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The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun by Bernini

Amalthea, in Greek mythology, is the figure most commonly identified as the nurse of Zeus during his infancy. She is described either as a nymph who raises the child on the milk of a goat, or as the goat itself. From as early as the 6th century BC, there survive references to the "horn of Amalthea", a magical horn said to be capable of producing endless food and drink. In a narrative dating to around the 4th century BC, Amalthea is a nymph who nurses the infant Zeus and owns a goat which is terrifying in appearance; the first known author to describe Amalthea herself as a goat is the 3rd-century BC poet Callimachus. Scholars disagree as to when the tale of Zeus's upbringing was first merged with that of the magical horn. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, she was the subject of works by painters such as Giorgio Vasari and Jacob Jordaens, and sculptors such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini (sculpture pictured) and Pierre Julien. (Full article...)

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