Rhea in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Rhea

28 passages from 16 ancient authors that tell of Rhea, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Rhea was one of the Titans, daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was the sister and wife of Cronus, also a Titan. She was responsible for the way things f... For the story in one place, read our article on Rhea.

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Theogony 450–479Rhea and Cronus; the birth of Zeus (450-479)Hecate is made a nurse of the young. Rhea bears Cronus Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, and Cronus swallows each child as it is born, because Gaia and Uranus have told him his own son will overcome him. When she is about to bear Zeus, Rhea asks her parents for a plan, and they send her to Lyctus in Crete, where Gaia receives the child.
Hesiod, Theogony 615–649Zeus releases the Hundred-Handers (615-649)Zeus and the gods, at Gaia's advice, bring the Hundred-Handers, Obriareus, Cottus and Gyes, up from the gloom beneath the earth where their father Uranus had bound them. The ten-year war between the Titans on Othrys and the gods on Olympus is evenly balanced, and Zeus feeds the three nectar and ambrosia and asks them to stand with the younger gods against the Titans.

Homer (2)

Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.395–495Hymn 2 to Demeter (5): reunion and the MysteriesPersephone tells her mother how she was seized and made to taste the seed, and mother and daughter spend the day in joy. Rhea brings Zeus's message, and Demeter agrees that Persephone will spend a third of the year below and the rest with the gods. Demeter makes the fields fruitful again and teaches her rites to the leaders of Eleusis, and the hymn closes with a blessing on those who have seen them.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.1–86Hymn 2 to Demeter (1): the abduction of PersephonePersephone is gathering flowers in a meadow when the earth opens and Hades seizes her and carries her away in his chariot. Her mother Demeter hears her cry, searches the earth for nine days with torches, and learns the truth from Hecate and from Helios, who tells her that Zeus gave Persephone to Hades.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.1.1–7Uranus, the Titans and the birth of ZeusSky (Uranus) and Earth have the Hundred-handers, the Cyclopes and the Titans, and Sky casts the Cyclopes into Tartarus. At Earth's urging the Titans attack their father, and Cronus mutilates him with an adamantine sickle, so that the Furies are born from the blood. Cronus takes the sovereignty, binds his brothers again, marries Rhea and swallows his children at birth, until Rhea hides the infant Zeus in a cave in Crete among the Curetes and nymphs and gives Cronus a stone to swallow.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 2.1–100Olympian 2: for Theron — the house of Cadmus and the Isles of the BlestPindar praises Theron of Acragas, victor in the chariot race, and prays that time may heal the sorrows of his house. He recalls the house of Cadmus, with Laïus, Oedipus, the Fury that made his sons kill one another, and Polyneices' son Thersander. He then describes the afterlife, in which the wicked are punished and the good go to the Isles of the Blest, where Rhadamanthys judges and Peleus, Cadmus and Achilles dwell, and he ends by answering envy with the praise of Theron's generosity.

