Well, hey, Hephaestus was a Greek god, right? God of the forge?
They didn't specify! LOL! This is in no way a comment on Jim's
looks-- I've never set eyes on him.
Below, from Wikipedia:
Hephaestus was reported in myth as cholo-s, “lame”, crippled,
halting (e-pedanos) and misshapen, either from birth or as a
result of his fall: in the vase-paintings, Hephaestus was shown
lame and bent over his anvil, his feet sometimes back-to-front:
Hephaistos amphigye-eis. He walked with the aid of a stick. The
Argonaut Palaimonius, “son of Hephaestus” which is to say a
bronze-smith was also lame. Other “sons of Hephaestus” were the
Kabeiroi on the island of Samothrace; they were identified with
the crab (karkinos) by the lexicographer Hesychius, and the
adjective karkinopous, “crab-footed” signified “lame”, Detienne
and Vernant have observed: the Kabeiroi were seen as lame too.
Hephaestus’s physical appearance indicates arsenicosis, low
levels of arsenic poisoning, resulting in lameness and skin
cancers. In place of less available tin, arsenic was added to
copper in the Bronze Age to harden it; most smiths of the Bronze
Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning, and the
mythic image of the lame smith is widespread.
Hephaestus was reported in myth as cholo-s, "lame", crippled,
halting (e-pedanos) and misshapen, either from birth or as a result
of his fall:
Myth of Hephaestus includes some very curios details. I do not want
to rehash the whole story, but here is the part which is not well
known:
Hephaestus agreed to return to Olympus if Zeus would agree to his
marriage to Aphrodite. As a wedding present, Hephaestus made a
brassiere for Aphrodite to make her look irresistible. After the
wedding Aphrodite took Ares as a lover. Hephaestus was very upset and
decided to catch them in the act. He constructed a net out of silver
wire which was unbreakable. One day, instead of going to his shop, he
hid in the bushes to wait for Ares arrival. After Ares showed up and
observing them going to the bedroom, he rushed in into the bedroom
and found them in bed naked. He tossed the net over them and called
other Gods to witness the disgrace.
Armed with this evidence, he proceed to sue Aphrodite in Olympus
court for infidelity, but he lost his case and was ordered to pay a
compensation to Aphrodite for the embarrassment. The court ruled that
since it was Hephaestus who constructed the brassiere to make
Aphrodite look irresistible, Ares had no choice in the matter, and
Aphrodite was justified in thinking that she simply followed
Hephaestus wishes.
The fine was paid by Poseidon who said it was well worth the money
to see Aphrodite naked.