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Child of Zeus and Hera, craftsman and smith of the Gods and, as is so often the case among Aryan smithy Deities, lame. Among the Hellenes, he was something of a hapless fool, a figure of jest and contempt. This stems from the very strong Classic Mediterranean attitude which held manual labor to be an unworthy thing, fit only for slaves and others of little importance. His lameness is said by some to be from a birth defect which caused Him to be cast down into the Sea (Okeanos) - others aver it to be a result of Zeus casting him off Olympus in a fit of rage, owing to Hephaestos' siding with Hera in an argument. In that both versions involve a catastrophic fall from the heavens, a reference to meteoric iron and/or volcanic ejecta may be implied. He was wed to Aphrodite, a union which caused much cruel jest among the Olympians. In Egypt, He became conflated to a degree with Ptah.