Goddesses of Ancient Greece ~ R

Rhea
Aegean Universal Mother, Great Goddess, Pre-Hellenic Great Mother Goddess. Also known as Britomartis, Great Goddess of Bronze Age Crete and the Aegean Islands. Great Mother. She had no consort and ruled supreme before the coming of patriotic Hellenic invaders. Archetypal Triple Goddess. Britomartis, the Sweet Virgin, Dictynna, the Lawgiving Mother and Aegea, the foundress of Aegean civilization. Aka Coronis. Pre-Roman Latium knew Her as Rhea Silvia, Rhea of the Woodland, under Whose rule, the Vestal Virgins were neither celibate nuns, nor servants of the state, as they became in later ages. They were choosers and deposers of the early Latin kings, a college of matronae who ruled the rulers and took no husbands. Acca Larentia - the Holy Harlot or High Priestess, cared for her children. In ancient Crete, Rhea was worshipped in fervent processional celebrations as the Goddess of all Creation. It was said that she was so ancient, she inhabited the oak forests of Arcadia before the moon's creation. As the Great Mountain Mother, her mythology merged with that of Kybele. In later, post-patriarchal myth, she was said to be the daughter of Gaia and mother of the Olympian goddesses and gods. In Orphic myth, she sat outside the cave of black-winged Night playing her drum to alert everyone to listen to the oracles of the Goddess. One of the Titans, daughter of Uranus and Gaea (Heaven and Earth). Consort of Kronos and mother of a number of Olympian Divinities, including Zeus, whom she concealed from his father until he could overthrow him and assume the Lordship of Creation. Rhea is identified with mother goddess Cybele from Asia Minor and is also known as Rhea Cybele and Magna Mater ("great mother"). She was worshipped with orgiastic rites. Rhea is depicted between two lions or on a chariot pulled by lions. Greece.

Rhodope
A Greek nymph from Thrace, wife of Haemus. She was changed into the mountain range with the same name (the current Despoto).