Hephaistos had been born ugly and lame. Disgusted by him, his mother, Hera, had flung him out of Olympus into the ocean below, where he learned the crafts for which he became known. Hephaestus fell to earth, landing in the sea near the Island of Lemnos. He had the good fortune to be rescued and nursed back to health by a group of sea nymphs and Titan goddesses. They went to great lengths to keep him hidden from his parents, hiding him in their underwater cave. Some writers say that it was the fall from Olympus that made Hephaistos lame.

In any case, he tricked his mother into allowing him to return to Olympus by sending her a throne which, when she sat on it, tied her down with invisible cords. Hephaistos released her only when she acceded to his desire to marry the beautiful Aphrodite.