Editing Amalthea (mythology) (section)

=== Nurse of Zeus ===
Amalthea is the figure most commonly described as the nurse of Zeus during his infancy,{{sfn|Kerényi|p=93}} and in this role is often considered to be a nymph.{{refn|{{harvnb|Grimal|loc=s.v. Amalthea, p. 35}} describes it as "most usual form of the story".}} In the account of Zeus's upbringing from the now-lost work ''Eumolpia'' (likely composed in or before the 4th century BC),{{refn|{{harvnb|West|1983|p=5}} suggests a date in the latter part of the 4th century BC, though {{harvnb|Betegh|pp=346&ndash;347}}, disagrees with West's assessment that the work was composed this late, and argues that content from the text was referenced in the work of the 4th-century BC [[Eudemus of Rhodes]].}} which was attributed in antiquity to the mythical poet [[Musaeus of Athens|Musaeus]], Amalthea was the nurse of the young Zeus, and a nymph.{{sfnm|West|1983|1pp=41&ndash;43, 132|Gantz||2p=41}} According to a summary of the ''[[Catasterismi]]'' of [[Eratosthenes]] (written by an author referred to as "Pseudo-Eratosthenes"),{{refn|[[Musaeus of Athens|Musaeus]] fr. 8 {{harvtxt|Diels}} (pp. 181&ndash;182) [{{=}} [[Eratosthenes]], ''[[Catasterismi]]'' {{harv|Hard|2015|p=44}}]. The ''Catasterismi'' are a lost work, and survive only through the epitome of the text written by Pseudo-Eratosthenes.}} in the account attributed to Musaeus, Zeus's mother [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] gave him as a newborn child to [[Themis]], who handed him over to the nymph Amalthea, who had the infant nursed by a she-goat.{{sfnm|Gee||1pp=131&ndash;132|Gantz||2p=41|Frazer|2015a|3p=120}} Pseudo-Eratosthenes goes on to relate that this goat was the daughter of [[Helios]], and was so terrifying in appearance that the [[Titans]], out of fear, asked [[Gaia]] to hide her in a cave on Crete; Gaia complied, entrusting the goat to Amalthea.{{sfnm|Gee||1p=132|Gantz||2p=41}} After Zeus reaches adulthood, he receives an oracle advising him to use the goat's skin as a weapon in his war against the Titans (due to its terrifying nature).{{sfn|Gantz|p=41}} According to the ''[[De astronomia]]'' (a work of astral mythology likely composed in the 2nd-century AD),{{refn|The work was attributed in antiquity to the Roman author [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]]; for this dating and attribution, see {{harvnb|Hard|2004|p=13}}.}} which similarly recounts the narrative from Musaeus,{{refn|{{harvnb|Frazer|2015b|p=12}}; [[Musaeus of Athens|Musaeus]], fr. 84 III {{harvtxt|Bernabé|2007|p=43}} [{{=}} [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[De astronomia]]'' 2.13.6&ndash;7 {{harv|Hard|2015|pp=44&ndash;45}}].}} this weapon which Zeus uses against the Titans is the [[aegis]].{{refn|{{harvnb|Gantz|p=41}}. According to Gantz, this conclusion is "clearly intended" in Pseudo-Eratosthenes' account.}}

Various accounts of Zeus's upbringing rationalise Amalthea as a goat;{{sfn|''Brill's New Pauly'' Vol. 1|loc=s.v. Amalthea (1)}} these versions start appearing in the [[Hellenistic period]].{{sfn|Fowler|2013|p=324}} The first author to describe her as a goat seems to have been the 3rd-century BC poet [[Callimachus]],{{sfnm|Hard|2004|1p=75|Gantz||2p=41}} who relates that, after Zeus's birth, the god is taken by the [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadian]] nymph [[Neda (mythology)|Neda]] to a hidden location in Crete, where he is reared by the nymph [[Adrasteia]], and fed the milk of Amalthea.{{refn|{{harvnb|Boyd|p=73}}; [[Callimachus]], ''Hymn to Zeus'' (1) 1.33&ndash;49 {{harv|Clayman|pp=186, 187}}.}} In his description of Zeus suckling Amalthea's breast, Callimachus employs the word {{translit|grc|mazón}} ({{lang|grc|μαζόν}}), which typically denotes the breast of a human (rather than the teat of a goat), thereby, according to Susan Stephens, "call[ing] attention to his own rationalizing variant of the myth".{{refn|{{harvnb|Stephens|p=64 on lines 48&ndash;49}}; cf. {{harvnb|McLennan|pp=81&ndash;82}}.}} According to a [[scholium]] (or commentary) on Callimachus's account, from one of Amalthea's horns flows [[ambrosia]], and from the other comes nectar.{{refn|{{harvnb|Campbell|p=322}}; {{harvnb|J. F. Miller|p=223}}; {{harvnb|Hansen|p=325}}; Scholia on [[Callimachus]]' ''Hymn to Zeus'' (1), 1.49 {{harv|J. F. Miller|p=223 n. 9}}.}} In the version of Zeus's infancy from Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC), the child is reared by nymphs (who are not named) on the milk of the goat Amalthea, as well as honey,{{refn|{{harvnb|Larson|p=185}}; [[Diodorus Siculus]], 5.70.2&ndash;3 {{harv|Oldfather|1939|pp=284&ndash;287}}.}} and adds that Amalthea is the source of Zeus's epithet {{translit|grc|aigíokhos}} ({{lang|grc|αἰγίοχος}}, {{gloss|aegis-bearing}}).{{refn|{{harvnb|Farnell|1896a|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Oldfather|1939|p=289 n. 1}}; [[Diodorus Siculus]], 5.70.6 {{harv|Oldfather|1939|pp=286&ndash;289}}.}} An account which is largely the same as that given by Pseudo-Eratosthenes is found in a scholium on the ''[[Iliad]]'', though the scholiast describes Amalthea herself as the goat which terrifies the Titans (rather than the owner of the goat).{{refn|{{harvnb|Gantz|p=41}}; Scholia D on [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'', 15.229 {{harv|Dindorf|p=72}}. This version also specifies that it is Themis who provides the oracle, directing Zeus to use the goat's skin. Part of the scholium's account also seems to have been preserved in ''[[Oxyrhynchus Papyri|P. Oxy.]]'' 3003 col. ii.15&ndash;19 {{harv|Parsons|p=17}}; see {{harvnb|Parsons|p=19}}.}}

