When Hepheastus was born, his mother, Hera, saw he was very ugly. Hephaestus was so ugly, Hera threw him off of Mt. Olympus. It took Hephaestus 1 day and 1 night to fall. When he hit the ground it was such a force, he broke both of his legs, and one was crippled forever. Hepheastus sat on the edge of the sea for a very long time. Being a god he was unable to die. Hephaestus couldn't crawl or move. Finally, a tide came up, and he was brought into the sea. Hephaestus was very heavy and sunk like a stone. At the bottom of the sea, he was picked up by Thetis. Thetis was a naiad or a human that could live under water. When Thetis realized she caught a baby and not a fish, she became very curious about it. Thetis took Hephaestus home and cared for him. In return Hephaestus made her nice jewelry with whatever he found. One day Hera noticed the nice things Thetis was wearing and asked where she had gotten them. Of course she answered a baby boy she had found in the sea. Right away Hera knew it was her son Hephaestus and demanded him back. Since Hera was so powerful, Thetis returned Hephaestus to Hera. When he was back hame with his mother he said, "Mother I know I am ugly, but if you let me stay I'll gladlly make you nice things." Since then Hephaestus has been working in a broken mountain making nice things for his mother.