The smith god, also a wizard who makes various magic or mechanical devices for the gods. He is usually shown as short, stout and lame, and was the husband of Aphrodite. He may carry tongs and hammers, instruments of his craft. His lameness was the result of being thrown down from Olympos by Hera. He refused to return, but was persuaded by Dionysus, who made him drunk, the subject for several archaic scenes of return procession to Olympos, with attendant satyrs.
Above left: Hephaistos makes Achilles armour. Detail from an Athenian red-figure clay vase, about 500-450 BC. Berlin Antikensammlung F2294. Photo. Mus. (I.Geske) © Berlin Antikensammlung Licence Plate 11 UK 1007 153
Above right: Detail from a Caeretan hydria c.6th century BC. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum 3577 © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
