Rhea is the first generation Titan goddess of female fertility, motherhood, generation, comfort, ease and protection.
Role and Significance[]
Rhea was titled the "Mother of the Gods" (Meter Theon in Greek) for being the mother of the six founding members of The Twelve Olympians by her brother-husband, Cronus.
As the wife of Kronos (Cronus, Time), she represented the eternal flow of time and generations; as the great Mother (Meter Megale), the "flow" was menstrual blood, birth waters, and milk. She was also a goddess of comfort and ease, a blessing reflected in the common Homeric phrase "the gods who live at their ease (rhea)."
Rhea was strongly associated with her mother, Gaia, the Goddess of the Earth as well as the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele, with both being depicted as matronly women, usually wearing a turret crown, and attended by lions.
In Ancient Greece, Rhea was originally worshiped on the island of Crete, identified in mythology as the site of Zeus' infancy and upbringing. Her cults employed rhythmic, raucous chants and dances, accompanied by the tympanon (a wide, handheld drum), to provoke a religious ecstasy. Her priests impersonated her mythical attendants, the Curetes and Dactyls, with a clashing of bronze shields and cymbals. There were also several temples dedicated to the Goddess under the name, Meter Theon including in Anagyros in Attika, Megalopolis in Arkadia, on the Acropolis of Ancient Corinth, and in the district of Keramaikos in Athens. Her temple in Akriai, Lakedaimon was said to be her oldest sanctuary in the Peloponnese. Upon Mount Ida, (the birthplace of her youngest child, Zeus) there was a cave sacred to Rhea.
Rhea's sacred day was Saturday and due to her close ties with Cybele, she was linked to Spring Festivals held to honour the Great Mother. This celebration is the origin of Mothering Sunday.
Genealogy and Family[]
Rhea was born to Gaia, primordial goddess of the earth and Uranus, primordial god of the Sky, as the eighth member of The Twelve Titans.
Her full siblings are Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, Theia, Coeus, Phoebe, Cronus, Themis, Mnemosyne, Crius and Iapetus, the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheire monsters, the Giants, the Meliae, the Erinyes and Aitna.
She later married her elder brother, Cronus and had six children with him: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, through Cronus she is also the stepmother of Chiron, the leader of the Centaurs.
Rhea is also a key ancestor to many Olympian gods including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, Dionysus, Persephone and Eros.
Story[]
Rhea and her husband, Cronus would become the leaders of the world, after they beat Ophioneus and Eurynome, the first Titan King and Queen in a wrestling match and cast them down to the Ocean stream.
Another story tells that Cronus was the only one of Gaia's children- brave enough to revolt against Cronus on Gaia's behalf- who wanted to punish Uranus for locking their monster children away in Tartarus. Cronus would castrate his father with a sickle at a beach, causing his bits to fall into the sea from which The Erinyes, The Meliae and Aphrodite emerged. It was also here that Uranus told his son, Cronus a prophecy: that just like his son had overthrown him, Cronus would be overthrown by one of his own children, who would take his place as the leader of the Gods. Despite his mother Gaia's plea, Cronus refused to set free the monsters- the Hecatonchieres and the Cyclopes like she had wanted him to.
Cronus and Rhea would then go on to have six children together: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus and after their first five children were born, Cronus swallowed them out of the fear of Uranus' prophecy coming true. When Rhea was heavily pregnant with her sixth and last child, Zeus she went to Mount Ida, where after she birthed him, gave him to the Cretan Nymphs, Adrasteia and Ida to raise guarded by the shield clashing Kuretes. Rhea then presented a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes to Cronus as their last child which he promptly devoured, having fell for his wife's trick. Later on a fully grown and vengeful Zeus would meet his father, and pass him a special concoction created by the Oceanid Metis, (which in some accounts she was helped in making by Rhea) which after Cronus drunk made him vomit up his five other children. Zeus and his newly united siblings would run away from Cronus and briefly separated. With Zeus, Hades and Poseidon visiting the Underworld where they struck a deal with the Hecatonchiere and the Cyclop monsters to grant their freedom in exchange of them helping the siblings fight Cronus, these monsters even made the brothers their legendary weapons- Zeus' Thunderbolt, Poseidon's Trident and Hades' bident. Meanwhile Hera, Hestia and Demeter stayed with their uncle- Oceanus and aunt- Tethys in their home; before Rhea's six children then reunited and allied with other gods, including Iris, Hecate, Helios, Asteria, Styx, Nike and Bia to fight against Cronus and his allies in a ten year long war- the Titanomachy, where they emerged victorious and had Cronus and his allies imprisoned in Tartarus. Following Zeus' defeat of Cronus and the rise of the Olympian gods into power, Rhea withdrew from her role as the queen of the gods to become a supporting figure on Mount Olympus. She has some roles and myths in the new Olympian era; she attended the birth of her grandson Apollo and raised her other grandson Dionysus; after Persephone was abducted by Hades, Rhea was sent to Demeter by Zeus; while in the myth of Pelops, she resurrected the unfortunate youth Pelops after he was slain.
