History of the Cornucopia

In the United States today is the Thanksgiving holiday, and a common symbol (besides a turkey cross-dressing as a Pilgrim) is the cornucopia, or “Horn of Plenty”. This sounds like a magical item from the modern gaming world, but it goes back to Ancient Greek and Roman times.

Here, for instance, is a fourth-century Roman marble statue of the Goddess Fortuna, emphasizing good fortune by the cornucopia she holds in her arm. Such figures were common for the period, but the cornucopia also shows up with other divinities in Ancient statues — always signifying abundance.

In Ancient mythology, a series of myths surrounds the cornucopia (from “Cornus” meaning “horn” and “Copia” meaning “plenty”, like our cognate “copious”). Most deal with Zeus having to flee his father Kronos as a child. As an infant the God lived on Crete, and was suckled by a goat named Amaltheia. In other versions, Amaltheia was a nymph who took care of Jupiter, and she gave him a goat to suckle for his milk. The young God accidentally broke off one of the goat’s horns, which Amaltheia filled with fresh herbs. Jupiter then put the horn, along with the goat, in the sky amidst the stars (as per usual).

And that’s not only the story of where we get the cornucopia, but also the constellation Capricorn — or “horned goat”, the smallest of the Ancient constellations. (Second picture).