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In Greek Mythology, Hephaestus is the god of fire and underworld. In Roman mythology he is known as Vulcan, the god of fire. Hephaestus was the son of Jupiter and Juno. He is the only god to be very ugly and severely crippled. Many people tell different stories of how he became crippled. One story is that Juno, his mother, was upset of having an ugly child. Juno threw him from Mount Olympus into the sea and breaking his legs. Another story is that his father, Jupiter, and mother, Juno, got into a quarrel and threw Hephaestus from Mount Olympus. He is kind and loving and is married to Venus.
He was the blacksmith of the gods and a god of the underworld. When Hephaestus got angry he would heat up his furnace until the volcanoes would erupt. When he works, sparks and flames fly out of the volcanoes that he works in. On August 23rd of each year, the Romans held a festival in honor of Vulcan.