Sparks fly, metal flows, and the forge is on fire. In the corner is a man hammering a piece of hot metal. In ancient Greece, this was an image seen regularly. It is no wonder that, in such an important part of life as that of the blacksmith, there existed a god who embodied the very spirit of the work. The figure that the ancient Greeks worshiped as a god of the arts was Hephaestus. He was said to not be the most attractive of gods, described by Percy Jackson as "hideous... His head was misshapen and protruding." (188) While they may not be the words of an ancient Greek, the description perfectly shows why he was thrown from Mount Olympus by his mother, Hera, because he was lame. In another tale, Hephaestus was again thrown down from the sky, however this time it was by his father, Zeus. In the tale, Hera attempted to kill Zeus' demigod son Heracles after putting Zeus to sleep. Zeus woke up and, seeing that his wife was trying to kill his son, imprisoned her. Hephaestus saw what happened and attempted to free his mother, where he was then thrown from Mount Olympus and landed on the island of Lemnos. Here he built his forge under a volcano. Hephaestus is the son of Hera and technically also the son of Zeus, although he had no role in Hephaestus' birth. Hera, who was jealous of Zeus for having had an affair with the goddess of Prudence, or Metis, conceived Hephaestus parthenogenetically, meaning he was conceived without fertilization of the egg. After Zeus' affair with Metis, Gaia told him that the child he had with her would overthrow him. To stop this, he swallowed Metis so he could give birth to his son himself. Because she couldn't give birth naturally, she had no way to deliver the baby from her breast... middle of paper... Achilles, often called one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology , wore armor made by Hephaestus. The armor was said to be invincible and for this reason highly contested. When Achilles died at the end of the Trojan War, his armor was to be given to the bravest of warriors. Odysseus and Ajax both gave a speech and Odysseus received the prize. Ajax, so distraught at having been robbed of his armor by the cunning Odysseus, committed suicide. This shows the kind of power Hephaestus' works have. Ajax was considered one of the greatest heroes in history, but when he did not obtain Achilles' magical armor, he gave in to jealousy and took his own life. Works Cited Riordan, Rick. The Battle of the Labyrinth. New York: Scholastic, 2008. 1-361. Print.Bulfinch, Thomas. The Mythology of Bulfinch. New York: Barns & Noble, 2013. Print.