In Greek works of astral mythology, the tale of the goat who nurses the young Zeus is adapted to provide an [[origin myth|aition]] (or origin myth) for certain stars.{{sfn|Hard|2015|p=46}} The 3rd-century BC poet [[Aratus]], in his description of the constellation of the Charioteer ([[Auriga]]) and the surrounding stars, explains that the star of the Goat ([[Capella]]) sits above the Charioteer's left shoulder.{{refn|{{harvnb|Kidd|pp=239, 240 on line 156}}; [[Aratus]], ''Phaenomena'' 155&ndash;61 {{harv|Mair|Mair|pp=218, 219}}], with Mair's [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aratus-phaenomena/1921/pb_LCL129.219.xml#note_LCL129_219_g n. g] and [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aratus-phaenomena/1921/pb_LCL129.219.xml#note_LCL129_219_h n. h].}} He identifies this goat with Amalthea,{{refn|{{harvnb|Chrysanthou|p=166}}; {{harvnb|Mair|Mair|p=221 n. a}}.}} describing it as the goat who suckled the young Zeus;{{refn|{{harvnb|Hard|2015|pp=46&ndash;47}}; [[Aratus]], ''Phaenomena'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aratus-phaenomena/1921/pb_LCL129.221.xml 163].}} in this passage, he employs the word {{translit|grc|mazón}} for the goat's breast, similarly to Callimachus,{{sfn|McLennan|p=81}} who may be his source for this information.{{sfn|Kidd|p=242 on line 163}} He also states that the "interpreters of Zeus" refer to her as the Olenian goat, which may be an allusion to a version in which Zeus is reared, by a goat, near [[Olenus (Achaea)|Olenos]] in [[Achaea]], or to the location of the star, on the arm ({{translit|grc|ōlénē}}, {{lang|grc|ὠλένη}}) of Auriga;{{refn|{{harvnb|Hard|2015|p=47}}; {{harvnb|Mair|Mair|p=221 n. a}}; [[Aratus]], ''Phaenomena'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aratus-phaenomena/1921/pb_LCL129.219.xml 164]. For the first interpretation, see [[Strabo]], 8.7.5 {{harv|Jones|1927|pp=222, 223}}].}} alternatively, it may indicate that the Goat's father is [[Olenus]] (the son of [[Hephaestus]]),{{sfnm|Fowler|2013|1p=323 n. 212|Boyd||2p=73 n. 28}} an interpretation given by a scholium on the passage.{{refn|{{harvnb|''LIMC''|p=582}}; Scholia on [[Aratus]], 164 {{harv|Kidd|p=243 on line 164}}. Cf. [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[De astronomia]]'' 2.13.5 {{harv|Hard|2015|p=44}}, who describes Aix and [[Helice (mythology)|Helice]], nurses of Zeus, as daughters of Olenus.{{sfn|Fowler|2013|p=323 n. 212}} For a more detailed discussion of possible explanations for this word, see {{harvnb|Bömer|pp=298&ndash;299 on line 113}}; {{harvnb|Frazer|2015b|pp=11&ndash;12}}; {{harvnb|Boyd|p=73 with n. 28}}.}} At the end of the account given by Pseudo-Eratosthenes, the text contains a [[lacuna (manuscript)|lacuna]] (or gap), where he would have described Zeus placing the goat among the stars;{{refn|{{harvnb|Olivieri|p=17 with n. 22&ndash;3}}; {{harvnb|Hard|2015|p=42}}; {{harvnb|Santoni|p=190 n. 118}}; cf. [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[De astronomia]]'' 2.13.7 {{harv|Hard|2015|pp=44&ndash;45}}.}} in the ''Catasterismi'', the god would have performed this action for her role in his defeat of the Titans, and her nursing of him during his youth.{{sfn|Gee|p=132 with n. 20}}