cornucopia

Cornucopia held by the Roman goddess Aequitas on the reverse of this antoninianus struck under Roman Emperor Claudius II.

Poster of cornucopia for California

The cornucopia (Latin: Cornu Copiae) is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.

In Greek mythology, Amalthea was a goat who raised Zeus on her breast milk. When her horn was accidentally broken off by Zeus while playing together, this changed Amalthea into a unicorn. The god Zeus, in remorse, gave her back her horn. The horn then had supernatural powers which would give the person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat's horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, was depicted with the horn of plenty. The cornucopia was also a symbol for a woman's fertility.

Alternately, Amalthea may have been a nymph asked to nurse baby Zeus while he was being hidden from Cronus. Since she hid on Mount Aigaion, which means Mountain of the Goat, suppositions follow that she was either a goat nymph or a nymph who tended goats. Therefore, either her horn was broken or her goat's horn was broken while playing with Zeus. In recompense, the God Zeus created the cornucopia. Further evidence for this is that Amalthea is another name for the constellation Capricornus, the goat.

In modern depictions, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket typically filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. In North America, the cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest. Cornucopia is also the name of the annual November Wine and Food celebration in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Two cornucopias are seen in the flag and state seal of Idaho. There is also One seen in the state seal of North Carolina, the state seal of New Jersey, the coat of arms of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, and the Coat of Arms of the State of Victoria, Australia, symbolising Prosperity.

The horn of plenty is used on jewelery, as it is a symbol of fertility, fortune and abundance.^[1] Some evangelical Christians warn against wearing the symbol, or the similar Italian horn symbol of male fertility, saying it is actually demon infested or unlucky,^[2] and equating it to the "little horn", a figure described in the bible sometimes considered to be the Antichrist.^[3]

See also

• Drinking horn

References

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