Adrasteia was an Oread Nymph of Mount Ida, best known for taking care of a young Zeus on the island of Crete with her sister, Ida.
Genealogy and Family[]
Adrasteia is the daughter of Melisseus, a member of the Nine Kouretes and his wife, Amalthea. She has a sister, Ida, they are the foster mothers of Zeus.
Role and Significance[]
Myth[]
She and her sister, Ida were entrusted by Rhea to take care of her son- the infant god Zeus. They hid him away in the secluded Diktaion (Dictaean) cave, nursing him on honey and the milk of the she-goat Amaltheia. The Kouretes (Curetes), meanwhile, masked his cries with their shield-clashing war dance. Adrasteia also gave Zeus a wondrous toy ball to play with, later used by Aphrodite to bribe her son Eros. As a reward for their service, Zeus gave the sisters the Cornucopia (horn of plenty) although in another account he would actually place the pair amongst the stars as the constellations Ursa Major and Minor (the Bears). The ancient Greeks also named these constellations Helike (the Circling One) and Kynosoura (the Dog's Tail), the latter because it appears to form the tail of Canis Major.
Amaltheia was sometimes described as a third nymph in this group, but in most accounts she was the milk-goat. The Idaian nymphs were perhaps the same as the Meliai (Honey-Nymphs) which according to Hesiod were born from the blood of the castrated Ouranos (Uranus).
Appearance and Personality[]
Skills and Abilities[]
Symbols[]
Other Names, Titles and Epithets[]
Relationships[]
Sources[]
https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphaiIdaiai.html
Trivia[]
Her name 'Adrasteia' means 'not fleeing' and is spelt Αδραστεια in Greek.
Adrasteia is also a name for Nemesis, the goddess of retribution.