Which Titaness was the wife of Cronus and mother of the Olympians? Rhea is the answer.
Rhea was a Titaness, the daughter of Uranus, the sky, and Gaia, the earth. She became the sister and wife of Cronus, and together they were the parents of the six principal siblings Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
Cronus feared a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, just as he had overthrown Uranus. To prevent this, he swallowed each child at birth. When Zeus was born, Rhea hid him in Crete and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead. The deception allowed Zeus to grow up and eventually force Cronus to release his siblings.
Rhea’s role is crucial to the transition from the Titans to the Olympians, but she did not become the ruling queen of the new divine order. Zeus took that position, while Rhea became a revered maternal figure. Greeks called her Meter Theon, meaning “Mother of the Gods,” and later connected her with the Phrygian mother goddess Cybele. Gaia, another mother figure, was Rhea’s mother rather than her daughter or equivalent.