Ămalthēa, ae, f., = Ἀμάλθεια.
I A nymph , daughter of Melissus , king of Crete , who fed Jupiter with goat's milk , Hyg. Fab. 139.—Acc. to others, Amalthea is the name of the goat itself , one of whose horns, accidentally broken off, was placed among the stars as the Cornu Amaltheae, or Cornu copiae, Hyg. Astr. 2, 13; 3, 12. From this horn nectar and ambrosia are said to have flowed; hence, it was the emblem of plenty, Ov. F. 5, 121; Hor. C. 1, 17, 14; id. C. S. 59; id. Ep. 1, 12, 28.—Hence, meton.: Ămalthēa , ae, f., or Ămalthēum , i, n.; in Cic., the name of a library (acc. to others, an old sanctuary of Amalthea near the villa of Atticus , in Epirus , adorned with inscriptions , etc., by Atticus , in imitation of which Cicero made a similar one at Arpinum ): Amalthea mea te exspectat, Cic. Att. 2, 1 fin. ; 1, 16 fin. —
II The name of the Cumaean sibyl : Quidquid Amalthea dixit, Tib. 2, 5, 67; cf. Lact. 1, 6; Serv. ad Verg. A. 6, 72.