Apollonius Rhodius (1)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1078–1152The halcyon's omen and the rites for the Mother on DindymumTwelve days of storm keep Argo at Cyzicus until Mopsus reads the cry of a halcyon as a command to appease the Mother of the gods on Mount Dindymum. The heroes build an altar, Orpheus leads an armed dance, a spring wells up from the mountain, and the winds drop.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 1.1–96Hymn to ZeusThe poet asks where Zeus was born, on Ida in Crete or in Arcadia, and calls the Cretans liars for building his tomb. He tells how Rhea bore Zeus in Parrhasia and washed in a spring she struck from the mountain, how the nymph Neda carried him to Crete and how the Dictaean Meliae and Adrasteia reared him on the milk of the goat Amaltheia. The hymn praises Zeus as the god who took kings for his portion, and ends with a prayer for goodness and prosperity.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.68.1–5.72.5Zeus and the children of Cronus in CreteAccording to the Cretans the children of Cronus and Rhea discovered or introduced many arts, and the sea, the hearth and the corn belong to Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. The historian gives the conflicting accounts of how Zeus became king, the places in Crete tied to his infancy, his benefactions to mankind and the punishment of the Giants.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.64.1–5.67.5Early Crete: the Dactyls, the Curetes and the TitansThe Cretans claim that the Eteocretans were native to the island, and that the Idaean Dactyls discovered fire and the working of metals. They tell of the Curetes and of the Titans near Cnosus under Cronus' rule, whose age is described with lines of Hesiod, and of Hyperion's observation of the heavens.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 6.1.1–11Euhemerus on the godsIn a fragment on the gods the historian is quoted as dividing them into eternal ones, such as the sun and moon and stars, and terrestrial ones, such as Heracles and Dionysus, who were honoured as gods for their benefactions. He then summarises the account of Euhemerus, who sailed from Arabia to the island of Panchaea, where a golden stele recorded the deeds of Uranus, Cronus and Zeus as kings.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Fasti 6.249–316Fasti 6: The Vestalia: Hestia (Vesta) and her round templeOn 9 June Ovid begins the Vestalia, saying he felt Hestia (Vesta) but did not see her. He describes Numa's temple and its round shape, Vesta as the same as Earth, her virgin priestesses as daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and Rhea (Ops), the lack of any statue, and the bakers' rites with garlanded asses and millstones.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.36.1–10Methydrium, Mount Maenalus and the road to the MistressPausanias describes Methydrium, named for its position between two rivers, with a temple of Horse Poseidon and Mount Thaumasius, where the Methydrians place Rhea's deceit of Cronus. Leaving Megalopolis by the Gate to the Marsh he lists the temple of the Good God, the grave of Aristodemus, the sanctuary of Athena the Contriver, the precinct of the North Wind and the grove of Demeter in the Marsh. He then covers Mount Maenalus, sacred to Pan, and the Meetings of Three Ways, and the road to Macareae, Daseae and the Acacesian Hill.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.8.1–12Mantinea: Rhea's lamb spring and the history of the cityPausanias describes the sanctuary of Demeter near Nestane and the spring Arne, where Rhea is said to have hidden the infant Poseidon among lambs, and states that he treats such Greek stories as riddles of old wisdom. He tells how Antinoe moved the people of Mantinea to the new site behind a snake, and how Agesipolis took the city by diverting the river Ophis against its brick walls. The section follows the city's later alliances, its renaming Antigonea after Antigonus, its support for Augustus at Actium and Hadrian's restoration of the name Mantinea.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.41.1–10Phigalia: the sanctuary of Eurynome and the temple of Apollo at BassaePausanias describes the common grave of the Oresthasians at Phigalia, the river Lymax, named from the purification of Rhea, and the river Neda. At their meeting stands the sanctuary of Eurynome, opened only once a year, with a wooden image bound in golden chains and shaped like a fish below the hips. He describes the stone temple of Apollo the Succourer on Mount Cotilius at Bassae, built by Ictinus, which he ranks next to the temple at Tegea for beauty. The spring on Mount Cotilius and an Aphrodite at Cotilum close the section.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.2.1–7Plataea: the tomb of Mardonius, the graves of the Persian war and the temple of HeraPausanias describes the ruins of Hysiae and Erythrae on Mount Cithaeron and the supposed tomb of Mardonius, and the spring and rock at which Actaeon is said to have looked on Artemis. He discusses the places linked to Pentheus and Oedipus on Cithaeron. At Plataea he describes the graves of the Greeks who fought the Medes, the altar of Zeus of Freedom and the Eleutheria games, the trophy and the shrine of the heroine Plataea. He ends with the temple of Hera, with its Praxitelean images of Rhea and Hera Full-grown and the seated Bride by Callimachus.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 9.169–228Book 9: The boy Dionysos hunts; Semele's boastAt nine years old Dionysos hunts hares, stags and tigers and drives lions for Rheia. He grows up among the Pans in the Phrygian hills. Semele, in Olympos, boasts over Hera that Zeus himself brought her son to birth and that Rheia nursed him.

Antoninus Liberalis (1)

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 34.1–36.3Smyrna, the Herdsmen and PandareusSmyrna tricks her father Thias into incest, becomes the myrrh tree and gives birth to Adonis. Lycian herdsmen who drive Leto from a spring are turned into frogs. Pandareus steals the golden dog that guarded the goat of Zeus and becomes a rock, and Tantalus, who denies having it, is cast down under Sipylus.

Lucian of Samosata (2)

Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Gods 16.1–20.2Hyacinth; the wives of Hephaestus; Hera and Leto; Selene; Eros and RheaApollo tells Hermes how he killed Hyacinth with a quoit that jealous Zephyr blew aside, and the two wonder how ugly Hephaestus came to marry Aphrodite and Charis. Hera and Leto trade insults about their children, the smith Hephaestus on one side and Apollo and his sister on the other. Aphrodite questions Selene about Endymion and warns Eros about the mischief he works among the gods, including Rhea's passion for Attis.
Lucian of Samosata, On the Dance 1–16Crato attacks, Lycinus replies; the dance in Greek traditionCrato condemns the pantomime as unworthy of an educated man, and Lycinus answers that the dance is as old as the world. He traces it to Rhea and the Corybantes, to the Pyrrhic dance of Neoptolemus, to the Lacedaemonians who learned the Caryatic dance from Castor and Pollux, and to the dances of Homer's Shield of Achilles and of the Phaeacians. He adds that no ancient mystery was without dancing.

