When Rhea gave
birth to Zeus,
she put him in a cave, located at Mount Ida in the island of Crete.
In this way, his father Cronus would
be unable to find him and swallow him, which he had done with his previous
children. There, it was the goat Amalthea (Amaltheia)
that nourished Zeus with
her milk until he was grown up.

One day,
as young Zeus played
with Amalthea,
he accidentally broke off her horn. To make up for it and as a sign of
gratitude, Zeus blessed
the broken horn, so that its owner would find everything they desired in it. It
became known as the Horn of Amalthea or
the Cornucopia,
an eternal symbol of abundance. When Amalthea died, Zeus used
her hide to create his thunder-shield (the Aegis).