Mother Goddess Hera, patron of women, childbirth and marriage.
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Hera is his mother and Zeus may be his father. Hera is able to reproduce asexually. Hephaestus is lame. In one version it's due to a birth defect, and Hera throws him off Olympus because of it. In another version Zeus throws him off the mountain for trying to defend Hera and he becomes lame on landing. In the first case he falls into the sea and is raised by Thetus, mother of Achilles.
In the second version, Hephaestus falls for a whole day then lands on the island of Lemnos, in the northern Aegean. The ancient Sintians who dwell there teach him the arts of metallurgy and secrets of the forge, the fire and the blacksmith.
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The Olympians beg him to return but he refuses, until Dionysus gets him drunk and brings him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. When he recovers, he's given great respect. He lives in a palace on the mountain and makes the weapons, armor, tools, accessories and furniture of the Gods. Twenty giant bellows blow at his will.
In one story, still miffed at Hera for throwing him off Olympus, Hephaestus builds her a golden chair. Once she sits in it she can't get up again. At first Hephaestus ignores the pleas of the Gods to release her, saying, "I have no mother."
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Then he says he'll release her on condition that he marry Athena in some versions, or Aphrodite in others. Athena spurns him, Aphrodite marries him but can't commit, and they're later divorced.
The Roman Vulcanus is also lame. The disabled blacksmith is a common theme in folklore and art. In the Bronze Age (c. 3300 - 1200 BCE) smiths combined copper with arsenic to produce a harder form of bronze or when the usual metal, tin, was not available. Arsenic is a deadly poison. It can kill by massive overdose or gradual buildup in the tissues and organs.
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Bronze Age blacksmiths were subject to chronic arsenic poisoning due to use of the metalloid, just as felt workers and hat makers suffered mercury poisoning. The mythology of Hephaestus begins in the Iron Age, after the Bronze Age in history, when the subject of the disabled blacksmith is already entrenched in lore.
On the island of Lemnos, spot Hephaestus fell to earth is considered sacred. The terra Lemnia is said to cure madness, snakebite and hemorrhage. The Priests of Hephaestus know how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes.
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During his godly reign Hephaestus is known as an inventor and creator of miraculous automations. Tripods with golden wheels moved at his bidding. He created handmaidens of gold who supported him when he walked. He made gold and silver guard dogs who would bite intruders and never age.
Greek colonists in the south of Italy related Hephaestus to Roman gods Adranus (of Mount Etna) and Vulcanus of the Lipari islands. Vulcanus dwells beneath the Island of Vulcano, just north of Sicily. The smoke of his forge can be seen rising into the sky.
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