Rhea (Mother of Gods)
titanThe great Titaness who saved Zeus from being swallowed by Kronos, enabling the entire Olympian order to exist.
The Myth
Rhea was the wife and sister of Kronos and the mother of the six original Olympians: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia. She is the most important figure in the transition from Titan to Olympian rule, because without her intervention, all the Olympians would have remained trapped inside Kronos forever. After watching Kronos swallow five of her children, Rhea conspired with Gaia and Ouranos. When Zeus was born, she wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and presented it to Kronos, who swallowed it. She hid the infant Zeus in a cave on Mount Dicte in Crete, where the Kouretes danced and clashed their shields to mask the baby's cries. Rhea was worshipped throughout the Greek world but especially in Crete, where her cave sanctuary was an ancient pilgrimage site. She was later identified with the Anatolian goddess Cybele, whose ecstatic cult spread across the Roman Empire.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Kronos
titanKing of the Titans who ruled during the mythological Golden Age. Kronos overthrew his father...
Kronos (Golden Age King)
titanThe king of the Titans who ruled during the Golden Age and devoured his children to prevent...
Rhea
titanMother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by...
Demeter
godGoddess of grain, harvest, and the fertility of the earth. When her daughter Persephone was...
Demeter (Grain)
godDemeter was the goddess of grain, harvest, and fertility whose grief over Persephone's abduction...
Demeter Thesmophoros
godAn epithet of Demeter as bringer of divine law and civilised customs, honoured at the Thesmophoria,...
Hades
godRuler of the underworld and lord of the dead. Despite his fearsome reputation, Hades was not evil —...
Hades (God)
godHades was the lord of the underworld who received the dead — feared but not evil, wealthy from...
Hera
godQueen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's...
Hera Teleia
godAn epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the...
Hestia
godThe eldest child of Kronos and goddess of the hearth fire. Hestia was the gentlest of the...
Poseidon
godLord of the seas and brother of Zeus. Poseidon's moods shaped the oceans — calm seas for those who...