1 “What you shall hear is not a tale I have shared with many, indeed parts of it I have never shared,” Hephaestus stated as we made our way toward the Othrys Mountains and Trachis beyond. “But I hope you can accept what you hear and support the decisions made, and those still being made.” Lysistratos looked to me in confusion. “Just listen,” I told him. I appreciated Hephaestus trying to pre-empt his story about Demetri … about Demi with strangers and I could only hope that Moeris and Lysistratos would be as welcoming as I had been. “Many winters ago I emerged from Hera’s womb, a full-grown god, with the expectation of being just as strong and powerful as she, and my father, Zeus were. As they still are,” Hephaestus continued. “As I slid from her body, she taunted Zeus that she had borne me alone, without help from him. He did not believe her, replying that he had planted his godly seed within her and from it, I was created. Their argument did not last long, neither suddenly eager to admit their part in my lineage when they saw the lameness in my legs preventing me from standing as tall as my other siblings. “Before I could defend myself or prove I had talents that would outweigh my physical limitations, Hera threw me from Olympos. I fell for days through the clouds and the air, falling towards the mortal world far below until finally I landed on the island of Lemnos. “The sea god Proteus found me and cared for me as my broken bones healed. Proteus was father to the Haliai nymphs who tended and guarded the sea, the sand and the rocky shores around Lemnos. Schools of fish and other sea creatures were loyal to them; obeying their commands and assisting them when ships crashed against the rocks and threw the mortals into the raging waters. “Proteus taught me to walk again with the aid of metal frames around my legs and in return for his care I gifted Proteus and his family with fire to cook the fish they caught, and keep themselves and the injured sailors that washed up on their shores warm. When I had recovered enough, I helped Proteus build the first forge. I showed his people how to tend it and how to craft objects from the heat. Proteus told me the gifts I had given them was far more than he had given me with the metal frames, and insisted I accept something else – his youngest daughter, Cabeiro. “Cabeiro was just a child, barely three winters old, but Proteus assured me that she was not as mortal as she appeared. She was not immortal but she would live for many, many winters and would bear me strong children should I request it of her. I thanked Proteus for his kindness, and his gifts, and assured him I would return one day, but first I had matters to settle on Olympos. I needed to assert my place amongst the other gods – lame legged or not. “I returned to Olympos and proved my standing through a number of deeds, some honourable, most not so, until finally Zeus gave me the titles of God of the Fire and God of the Forge. I took my place among my family, my parents grudgingly accepting my existence and imperfections, along with my gifts. “I remained in Olympos for a long time, and Zeus gave me a wife – Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. At first I believed it was because I had proven myself worthy of such a gift, but I quickly learnt that he had given her to me so the other gods would not fight each other for her affections. I did not care much for Zeus’ reasons and I loved her dearly, honoured to have such a beautiful woman to call my wife. “I wish I could tell you our marriage was a happy union, but it was not. Aphrodite did not love me or desire me the way I did her and she soon returned to her lover, my brother Ares. I did not know of their affair at first, but the all-seeing sun god Helios did, and he informed me of it. I arrived back at our palace to find my wife and my brother writhing together in our marital bed. Fury surged in my blood at the sight of them. They were oblivious to my presence and I silently retreated to my forge deep beneath the earth where I devised a plan to trap them. I would have killed Ares, killed them both for the betrayal, but I knew I could not. Zeus would have banished me again from Olympos, stripped me of my immortal powers and forced me to live as a mortal being for the rest of my days. Or perhaps he would have just killed me, even though he had told me he favoured me more than Ares. “For moons I worked on a net made of unbreakable chain-links and when it was finished, I strung it high above the bed in my palace, ready to catch the unsuspecting lovers. The links were so tiny that it was impossible to see the trap from afar and that was my intention. One morning I announced to Aphrodite that I intended a visit to my worshippers and would be gone many days. I knew she would not care which temple I named, her only thought would be how much time she and Ares would have together. I was not wrong as, with barely a glance, she wished me a pleasant journey and breezed out of the room, rushing to get a message to Ares. I knew then that my plan would work. “I hid in the palace as Ares arrived, furious at how they flaunted their passion through every room in our home, but I took comfort that soon they would be discovered and made to cease their affair. When they took to our bedroom, I dropped the net onto them, ensnaring them in its power. They could not move or deny what they had been doing; caught in their lover’s embrace. I appeared to them and told them it was not enough that I knew, I wanted every god and goddess on Olympos to know of their betrayal. I was certain my father would put an end to any future between them. I told myself that Aphrodite belonged to me, Ares could not have her; Zeus would not allow it. “But when I took the lovers to Olympos, my plan unravelled – no one was outraged at the trapped pair, they only laughed that they had been caught by the lamest god of them all. They ridiculed me too, speculating that I had been unable to satisfy the Goddess of Love, and would never be able to as my body was not whole. I fled far below to my forge, leaving my wife and her lover trapped beneath the net. “Eventually I returned to Olympos and spoke with my father. I told him that Aphrodite and I would part ways, but I would only release them if Ares paid me the bride-price I had paid when Aphrodite and I married. Zeus agreed, adding that Ares would also pay the adulterer’s fine. I agreed to the terms and allowed them their freedom. I was not everything that Aphrodite desired, and she was not what I wished for. I wanted more than constant betrayal and lies from the woman I wed. I did not carry on as the other gods; marrying one and lying with another just because I could. I wanted a proper union of love and trust, and with Aphrodite that could never be. “Over time I took other lovers, but none were satisfactory to me, none filled me with what I was looking for, no woman – goddess or mortal – wanted what I did. None that is until I returned to Lemnos and saw the beautiful sea-nymph who had been promised to me so long ago. “I was hesitant to reveal myself to Cabeiro; such a beauty could not love me, just as Aphrodite had not. I told myself she would hide from me, scream at my damaged legs and refuse to lie with me should I ask it of her. But I was mistaken, when Proteus finally convinced me to reveal myself to Cabeiro, she accepted me with open arms, listening to my struggles with Aphrodite and offering comfort in her arms and her bed. “I had found my love, and our union produced three beautiful daughters, the Caberides, nymphs just as their mother was, and two blacksmith sons – Alcon and Eurymedon – who were known as the Cabeiri. The boys were strong and talented and it was clear from the moment they entered the world that they carried my godly blood inside them. They grew from infants, to boys, to men in one short winter and were soon running the forge I had begun with Proteus so long before. “Cabeiro and I were immensely happy together and she did not shy away from the boys when it became clear that they had also inherited some of my lameness; for both did not grow taller than half the height of normal men. She loved them and cherished them with all that she had, just as she did me, and I did not want to leave when Zeus called me back to Olympos. “I went of course, but promised Cabeiri I would be by her side again just as soon as I could.