Who is the god of fire and the forge?

Hephaestus is the Olympian god of fire, metalworking, and the forge—the divine blacksmith who crafted Zeus’s thunderbolts, Achilles’ armor, and wondrous automata. Often depicted sooty and lame after being cast from Olympus, he works in volcanic forges with the Cyclopes, turning raw fire into artful power. Don’t confuse him with Prometheus (the Titan who stole fire for humans), Ares (war), or Hades (the underworld). Memory hook: Hephaestus heats, hammers, and hardens—three H’s for the master of the hammer. His mythic marriage to Aphrodite highlights a Greek theme: skill and craftsmanship can rival beauty and brute force.