A triumphant Cronus becomes king of the gods, frees all his siblings and marries Rhea. his sister. They produce six children; the gods Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. Somehow Cronus becomes aware of a prophecy that he will be unseated by one of his children, so each time one is born he swallows them alive. Rhea is desperate to save at least one of her children, and when Zeus is born she secretly sends him away to Crete to be brought up by nymphs. In his place, she wraps a large stone in swaddling clothes and hands it to Cronus, who promptly swallows it down.
