Hey, know
what my name means? My mom read the greek classics and named after a Greek Goddess. The story goes like this:
In Greek mythology, Rhea was the sister and wife of Cronus and the mother of many of the other major gods of the pantheon.
Rhea (she who flows)
was the Titaness daughter of Uranus and of Gaia. She was both sister and wife to Cronus and mother to Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, and Zeus. She was strongly associated with Cybele. In Roman mythology, she was Magna Mater deorum Idaea and identified with Ops.
In art, Rhea was
usually depicted on a chariot drawn by two lions, not always distinguishable from Cybele.
Her husband, Cronus,
castrated their father, Uranus. After this, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hecatonchires, the Gigantes and the Cyclopes and set the monster Campe to guard them. He and Rhea took the throne as King and Queen of the gods. This time was called the Golden Age as the people of the time had no need for laws or rules; everyone did right and as such, there was no need.
Cronus sired several
children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned
from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father. But when Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Uranus and Earth to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution
for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes which he promptly swallowed.
Other meanings
of rhea are:
In biology, Rheas are a species of large flightless bird native to South America.
In astronomy, Rhea is the second largest moon of Saturn.
In astronomy, 577 Rhea is an asteroid.
In Roman mythology, Rhea Silvia was the mother of the twins Romulus and Remus.
In computer graphics, Rhea can also refer to the Rhea Rendering System, a proprietary global illumination renderer written by Arash Keshmirian.
Quite interesting right?
There’s more interesting stuff waiting for you in the next pages….go ahead, indulge!
