| Amalthea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Real Name: | Amaltheia |
| Species: | Goat |
| Age: | Immortal |
| Affiliations: | |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender: | Female |
| Hair color: | Pink |
| Eye color: | Blue |
| Height: | 5'2 |
| Character Information | |
| First appearance: | The Game Plan |
Amalthea is the foster-mother of Zeus.
In the Seres[]
Jay and Neil are out Christmas shopping at the mall. While Jay goes into the store to buy a shirt, Neil sits down and complains to a goat in the petting zoo, and she begins to speak to him. At first Neil jokes and asks if this is a prank but the goat reveals herself as Amalthea, the caretaker of Zeus when he was a baby and protecting him from Cronus. Neil gets an idea and calls up Hermes to put him thought to Zeus. Neil tells him about his old nanny and Zeus immediately teleports to the mall. Zeus says that it was not Amalthea, but it is family. All time stops and Amalthea turns into Cronus, who was in disguise to draw Zeus out. They both disappear and time starts back again just as Jay returns.
Cronus took his son to the same cave he hid out with Amalthea while still a baby. Later Neil and Jay played againts Fortuna for The Cornucopia A symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container from one of Amalthea's horns.
Mythology[]
Amalthea is sometimes represented as the goat who nurtured the infant-god in a cave in Cretan Mount Aigaion (Goat Mountain), sometimes as a goat-tending nymph of uncertain parentage.
Cronus swallowed all of his children immediately after birth. The mother goddess Rhea, Zeus' mother, deceived her brother consort Cronus by giving him a stone wrapped to look like a baby instead of Zeus. She instead gave the infant Zeus to Amalthea to nurse in a cave on a mountain in Crete. In order for Cronus not to hear the wailing of the infant, Amalthea gathered about the cave the Kuretes or the Korybantes to dance, shout, and clash their spears against their shields.
The Aegis
Amalthea's skin, or that of her goat, was taken by Zeus in honour of her when she died, became the protective Aegis in some traditions.
The Cornucopia
Also called the Horn of Plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers or nuts. The birth and nurturance of the infant Zeus, who had to be hidden from his devouring father Cronus. In the cave on Mount Ida, baby Zeus was cared for and protected by a number of divine attendants, including Amalthea, who fed him her milk. The suckling future king of the gods had unusual abilities and strength, and in playing with his nursemaid accidentally broke off one of her horns, which then had the divine power to provide unending nourishment, as the foster mother had to the god.
Among the Stars
Amalthea was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Capra The group of stars surrounding Capella on the arm of Auriga the Charioteer. Capra simply means "she-goat" and the star-name Capella is the "little goat"