Rhea (mythology)
Rhea (mythology)
In early traditions, she is known as "the mother of gods" and therefore is strongly associated with Gaia and Cybele, who have similar functions. The classical Greeks saw her as the mother of the Olympian gods and goddesses. The Romans identified her with Magna Mater (their form of Cybele), and the Goddess Ops.
Etymology
Some ancient etymologists derived Rhea (Ῥέα) (by metathesis)) from ἔρα (éra, 'ground', 'earth'); the same is suggested also by Ioannes Stamatakos. Other roots have been suggested by modern scholarship but Hjalmar Frisk considers a convincing etymology to be lacking.
Etymology
A different tradition, embodied in Plato and in Chrysippus, connected the word with ῥέω (rhéo, 'flow, discharge'), Alternatively, the name Rhea may be connected with words for the pomegranate: ῥόα (rhóa), and later ῥοιά (rhoiá).
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