Hephaestus

**Hephaestus** is the God of Fire and Metalworking. He is the son of Hera and Zeus, brother of Eris, Ares, Eileithyia, Angelus, and Hebe, half-brother to Athena, Apollo, and Artemis, and husband to Aphrodite.

He first appears in Episode 141.

## Appearance

Hephaestus is an orange god with a golden prosthetic left arm and two prosthetic rod like legs. He is usually seen wearing glasses and has a military style crew cut. In Episode 167, it's revealed that Hephaestus does not need to wear his glasses at all times.

## Personality

Hephaestus is shown to be rather blunt, speaking very little in his interaction with Hera. He is straight to the point of business, although this may be due to his evidently strained relationship with his mother. Hephaestus appears quiet and rather nerdy, preferring the company of his AI assistant Aetna to other beings. He does, however, show a streak of kindness, being willing to help his mother despite their lack of closeness and later apologizing to his AI over the triggering nature of the photos they will be deleting.

## Relationships

### **Parents**

#### Zeus

Zeus is Hephaestus' Father. There is little information regarding their relationship but according to Hecate, he wants nothing to do with his family. When discovering that Echo, Hera's new assissant, reached out to Ares to bring Hephaestus to Hera, Zeus expresses concern over his son coming back to Hera's life.

#### Hera

Hera is Hephaestus' Mother. It appears that the two are not close, as it is revealed that he has never met his younger sister Hebe, nor has he been home in at least 8 years. During his first full appearance, Hephaestus comes off as distant and blunt towards her, seemingly ignoring Hera's compliments and that they miss him at home. Despite their lack of closeness, Hephaestus is still willing to help his mother by hacking into Apollo's phone and deleting the photos of Persephone. However, he still appears to be slightly awkward in Hera's presence, showing that he is not up for small talk with her and discreetly wanting her to leave, although he promises to think about visiting Hera at home and meeting Hebe.

Despite their tense and rather strained relationship, Hephaestus does care for his mother’s well-being. After discovering Hera was ill by his brother Ares, Hephaestus showed great concern for her and visited her while she was bed rested, much to her surprise. Hera was very pleased by his visit and also thanked him for his help in deleting the pictures of Persephone.

During the Persephone and Demeter's trial, Hephaestus is waiting in an unknown as he waits for Hera to arrive so the two could meet.

### **Siblings**

#### Eris

Eris is Hephaestus' oldest sister and there is no information regarding their relationship.

#### Ares

Ares is Hephaestus' older brother. It is unknown what their relationship is like, but Ares is shown to be jealous over the amount of praise Hephaestus gets from their Uncle Hades and states that they should throw him a parade. When the two are left alone, Hephaestus is annoyed over Ares stalking him in order to talk to him about Hera. Likewise, Ares is upset over Hephaestus distancing himself from the family, especially Hera.

#### Hebe

Hebe is Hephaestus' youngest sister. There is little information regarding their relationship. Hera has stated that while Hebe knows who he is, the two have never met. He promises Hera he would consider visiting home in order to meet his little sister who wishes to meet him.

#### Athena

Athena is Hephaestus' half-sister. There is little information regarding their relationship.

#### **Artemis**

Unknown to Hephaestus for many years, Artemis is Hephaestus' half-sister from Zeus. There is no information regarding their relationship prior to Artemis discovering the truth about her parentage. During the last day of Persephone and Demeter's trial, Apollo reveals himself and Artemis to be Zeus' children, extending their family tree.

#### Apollo

Unknown to Hephaestus for some time, Apollo is Hephaestus' half-brother from Zeus. Unlike the rest of his half-siblings, Apollo and Hephaestus have been friends for many years as they both serve as Olympians. When Hephaestus discovered his assault on Persephone, he hacked into his phone to delete pictures he took. After Apollo sees Hephaestus at Persephone's trial, he attempts to get him to go out but Hephaestus ignores him. As Hephaestus types on his computer, Apollo comes to realize Hephaestus was the one to hack into his cellphone and while he denies it at first, Apollo goes on to say Persephone is a liar. As Apollo continues to say Persephone is lying to protect her scholarship, Hephaestus no longer denies hacking into his cellphone and tells Apollo he saw the truth. Before the two could continue, Hades interrupts them as he overhears the conversation.

### **Extended Family**

#### Hades

Hades is Hephaestus' uncle. Although not much in known about their relationship, the two are very close as Hades states that Hephaestus is his favorite nephew and Hephaestus is the man responsible for all the technology produced in the Underworld. It would seem that despite Hephaestus not wanting to be involved with his family anymore, he makes the exception for his uncle. Hades is greatly impressed by his nephew's work and when seeing him staring at Persephone through the glass window, he is quick to invite Persephone in for the two to meet.

As Hephaestus is talking to Ares, Hades is outside with Persephone and the two start a game where Persephone brings a plant inside the room back to life and Hades kills it. Although it seemed like Hephaestus and Ares didn't notice it, Hephaestus would snap and ask the two to flirt somewhere else. During Persephone's trial, Apollo attempts to convince Hephaestus that Persephone was lying about his assault on her. The conversation ends with Hades overhearing and interrupting, concerning Hephaestus.

### Friends

#### Aetna

Aetna is Hephaestus' AI assistant, who he evidently designed and created himself. Despite being a computer program, Hephaestus appears to treat Aetna like a person, speaking to her as if she has feelings of her own. Although Aetna is quick to reassure him that she "won't feel a thing," she also appears to take interest in Hephaestus' day, asking him how his meeting went and taking notice of things Hephaestus has mentioned to her.

## Powers and Abilities

Hephaestus is a genius in computers and technology as he was able to create an artificial intelligence. He is also adept in hacking as he was able to trace Persephone’s assault photos back to Apollo’s phone and delete them.

## Gallery

His name was mentioned in Hera's suitor bookHephaestus makes a debut appearanceHephaestus's full body appearance.
## Trivia

* He was first mentioned in Lore Olympus when Hera was choosing who she should set up Persephone with. She put Hephaestus on the list, and she actually mentioned him when she first chatted with Persephone.
* During Episode 143 of the Podcast Let's Talk About Myths, Baby!, Rachel reveals that Hera made Hephaestus by herself. Hera was jealous that Zeus had made Athena on his own.
	+ This contradicts with Hecate stating in Episode 145 that Zeus has not sired any other "Godly male heirs" besides Ares, Hephaestus and Angelos.
* Some myths state that Hephaestus was Hera's son alone. He was also described in Greek mythology as being born lame. Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite on the orders of Zeus to prevent a war of the gods fighting for her hand. He was said to have made all of the weapons for Olympus and acted as a blacksmith for the gods.
* Despite not wanting to be involved with his family anymore, he is shown to be close to his Uncle Hades as he works for him in the Underworld to produce their technology.

## References

1. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/episode/5HFNmWS6rxgEiiTdxcznDM