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that he could be carried back to Olympus, a journey that is often depicted with Hephaestus on the back of a mule. It is not clear whether Hephaestus was bribed to free Hera, or whether he was rewarded for releasing her, whichever the reason Hephaestus was provided with a new wife, Aphrodite. It was the perfect solution for Zeus, as Aphrodite was the goddess of love, and a likely source of conflict between other gods fighting for her attention.

Once again established with the other Olympian gods, Hephaestus set about building a new workshop under Mount Etna. There he continued to master metalwork, and his work was in high demand. Many of the gods had their weapons created by their fellow god. Hephaestus is credited with the creation of Zeus' breastplate and sceptre; Hermes' sandals and winged helmet; Helios' chariot to pull the sun along; Athena's shield, Eros' bow and arrows; and Aphrodite's girdle. Hephaestus also made armour and weapons for the Greek heroes, creating the armour for Achilles, bronze clappers for Heracles, shoulder guards for Pelops, and Agamemnon's staff.

Hephaestus was not alone in his workshop; he had the first generation Cyclops, sons of Cronus, to assist him. Additionally he also made his own automated assistants out of metal to help with the work. The creation of assistants came in useful when Prometheus stole the secret of fire from the forge of Hephaestus, as in revenge Zeus had Hephaestus create Pandora, the first woman.

The love life of Hephaestus was complicated, and Aphrodite was upset at being married off to the ugly god. She therefore started an affair with the god of war, Ares. Hephaestus though was soon made aware of this tryst, and came up with a plan to catch them in the act of adultery. Hephaestus manufactured an unbreakable chain net, and with the couple caught in it dragged the naked couple back to Mount Olympus for the other Olympians to observe the unfaithfulness of his wife. Hephaestus was after some sort of retribution but all that the other gods did was life at the naked god and goddess caught in the net.

Although married to Aphrodite, Hephaestus was also linked to Cabeiro, a sea-nymph, with whom he is said to have had two sons who became the Cabeiri metalworking gods. A further two sons were the Palici, fathered with Thalia. Hephaestus was said to have fathered a number of children with immortals and mortals, but he was also rejected because of his ugliness. One of these rejections was from the goddess Athena, and as she left his bed, his semen fell to earth to give birth to Erechtheus, a king of Athens.

Hephaestus is well known for his ugliness, and is normally depicted with the tools of his trade, the anvil, tongs and smith's hammer. He is always shown bent over as well, an affliction associated with smiths of ages gone by. Smiths would often work with arsenic, and the fumes would cause deformity and lameness. This deformity though did not stop him being worshipped, with particular worship coming from Athens and other areas where manufacturing was important. The popularity was due to the fact that he was considered to be a generous god, as shown when he gave his own apprentice, Cedalion, to act as a guide for the blind huntsman, Orion.

The story of Hephaestus shows that skill can overcome appearance, and although there is perhaps nothing unique about the god, he was the only god that ever returned to Mount Olympus after being thrown out.

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