Althaea is asteroid #119 and also is known as A872 GA. Althaea’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.58 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.08, a period of revolution of 1 515 days, and an inclination of 5.8 degrees. Althaea was discovered by the Canadian-American astronomer James Craig Watson at the University of Michigan’s Detroit Observatory, where he was the director.

Althaea is named after Althaía (Ἀλθαία), who was the queen of Calydon according to Greek mythology. Eurythemis (Εὐρυθέμιδος) and King Thestios (Θέστιος) of Pleuron (Πλευρών) were the parents of Althaía (Ἀλθαία) and also the parents of Hypermnestra (Ὑπερμνήστρα), Euippos (Εὔιππος), Plexippos (Πλήξιππος), Eurypylos (Εὐρύπυλος), and possibly also of Iphiklos (Ἴφικλος) and of Lḗda (Λήδα), after whom the asteroid Leda is named. Althaía (Ἀλθαία) became the wife of King Oeneus (Οἰνεύς) of Calydon and then gave birth to the daughters Dēiáneira (Δηιάνειρα), after whom the asteroid Dejanira is named, Gorge (Γόργη), Melanippe (Μελανίππη), and Eurumēdē (Εὐρυμέδη) and to the sons Meléagros (Μελέαγρος), Toxeus (Τοξεύς), Thyrea (Θυρέα), Klúmenos (Κλύμενος), Agelaos (Ἀγέλαος), and Períphās (Περίφᾱς). Althaía (Ἀλθαία) is remembered in the tale of her son Meléagros (Μελέαγρος) because both became the cause of each other’s death. Seven days after his birth, the Moirai (Klōthṓ, Láchesis, and Átropos) visited Althaía (Ἀλθαία) and told her that her son would only live until a brand, burning in the family hearth, was consumed by fire. Althaía (Ἀλθαία) immediately quenched the fire, took the brand and buried it in the middle of the palace. Once when Meléagros (Μελέαγρος) was a young adult, his father Oeneus (Οἰνεύς) made offerings to the deities, but mistakenly forgot Artemis. The goddess was enraged, so sent a boar of unnatural size, weight, and strength to Calydon in order to ruin the land. Meléagros (Μελέαγρος) gathered several hunters, among them his uncles and Atalántē (Ἀταλάντη), after whom the asteroid Atalante is named. They only together were able to kill the boar. Atalántē (Ἀταλάντη) was the first to injure the boar, so Meléagros (Μελέαγρος), who finally killed the boar, decided to give the boar’s fur to Atalántē (Ἀταλάντη). This made his uncles jealous and their dispute turned into a fight. Meléagros (Μελέαγρος) during this killed two of his uncles. When Althaía (Ἀλθαία) learnt of what had happened, she retrieved the hidden brand, burnt it in the hearth fire, so that Meléagros (Μελέαγρος) died, and finally Althaía (Ἀλθαία) killed herself.

You could wonder why Althaía (Ἀλθαία) killed her own son, but she probably saw herself in a similar situation like the situation of Orestes (Ὀρέστης), after whom the asteroid Orestes is named. Somebody had to revenge her brothers and who killed her son to this purpose had to be punished, too. This would make Althaía (Ἀλθαία) a very strong woman, who decided to minimize the losses due to these religious duties in her family by taking all the burdens on herself. So this also should be the astrological interpretation of Althaea. The alternative would be that Althaea stands for killing the own son out of a mood and by means of black magick. This certainly would be a superfluous astrological force, at least for most astrological charts.