Rhea

Mother of the First Olympians

Rhea was one of the twelve Titans and the daughter of Gaia and Uranus. She married Cronus and became mother to six children who would eventually become some of the most famous gods in Greek mythology: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. Unfortunately, Cronus had heard a prophecy saying one of his children would overthrow him. Instead of deciding to become a lovely father so nobody wanted to overthrow him, he came up with a much worse plan. Every time Rhea had a baby, Cronus swallowed it.

After losing five children this way, Rhea decided her sixth baby would be different. When Zeus was born, she secretly hid him on the island of Crete. Then she wrapped a large stone in baby clothes and handed it to Cronus. Amazingly, he swallowed it without noticing. Different stories say Zeus was cared for by nymphs, and some tell of armed dancers called the Curetes who crashed their shields together to hide the sound of the baby crying. It sounds like the noisiest babysitting plan ever, but it worked. Zeus grew up safely while Cronus believed he had swallowed him.

When Zeus was older, he returned and Cronus was made to release the five swallowed gods. Zeus and his brothers and sisters later fought the Titans and became the new ruling generation. Rhea did not charge into the Titanomachy waving a magical weapon, but without her clever plan the Olympians might never have had Zeus as their leader. Later Greeks also connected Rhea with a powerful mother goddess called Cybele, and she could be shown with lions. I think her most memorable story will always be the stone, though. Greek mythology contains dragons, giants and magical monsters, but one of its biggest changes happens because a mother wraps a rock in a blanket and somebody somehow thinks it is a baby.

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