Amalthaea, in Greek mythology, the nurse of the infant Zeus. She is commonly supposed to have been a goat, who, with her two young ones, was translated to the skies, where all three were metamorphosed into stars by the father of the gods. Zeus, according to one of the various myths on the subject, broke off one of the horns of the goat Amaltlhaea, and presented it to the daughters of Melisseus, king of Crete. This horn was endowed with such miraculous power that whenever the possessor wished, it would instantly become filled with whatever might be desired.