Hephaestus (or Hephaistos) is an Olympian Greek god, the divine smith, famed for inventions, who taught men glorious crafts. ... It is most likely that bilateral congenital clubfeet made Hephaestus lame. Two sons of Hephaestus, Palaemonius and
Why is Hephaestus disfigured?
He was cast off Mount Olympus by his mother Hera because of his lameness, the result of a congenital impairment; or in another account, by Zeus for protecting Hera from his advances (in which case his lameness would have been the result of his fall rather than the reason for it).
Why did Zeus cripple Hephaestus?
The reason why Hephaestus is thrown out of Mount Olympus was due to his attempt to protect Hera from Zeus, either because of unwanted advances or to protect his mother from the anger of Zeus. Possibly, Hephaestus cut Hera out of the golden chains that Zeus had bound her in, holding her between heaven and earth.
