The Orphic Hymns

scepter-holder of the famous heavens, many-named, revered, you who hold the throne at the center of the world, because you yourself hold the earth and give gentle nourishment to mortals.

The Mother rules the sky and the earth together. She holds the scepter of the polos, the pivot on which the heavens turn and so the sky itself, and she sits on the throne in the middle of the world. The hymn gives the reason: the earth, which stood at the center of the ancient universe, belongs to her, and so does the food it gives. In hymns like this one the Mother of the Gods merges with Rhea and with Earth.