Gaia and Uranus produced the twelve elder Titans — Kronos, Rhea, Oceanus, Tethys, Theia, Themis, Mnemosyne, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Phoebe — who ruled the cosmos during the Golden Age before the Olympians overthrew them.
Kronos and Rhea's children — Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia — were swallowed by their father and later freed by Zeus, who led them to overthrow the Titans.
Rhea was increasingly identified with the Phrygian Cybele from the 5th century BCE onward. Both were mountain mothers with lion-drawn chariots and ecstatic cults, and Greek writers often treated them as one goddess under two names.
In Hesiod's Theogony, Rhea appealed to her parents Gaia and Uranus for help saving her last child. They devised the plan to hide Zeus on Crete and substitute a stone for Kronos to swallow.
Kronos devoured five of Rhea's children — Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon — as each was born, driving Rhea to conspire with Gaia and Uranus to overthrow him.
The elder gods who ruled during the Golden Age before being overthrown by the Olympians, including the twelve first-generation Titans born to Ouranos and Gaia and second-generation members Pallas and Perses.
Rhea and Ops are the Greek and Roman names for the same Titan mother who tricked her child-devouring husband by swaddling a stone in place of their youngest son.
According to Homer's Iliad, Rhea sent Hera to be raised by Oceanus and Tethys during the Titans' reign, keeping her daughter safe at the edges of the world while Kronos ruled.
Rhea arranged for the divine goat Amalthea to nurse the infant Zeus in the Dictaean Cave on Crete, sustaining the hidden child who would overthrow Kronos.
Rhea entrusted the infant Zeus to the Curetes on Crete. They guarded the cave where he was hidden, clashing shields and dancing to mask his cries from Kronos.
The stone Rhea substituted for Zeus was later disgorged by Kronos and placed at Delphi, where it was venerated as the Omphalos — the navel of the world — and anointed with oil daily.
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Zeus sent Rhea to persuade Demeter to end the famine caused by her grief over Persephone's abduction. Rhea carried the terms of compromise to her daughter.
In Apollodorus's account, Rhea healed Dionysus of the madness inflicted on him by Hera, purifying him through her rites before he continued his travels through Asia.
Kronos transformed himself into a stallion to conceal his affair with Philyra from his wife Rhea. When Rhea discovered them, Kronos galloped away in horse form, and Philyra later bore the half-horse Chiron.
In Pausanias's Arcadian tradition, Rhea saved the infant Poseidon from Kronos by hiding him among a flock of lambs and telling Kronos she had given birth to a foal, which he swallowed instead.
Rhea's deception of Kronos and concealment of Zeus on Crete were the direct cause of the Titanomachy. The war that overthrew the Titans began because Rhea saved the child who would lead it.
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Zeus chose Rhea as his emissary to end the famine, trusting that only their mother could persuade Demeter to relent. Rhea descended from Olympus to the Rarian plain to deliver the compromise.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and improve your experience. Learn more