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Amalthea, a MythSource painting
Greek

Amalthea

Nurse of Zeus · Foster-Mother of Zeus · Goat That Nourished Zeus

01Identity

Amalthea in Greek tradition

Amalthea protected the infant Zeus in Crete, feeding him when Cronus threatened his children. She is a Greek being who appears in two linked forms: a goat that supplied milk, or a nymph who cared for Zeus and fed him from her goat. Unlike the Roman figure that bears the same name, Greek Amalthea is distinguished here by her foster motherhood, her nourishing horn, and Zeus’s gratitude, which placed the goat among the stars as Capricorn.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Amalthea?

    Amalthea is a Greek being associated with nourishment and nurture; foster-motherhood; abundance and plenty; and protection of the infant Zeus.
    Source

    Source

    • The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
    • The Greek Myths

  • What is Amalthea associated with?

    Amalthea is associated with nourishment and nurture; foster-motherhood; abundance and plenty; and protection of the infant Zeus.
    Source

    Source

    • The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
    • The Greek Myths

  • What family links are recorded for Amalthea?

    Father: Haimonios, Mother: Tethys, 1 child.
02Family

Amalthea’s family, at a glance

HaimoniosHeliosMelissus of CreteOceanusTethys
Amalthea
Adrasteia
03The names

The names Amalthea answers to

Amaltheia

Greek form of the name

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

Amalthea

Latinized form of the name

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

Nurse of Zeus

The being who fed and cared for the infant Zeus

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

Foster-Mother of Zeus

The foster parent who protected Zeus in Crete

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

Cretan Nymph

A variant tradition identifying Amalthea as a nymph rather than a goat

SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

04The myths

The myths of Amalthea

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Amalthea Raises the Infant Zeus

Cronus swallowed each child Rhea bore him because Mother Earth and his dying father Uranus had prophesied that one of his sons would overthrow him. He swallowed Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon before Rhea gave birth to Zeus. She bore Zeus at dead of night on Mount Lycaeum in Arcadia and bathed him in the River Neda. She then gave him to Mother Earth, who carried him to Lyctos in Crete and hid him in the cave of Dicte on the Aegean Hill.

Mother Earth left Zeus with the ash nymphs Adrasteia and Io, daughters of Melisseus, and with Amaltheia. In one telling, Amaltheia was a goat nymph. In another, she was a goat. Zeus drank her milk and ate honey, and Goat-Pan, his foster brother, stayed with him. The Curetes guarded the child and concealed his cries from Cronus by shouting, dancing, and clashing their spears against their shields. One telling added that they chanted war songs. Another called them priests of Rhea.

Cronus learned that Zeus was alive and tried to devise a plan to get rid of him. Zeus grew strong under Amaltheia's care. When he became Lord of the Universe, he honoured those who had protected him. He placed Amaltheia's image among the stars as Capricorn. In another telling, the goat who nursed Zeus became a constellation.

Amalthea Raises the Infant Zeus, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “The infant Zeus was hidden in a Cretan cave, nourished by Amalthea and guarded by the Curetes, whose shouting and clashing shields sought to conceal him from Cronus, and Zeus later placed Amalthea among the stars.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Greek Myths & TalesT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Amalthea, each on that figure’s page.