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Amalthaea

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Goat-nymph or deity who nursed the infant Zeus in Crete; her horn became the Cornucopia, symbol of abundance in Greek mythology.

Detailed Definition
Amalthaea cared for Zeus in Crete, hiding him from Cronus. Her horn became the Cornucopia. She symbolizes nurturing and abundance. In poetry, she appears as a maternal figure of divine protection and the source of inexhaustible bounty, often linked to pastoral and idyllic imagery.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ovid’s Fasti describes Amalthaea as the goat who nursed infant Zeus in Crete; In the Theogony, Hesiod alludes to Zeus’s upbringing in secret by nymphs and a goat; Virgil’s Georgics mentions Amalthaea’s horn as the origin of the cornucopia; Apollodorus recounts how Zeus placed her among the stars as Capra; Later pastoral poetry uses Amalthaea as a symbol of nurturing abundance.
Additional Notes
Amalthaea is the she-goat who nursed infant Zeus in Crete, often conflated with a nymph. Her horn becomes the Cornucopia (Horn of Plenty). Students should recognize her as a symbol of nurturing abundance and divine infancy myths. In pastoral poetry, she represents primal care and natural generosity. Virgil and Ovid use her to evoke golden-age imagery. Related: Zeus’s Cretan upbringing, Cornucopia, nymphs, Cronus.
Also Known As
Amalthaea the Nurturer Goat-Nurse of Zeus Horned Benefactress Keeper of the Cornucopia
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