A “horn of plenty”, filled with nuts and fruit and typically displayed on the Thanksgiving table.
In Greek mythology, the horn of plenty contained an endless supply of food and drink, filling itself with whatever the owner requested. It was said to have been a horn of the goat Amalthaea. She was the stepmother of Zeus, who nursed him as an infant. The myth states that Zeus turned one of her horns into the cornucopia and placed her image in the sky as the star Capella, in the constellation of Capricorn.
Another myth claims that the horn belonged to the river god Achelous. Achelous assumed many forms, including that of a bull. He fought Heracles for a Greek princess and lost. Heracles broke off one of his horns. According to the myth, nymphs turned the horn into the cornucopia.
The word “cornucopia” is a Latin construction of “cornu”, meaning horn, and “copia” meaning plenty. The cornucopia is a sign of abundance, often used as the centerpiece at the Thanksgiving table. North American Thanksgiving may have links to European harvest festivals, which some claim as the source of the tradition of the cornucopia: at harvest festivals, European farmers would celebrate by filling a goat’s horn with grain and fruit.