Earth Goddess Rhea in The Greek Mythology

Who was Rhea? Rhea was an Earth Goddess, responsible for the fertility of the soil, women and motherhood. She took over most of these responsibilities from her mother Gaia/Gaea. Rhea was the “Mother of the Gods”, her name means “flow” and “ease”. Rhea was the goddess of motherhood and not only that she saved her children from her brother and husband. Rhea is the daughter of Gaia goddess of earth and Uranus god of the sky.

Rhea was portraed as a beautiful, motherly woman. She had many sibilings including Cronus, Hyperion, Lapetus, Theia, Themis Mnemosyne, Pheobe and Tethys. She married her brother Cronus god of time she had six children including Hesita, Demeter, Hera, Haides, Poseidon, and Zeus. People confuse Rhea with her mother because Rhea carried on alot of her mother’s traits Rhea was married to Kronos, also spelled Cronus, who feared that his own child would fight with and replace him as King of the Gods, just as he had done with his own father Ouranos.So when Rhea gave birth, he gobbled up the children. They did not die, but remained trapped in his body.

Rhea finally grew tired of losing her children in this way and managed to get Kronos to take a wrapped rock instead of her most recent baby, Zeus. Zeus was raised in a cave on Crete by the goat nymph Almatheia and guarded by a group of militant men called the kouretes, who concealed his cries by banging together their shields, keeping Kronos from learning whee he was. Zeus then fought his father, freeing his brothers and sisters. Rhea is usually shown as a matronly woman with a turret crown, standing between two lions or on a chariot pulled by lions. The moon is another one of her symbols representing her role as a fertility Goddess. Her sacred animal is a lion, her sacred plant is a fruit bearing tree and her sacred day is Saturday.

As the wife of cronus she represented the eternal flow of time and generations. She had strengths and weaknesses like every other person, her strengths were that she was a fertile mother goddess, and in defence of her children she was crafty and daring. Her weakness was that she put up with Cronus eating her children far to long. Rhea was the goddess of motherhood and not only that she saved her children from her husband. Rhea was an important and strong goddess but what else did she do that no one else knows? Rhea is the mother of Zeus god of thunder and lightining also father of gods, Rhea in my opinion was one of the most important goddess.