Rhea was the Titan mother of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
Rhea was one of the twelve Titans, born to the primordial deities Gaia, the Earth, and Uranus, the Sky. She became the sister and wife of Cronus, who ruled the cosmos after overthrowing Uranus. Their six children formed the first generation of Olympian gods.
Cronus feared a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, just as he had overthrown his own father. He therefore swallowed each child at birth. When Zeus was born, Rhea secretly hid him in Crete and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead. Zeus later forced Cronus to disgorge his siblings, who joined him in the struggle against the Titans.
Rhea is often called the “mother of the gods,” but she is not the mother of every Olympian. Aphrodite, for example, has a different origin in many traditions, while Apollo and Artemis are children of Zeus and Leto. Rhea was also associated with Cybele and, in Roman religion, with Ops.