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In Greek mythology, Amalthea ("tender") is the foster-mother of Zeus. She is sometimes represented as the goat which suckled the infant-god in a cave in Crete, sometimes as a nymph of uncertain parentage (daughter of Oceanus, Haemonius , Olen, Melisseus), who brought him up on the milk of a goat. This goat having broken off one of its horns, Amalthea filled it with flowers and fruits and presented it to Zeus, who placed it together with the goat amongst the stars. According to another story, Zeus himself broke off the horn and gave it to Amalthea, promising that it would supply whatever she desired in abundance. Amalthea gave it to Achelous (her reputed brother), who exchanged it for his own horn which had been broken off in his contest with Heracles for the possession of Deianeira. According to ancient mythology, the owners of the horn were many and various. Speaking generally, it was regarded as the symbol of inexhaustible riches and plenty, and became the attribute of various divinities ( Hades, Gaia, Demeter, Cybele, HermesDionysus, by Praxiteles Hermes (Greek: 'pile of marker stones'), in Greek mythology, is the god of travelers, shepherds, land travel, orators, literature, cunning, poets, athletics, weights and measures, and thieves, and the messenger from the gods to hum), and of rivers (the NileThe Nile ( Arabic: an-nil , in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. Whether the Nile is longer than South America's Amazon still remains the subject of much debate. This is, for the most part, due to two reasons: first, the lengths of rivers) as fertilizers of the land.
The term "horn of Amalthea" is applied to a fertile district, and an estate belonging to Titus Pomponius AtticusTitus Pomponius Atticus ( 109 — 32 BC), Roman litterateur, who, on the outbreak of civil war between Marius and Sulla, resided in Athens, where he studied for the remainder of his life. Atticus was the friend of Cicero and edited a number of letters which was called Amaltheum. Cretan coins represent the infant Zeus being suckled by the goat; other Greek coins exhibit him suspended from its teats or carried in the arms of a nymph ( OvidFor other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. Ovid wrote in elegiac couplets, with, Fasti, v. 115; Metam. ix. 87).
Amalthea's skin also became the aegisThis article is about the legendary Greek shield. For the version control software, see Aegis (software). For the United States Naval combat system, see Aegis combat system. Aegis (Gr. Aigis , in Homer, is the shield or buckler of Zeus, fashioned for him in some traditions.
See also
- CornucopiaThe cornucopia also known in English as the " Horn of Plenty", is a symbol of prosperity and affluence, dating back to the 5th century BC. In Greek mythology, Amalthea brought Zeus up on the milk of a goat. In return Zeus gave her the goat's horn. It had
- Horn of plentyThe Horn of plenty is the common English name for the classical symbol of abundance, the Cornucopia The Horn of Plenty is also a common name for the edible mushroom Craterella cornucopioides also known as the Black chanterelle. It gets its name from its s
Nymphs
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