-------- The Cretan Child --------

Rhea’s accouchement on Crete was easy enough.

Tenderly assisted by the she-goat and the Meliae she prepared to give birth in the safety and comfort of a cave on Mount Ida.

Soon she was delivered of a quite transcendently beautiful baby boy.

She named him ZEUS.

Just as Gaia had recruited her youngest child Kronos in order to take revenge on her son and husband Ouranos, so Rhea vowed she would rear this, her youngest child, to destroy her husband and brother Kronos.

The dreadful cycle of bloodlust, greed and killing that marked the birth pangs of the primordial world would continue into the next generation.

Rhea knew she must return to Mount Othrys before Kronos noticed her absence and suspected that something was wrong.

As had been arranged, the goat Amalthea would suckle the baby with her rich and nutritious milk while the Meliae would feed him on the sweet and wholesome manna that wept its gum from their ash trees.

In this way young Zeus could grow up on Crete strong and well nourished.