The story of the east pediment is very beautiful and tells of the birth of Athena and of her reign. In the beginning Zeus, the father of the gods, the king of the gods, had a very severe headache and could find no relief. He had long wanted a child born of the intellect. It is said that he was so disappointed at having a son, Hephaestus, born maimed that he threw him out of Heaven and it took a whole day for him to fall to the earth. Hephaestus was the god of fire, the god of metals, the blacksmith of the gods, and he forged the thunderbolts that Zeus used in his battles of Heaven. Hephaestus sent word to his father that if he would restore him to his rightful position among the gods, he would cure him of his headache. Thereupon Zeus assembled the gods on Mount Olympus and from somewhere, in a thundercloud, came Hephaestus. He struck his father in the back of the head with an axe and from the wound, giving Zeus his wish, sprang Athena, fully grown, clothed, and armed. She was announced and crowned goddess of wisdom by Nike, goddess of victory. It is said that at this event the earth groaned, Mount Olympus trembled, and the gods stood in amazement at the miracle that had been performed. These four figures form the highest pinnacle of the east pediment of the Parthenon. At the extreme south end of the pediment, representing the beginning of the reign of Athena, in the morning is seen Helios, the god of the sun, the god of the morning, coming up out of the sea driving his four steeds representing the four seasons. As the horses come bounding out of the sea, Helios can scarcely restrain them, so eager are they to mount the skies. Heracles, the next figure on the pediment, is shown with his club on his shoulder, nonchalantly looking at the horses, paying no attention to what is taking place on Mount Olympus. He is looking at the sun as it rises. Heracles was known as the favorite of the gods. In his early manhood they had permitted him to choose between virtue on the one hand, and vice on the other, both very attractively arrayed. He chose virtue rather than vice, and thus became their favorite. He did many heroic deeds in Grecian history, and was the national hero of Greece. Heracles was himself made a god; Zeus was his father, his mother was a mortal.