As you can see from the picture below, Hephaestus was crippled.

Hephaestus (Vulcan in Roman) was the god of fire and the forge. He was either the son of Zeus and Hera or Hera alone (we don’t know). He was a crippled god, which is why the Greeks didn’t like his appearance much. His symbols are a smith’s hammer, an anvil, and a pair of tongs. But, he is usually just holding an axe.

Here is a kind of painful story (for Hephaestus):

       After giving birth to Hephaestus, Hera threw him off Mt. Olympus. She did that because he was crippled! (Isn’t that mean?!) Thetis and Eurynome then brought him up. Because of being thrown off the mountain, Hephaestus was crippled forever.

       But, Hephaestus did get his revenge on Hera. After being taught his craft, Hephaestus made a magical, golden throne. He gave Hera the throne and, when she sat on it, she became stuck in it.

       The other gods begged Hephaestus to return and free Hera from the throne. When Dionysus went to fetch him, Dionysus tricked him into drinking wine that intoxicated him.

Hephaestus then returned to Olympus to free Hera, because he was poisoned for a while from the wine. Once Hera was free, he was allowed to stay on Mt. Olympus. This story actually has a happy ending for everyone! J