During the Trojan Wars, Rhea and Aphrodite rescued Creusa, the wife of Aphrodite's son Aeneas, from the slavery the Greeks would have subjected her to after the fall of Troy. As for Aeneas, when he landed in Italy, a local warlord named Turnus set his pine-framed vessels ablaze. Rhea (or Cybele), remembering that those hulls had been crafted from trees felled on her holy mountains, transformed the vessels into sea nymphs.
After Hippomenes won the hand of Atalanta in marriage thanks to the help he received from Aphrodite, he neglected to thank her. Thus the goddess inflicted them with great passion for each other when they were near a temple of Rhea. The two then proceeded to have sex inside the temple. In anger, Rhea turned them into lions, who would pull her chariot.
At some point, a mortal man named Sangas offended the goddess, and she turned him into a river that bore his name; Sangarius (now Sakarya River) in Asia Minor.
Once, a Phrygian man named Pyrrhus tried to rape Rhea; the goddess changed him into stone for his hubris.
In one Orphic myth, Zeus was filled with desire for his mother and pursued her, only for Rhea to refuse him and change into a serpent to flee. Zeus also turned himself into a serpent and raped her. The child born from that union was their daughter Persephone, and afterwards Rhea became Demeter. The child, Persephone, was born so deformed that Rhea ran away from her frightened, and did not breastfeed her daughter.
Appearance[]
Rhea was depicted as a matronly woman wearing a crown (either a Mural crown or a Polos), seated on a throne flanked by lions or within a chariot pulled by two lions.
Personality[]
Rhea is a regal and motherly goddess who loves her children very much and would do anything to protect them, her kindness also extends to other deities, however she is also very protective and defensive of herself as well as proud, she will take no disrespect including from mortals and has been known to curse them if they offend her. She is generally gentle but becomes fearsome when crossed.
Relationships[]
Parental[]
Gaia and Uranus- Gaia and Uranus are Rhea's parents. Not much is known about their relationship with their daughter.
Siblings[]
The other Twelve Titans-
Romantic[]
Cronus- Cronus is Rhea's brother husband. They married and had six children together. The couple seemed to get along well until Cronus swallowed the children they had together, which made Rhea unhappy with him. She managed to hide their youngest child away from him and trick him into swallowing a rock instead. Thanks to her youngest son, Zeus, who fed Cronus a concoction that made him vomit up the other children and the rock, Rhea reunited with all her children. In some accounts Rhea helped Metis make this concoction.
Children[]
Rhea is a loving, kind and caring parent to her children, contrasting her husband, Cronus.
Hestia- Hestia is Rhea's firstborn child and daughter.
Demeter- Demeter is Rhea's second child and daughter. It is said that Rhea came to Demeter to comfort her when Persephone first went into the Underworld.
Hera- Hera is Rhea's third-born child and youngest daughter.
Hades- Hades is Rhea's fourth child and firstborn son.
Poseidon- Poseidon is Rhea's fifth born child and second son.
Zeus- Zeus is Rhea's final child. She gave birth to him in secret before passing him to the Idaian Nymphs, Adrasteia and Ida to take care of. The sisters kept him safe. Zeus and Rhea would reunite when Zeus became an adult and set his siblings free from Cronus' stomach, which was a very joyous occasion for Rhea. Like with all her children, Rhea loves and supports Zeus. According to an Orphic Myth, Zeus became infatuated with Rhea and asked to marry her, Rhea turned him down which caused Zeus to turn into a snake and have forced intercourse with her, Rhea would birth Persephone, then turned into Demeter, who refused to breastfeed her child being disturbed by her appearance.
Friends[]
Titles and Epithets[]
Rhea's cult titles and epithets were Meter meaning 'Mother', Meter Theon meaning 'Mother of the Gods', Meter Megale meaning 'Great Mother' and Meter Panton meaning 'Mother of All'.
Symbols[]
Rhea's symbols are the turret crown, the cymbal, a chariot and a tambourine, a lighted torch, bass drums, a double ax and the moon which represents her role as a fertility goddess. Her sacred animal is the Lion and her sacred plant is the Silver Fir tree.
Powers, Skills and Abilities[]
Being a goddess, Rhea has eternal youth, immortality and perfect health, she is immune to tiredness, disease and disorders and does not require sleep.
Her skills and abilities include:
Wrestling- By the Greek poet, Lycophron, Rhea was described as a skilled wrestler having cast the former queen, Eurynome into Tartarus in their wrestling match together.
Gallery[]
Rhea's gallery can be viewed here.
Trivia[]
Rhea's official Greek name is Ρεια.
Her name means flow, ease.
Her roman equivalent is named Ops.
She is also associated with Magna Mater (the roman version of Cybele).