Amalthea
A nymph (or goat) who nursed the infant Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete.
The Myth of Amalthea
When Rhea hid the newborn Zeus from his father Kronos, she entrusted the baby to the care of Amalthea on Crete. In some tellings Amalthea was a goat, in others a nymph who kept a goat — the distinction blurred even in antiquity. What mattered was the milk that kept the young god alive and the secrecy that kept him hidden.
The young Zeus played roughly. One day he accidentally broke off one of Amalthea's horns. Feeling remorse, he blessed it so that it would perpetually overflow with food and drink — the original cornucopia, the horn of plenty. When Amalthea eventually died, Zeus honoured her further. He set her among the stars as the constellation Capra and stretched her hide across his shield, creating the fearsome aegis that would become his signature weapon in divine warfare.
From a simple act of nursing came two of mythology's most recognisable symbols: the cornucopia of abundance and the aegis of divine authority.
Parents
Uncertain; sometimes daughter of Haemonius
Children
None
Symbols
Fun Fact
Every Thanksgiving cornucopia traces back to the horn Zeus broke off Amalthea — the original horn of plenty.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
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