The Cornucopia and Giving Thanks

image: Wikimedia commons (link).

The cornucopia is an ancient symbol, stretching back at least to the days of the ancient Greeks, representing abundance which is given as a gift from the gods and indeed from the infinite realm -- for a cornucopia is a "horn of plenty" which brings forth good things in overflowing, infinite abundance, and can never be exhausted. 

It may come as a surprise to learn that in the myths of ancient Greece, the cornucopia was often associated with the god Hades, the god of the underworld and of the realm of the dead, who among the three divine brothers of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades when they were determining who would rule which realm drew the lot corresponding to the earth and all beneath it, even as Poseidon drew the lot corresponding to the sea, and Zeus to the sky and heavens.

But the symbolism becomes clear when we realize that all the gifts which sustain life (and even the gift of life itself) are understood in the world's ancient myths to originate in the infinite realm. The life-giving rain and the sunshine and the streams and the fertile soil and the abundance of the ocean and the fruit-bearing trees are all explicitly depicted in ancient myth as gifts of the gods, each belonging to a specific deity and bestowed upon men and women by their blessing.

In the myths of ancient Greece, the riches of the soil and all the wealth beneath the earth were understood as belonging to the god Hades, lord of the underworld, and for this reason he was often referred to as Plouton, meaning "the wealthy one," in part (the ancient sources tell us) because men and women were hesitant to pronounce his dreaded name.

The ancient Orphic Hymn dedicated "To Plouton" expresses this understanding. The translation of "To Plouton" by Thomas Taylor (1758 - 1835) declares in part:

Earth's keys to thee, illustrious king, belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong,

'Tis thine, abundant fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care.

To thee, great king, Avernus is assign'd, the seat of Gods, and basis of mankind.

The same lines are rendered in the contemporary translation by Apostolos N. Athanassakis and Benjamin M. Wolkow thusly: 

O Plouton, holder of the keys

to the whole earth.

To mankind you give

the wealth of the year's fruits,

yours is the third portion, 

earth, queen of all,

seat of the gods,

mighty lap of mortals.

From these lines we see that the riches of the earth's yield were understood to be given by the gracious blessing of the magnanimous Plouton. Thus, the frequent ancient depictions of this god holding a tremendous cornucopia, the horn of plenty which unendingly provides the fruits of the earth to mortal men and women, year-in and year-out.

In my 2016 book entitled Star Myths of the World, Volume Two: Myths of Ancient Greece, I provide evidence to conclude that this same god of the underworld can be confidently associated with the important constellation Ophiuchus, whose outline is shown in the star-chart below:

In the image above, shown from the perspective of an observer in the northern hemisphere who is facing towards the south, east is towards the left as we face the chart and west is towards the right (as indicated by the letters "E" and "W" which I have added to the lower two corners of the chart).

Notice how the outline of Ophiuchus consists of a central body (the tall rectangle topped by a triangle) flanked by two "serpent halves" (Ophiuchus is often envisioned as though holding a serpent, hence the name "Ophiuchus" which signifies the "serpent-holder" or "serpent-bearer"). The western serpent-half (on the right as we face the chart, and marked in this diagram by the letter "a.") is usually envisioned as the "head-end" of the serpent held by Ophiuchus, while the eastern half (on the left as we face the chart, and marked in this diagram by the letter "c.") is usually envisioned as the "tail-end" of the serpent.

As you observe this chart, and knowing that the god of the underworld is almost certainly associated with this constellation, can you guess what part of the constellation might represent the great "horn of plenty" held by the deity?

If you thought it would most likely be associated with the form on the west side of the central body, marked by the letter "a." in this star-chart, and topped with a small inverted triangular shape (the "serpent-half" just identified as the "head-end" of the serpent), then I agree! Note the rather "twisty" shape of the serpent-half on the west side of the constellation, as well as the widening at the top (created by the stars which outline the feature often envisioned as the "serpent-head"): these aspects certainly match up well with the traditional shape of the cornucopia -- and it would be quite a large cornucopia, too! 

And that is just what we see depicted in the ancient artwork, such as shown on the pottery at the top of the post. Note that in that artwork, the god is holding two different implements: one is the cornucopia and one is a straight staff. As I show with numerous examples, the "serpent-half" on the east side of Ophiuchus (the "tail-end" of the serpent, marked with the letter "c.") is often envisioned in ancient myth as framing a straight line, often a staff or a spear (just draw a line or envision a line from the top star on that side to the star just below the letter "c." and on downwards to create the line of the staff or the spear). 

Thus, the ancient artwork depicting the god of the underworld has strong correlation to the features of the constellation Ophiuchus: a staff on one side and a cornucopia on the other. 

Note that the ancient artist has even placed these accessories on the two sides of the god which correspond to the two sides of Ophiuchus: the cornucopia is held on his left side (held by his left arm and above his left shoulder in the artwork) and the staff is held in his right hand -- just as the cornucopia feature on the constellation (on the west side of the central body, and marked by the letter "a.") would be held by the left hand and protrude above the left shoulder of the central body of Ophiuchus, if we imagine the central body as facing towards us. The staff represented by the tail-end of the serpent (marked by the letter "c." on the east side of the central body) would thus be envisioned as being held by the right hand of Ophiuchus, just as the staff in the artwork is held in the right hand of the god.

In modern times, the cornucopia is closely associated with the holiday of Thanksgiving, when we acknowledge that the blessings of the land and the harvest and the fruits of the earth, and all that sustains life, originate and have their source in the divine realm.

It is a most fitting symbol, and at this time of year it is most appropriate to contemplate the gifts which we enjoy by the gracious blessing of the divine, upon which we are dependent for every aspect of this life, and indeed for life itself.