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 12–16Hymns 12-16: Hercules, Saturn, Rhea, Jupiter, JunoHercules is praised as the untamed, strong-handed god of the twelve labours. Saturn (Kronos) is invoked as the mighty Titan and husband of Rhea, and Rhea as the daughter of Protogonus and mother of gods and men. The group ends with Jupiter (Zeus), the supreme king of the gods, and Juno (Hera), his queen of the air.

Plato (2)

Plato, Cratylus 401b–404eHestia, Rhea and Cronus, Poseidon, Pluto and Hades, Demeter, Hera and PherephattaSocrates begins with Hestia, whose name he links to essence, ousia, and the pushing (othoun) which some find in the nature of things, and with Rhea and Cronus, which he connects with the flux of Heracleitus. He explains Poseidon as the one whose foot is held by the sea, and Pluto as the giver of wealth that comes up from the earth. He says that Hades is not called so from the unseen, but because he knows all noble things, and holds the souls by their desire for virtue, so that no one wishes to leave him. Demeter is the giver of food like a mother, Hera is the lovely one, perhaps air (aer), and Pherephatta, whose name people fear, is explained as the one who touches what moves.
Plato, Timaeus 41a–43eThe birth of the young gods and the making of mortal soulsTimaeus says that the generation of the other divinities should be told as the ancient accounts have it: of Ge and Uranus were born Oceanus and Tethys, of these Phorkys, Cronos and Rhea, and of Cronos and Rhea, Zeus and Hera. The Maker addresses the gods he has made, saying that they are not immortal by their own nature but will not be dissolved by his will, and orders them to create the mortal living creatures. He himself makes the immortal part of the soul by pouring it again into the mixing bowl and divides it into souls equal in number to the stars, shows them the nature of the universe, and the laws of fate. The young gods then make the mortal part in the body, and the revolutions of the soul are disturbed by the flow of nourishment in the newborn.

Plutarch (1)

Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 12–14The myth begins: the birth of the gods, Osiris the lawgiver and Typhon's plotPlutarch tells the story of Rhea's secret union with Cronus, the Sun's curse, and how Hermes won five extra days from the Moon, on which the gods were born, Osiris on the first. Osiris as king of Egypt teaches the use of grain, laws and the worship of the gods, and then travels the world civilising it by persuasion and song. In his absence Typhon is held back by Isis, but on his return he plots with seventy-two conspirators, and shuts Osiris in a chest made to his size and sets it afloat. The Pans and Satyrs near Chemmis first spread the news, the origin of 'panic'.

Strabo (4)

Strabo, Geography 10.3.19–23Corybantes, Cabeiri and Idaean DactylsStrabo gathers the competing genealogies of the Curetes, Corybantes, Telchines, Cabeiri and Idaean Dactyls, citing Hesiod, Pherecydes, Acusilaus, Sophocles and Demetrius of Scepsis. He tells of Rhea bringing guardians to Crete to nurse Zeus (Jupiter), of the Cabeiri in Samothrace, Lemnos and Imbros, and of the Dactyls as the first workers of iron on Ida. He ends by defending his long digression on fables as part of the study of the gods.
Strabo, Geography 10.3.13–18Dionysus, Cybele and Thracian rites in the poetsStrabo quotes Pindar, Euripides, Aeschylus and others to show how Dionysiac, Phrygian, Cretan and Thracian rites were mixed together. The passages mention the Great Mother, the Corybantes in Crete, Seilenus, Marsyas and Olympus, and Sabazius. He also discusses the Thracian goddess Cotys, Lycurgus, the Muses of Thrace, Orpheus, and Athenian borrowing of foreign cults.
Strabo, Geography 10.3.9–12Orgiastic worship: Dionysus, Rhea and the infant ZeusStrabo reflects on why festivals, music, ecstasy and secrecy bring people close to the gods. He sets out the cults of Dionysus, Apollo, Hecate, the Muses and Demeter (Ceres) and their ministers. He then tells how in Crete the Curetes danced in armour to hide the infant Zeus (Jupiter) from Cronus (Saturn), and connects Rhea with the Phrygian Great Mother.
Strabo, Geography 8.3.21–25Nestor's kingdom in Homer's list of shipsStrabo measures the coast from Pylus and Lepreum to the Messenian Pylus and notes the temple of the Macistian Heracles (Hercules) and the war over Chaa. He locates the Neda, said to have burst forth so that Rhea could wash after the birth of Zeus (Jupiter). He then identifies the towns of Nestor's realm in Homer's list, including Dorium, where the Muses silenced Thamyris.