The name of is not a well known one in the general readings of Greek mythology, whilst most people will have heard of the likes of Zeus and Poseidon, few will have read of the gods and goddesses that predates them. Rhea was one of these goddesses, a Titaness and one of the rulers of the world before the Olympian gods.

Rhea was the child of the Uranus and Gaia, the sky and the earth, the original rulers of the universe. As such Rhea was a first generation Titan, and was present when Cronus overthrew Uranus to become the supreme ruler. The rule of Cronus is known as the Golden Age of Greek mythology, and Rhea was made wife to her brother, Cronus.

Cronus was worried about the prophecy that stated that just as he had overthrown his father, so his son would overthrow him. Cronus had a plan though to prevent this from happening and each time that Rhea gave birth to one of his children he swallowed them alive into his gigantic stomach. Thus it was that as Rhea gave birth to Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia and Poseidon, her husband would take the child and devour them. When Rhea became pregnant though for a sixth time, she decided that it was time to rebel against her husband.

Instead of giving over the sixth child, who was Zeus, she gave Cronus a stone wrapped in cloth, who instead of examining the supposed child just swallowed it. Zeus was therefore born in relative safety on Crete, and the child was then hidden from the gaze of its father within the Dictean Cave on Mount Ida on Crete.

Stories do divulge at this point, as Rhea had to return to her husband’s side, it was left to others to raise Zeus. This was done by Gaia, Amalthea or Adamanthea, depending on the source being read. Rhea though helped in the distraction of Cronus during the childhood years of Zeus, and so Zeus was allowed to grown into maturity.

It was then time for the prophecy to come true, and Zeus freed his siblings from the stomach of Cronus by giving him an emetic provided by Metis. Zeus then released the non-Titan brothers of Cronus from Tartarus, the Cyclopes, Gigantes and the Hekatonkheires. Zeus then had a force that could fight against Cronus and the other Titans, a war which became known as the Titanomachy. During the war Rhea was fairly neutral unwilling to fight against her siblings or her children.

After the Titonomachy Rhea is not punished like the majority of the first and second generation Titans because of her neutrality, and instead of being imprisoned in Tartarus was allowed to roam free. She makes fleeting appearances in the stories of the Olympian gods but was never a regular inhabitant of Mount Olympus, instead she was said to live on the island of Crete. The island became one of the central places of her worship during ancient times, although temples were erected in her honour all over Greece. The temples are easily recognisable because of the statues present, which depict Rhea on a throne with lions present at either side.

As mother of the gods, as she was after all mother to the first generation Olympian gods, Rhea was an honoured figure in Greek mythology although hardly a central one.