Rhea
Titaness, daughter of Earth and Heaven, wife of Cronus and mother of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus; seized by "unceasing grief" as each was swallowed, she sought her parents' counsel and bore Zeus in Crete. Homer has her hand the infant Hera to Oceanus and Tethys; the Hymn to Demeter makes her Zeus's envoy to her daughter.
Why this wins its question: Answers the small but real question — who actually handed Cronus the stone? — with the two texts that answer it differently.
Key takeaways
- Mother of the six elder Olympians by Cronus, in Hesiod's order Hestia first, Zeus last (Theog. 453–458).
- In Hesiod she asks and Earth hides the baby and gives the stone; in Apollodorus Rhea does both, in a cave of Dicte.
- Homer and the Hymn to Demeter give her the roles of nurse-arranger and envoy that the Theogony does not.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
Rhea is one of the Titans born to Earth and Heaven, listed between Theia and Themis (Theog. 135); Apollodorus counts her among the "Titanides" (Apollod. 1.1.3).
"Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bore splendid children, Hestia, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades … and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus" — and as Cronus swallowed each, "unceasing grief seized Rhea" (Theog. 453–467).
In Hesiod, Rhea "besought her own dear parents, Earth and starry Heaven, to devise some plan", was sent to Lyctus in Crete, and there Earth received the child from her and hid him on Mount Aegeum, while Cronus was given the swaddled stone (Theog. 468–491). Hesiod's Rhea asks; Earth acts.
Apollodorus makes Rhea the doer: "enraged", she went to Crete, bore Zeus "in a cave of Dicte", gave him to the Curetes and the nymphs Adrastia and Ida, and it was Rhea who "wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to Cronus to swallow" (Apollod. 1.1.6–1.1.7). The cave and the hand that gives the stone differ from Hesiod.
Homer gives her a role Hesiod lacks: Hera says Oceanus and Tethys "lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls, when they had taken me from Rhea, what time Zeus … thrust Cronos down to dwell beneath earth" (Il. 14.200–204).
In the Hymn to Demeter Zeus sends "rich-haired Rhea" as his messenger to bring Demeter back to the gods, and Rhea persuades her daughter to make the fruit spring up again (HH2 441–470); Demeter is repeatedly "daughter of rich-haired Rhea" (HH2 60, 75).
Questions answered
- Who are the children of Rhea?
- "Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bore splendid children, Hestia, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades … and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus" — and as Cronus swallowed each, "unceasing grief seized Rhea" (Theog. 453–467). source
- How did Rhea save Zeus from Cronus?
- In Hesiod, Rhea "besought her own dear parents, Earth and starry Heaven, to devise some plan", was sent to Lyctus in Crete, and there Earth received the child from her and hid him on Mount Aegeum, while Cronus was given the swaddled stone (Theog. 468–491). Hesiod's Rhea asks; Earth acts. source
- Who gave Cronus the stone, Rhea or Gaia?
- Apollodorus makes Rhea the doer: "enraged", she went to Crete, bore Zeus "in a cave of Dicte", gave him to the Curetes and the nymphs Adrastia and Ida, and it was Rhea who "wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to Cronus to swallow" (Apollod. 1.1.6–1.1.7). The cave and the hand that gives the stone differ from Hesiod. source
- What does Rhea do in the Hymn to Demeter?
- In the Hymn to Demeter Zeus sends "rich-haired Rhea" as his messenger to bring Demeter back to the gods, and Rhea persuades her daughter to make the fruit spring up again (HH2 441–470); Demeter is repeatedly "daughter of rich-haired Rhea" (HH2 60, 75). source