Rhea
titanMother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by his father, enabling the rise of the Olympians.
The Myth
Rhea was a Titaness, daughter of Ouranos and Gaia, and sister-wife of Kronos. As queen of the Titans, she bore six children who would become the greatest gods of Olympus: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
But Kronos, fearing the prophecy that his children would overthrow him, swallowed each newborn. Rhea watched in helpless anguish as five of her children vanished into her husband's gullet. When she was pregnant with her sixth child, she turned to her mother Gaia for help.
Gaia devised a plan: Rhea gave birth to Zeus in secret on the island of Crete and presented Kronos with a stone wrapped in cloth. He swallowed it without suspicion. Rhea's deception saved Zeus and, ultimately, all her children — making her the architect of the Olympian order.
Parents
Ouranos and Gaia
Children
Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Hestia
Symbols
Fun Fact
The large flightless bird called the rhea was named after the Titaness, though the exact reasoning is lost.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth: