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Greek city of
Adramytteion in Mysia
Bronze 20mm (7.67 grams) Time of Mithradates VI, circa 119-63 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3807; B.M.C. 15. 3, 7-8
Laureate head of Apollo left, quiver at shoulder.
Cornucopia between caps of the Dioscuri; ΑΔΡΑ – MY
/ TH – NΩN across fields.
A coastal town situated
north-west of Pergamon, Adramytteion is said to have been founded by Adramys,
brother of King Kroisos of Lydia.
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The cornucopia (from Latin cornu copiae) or horn of plenty
is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container
overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form.
Originating in
classical antiquity
, it has continued as a
symbol in
Western art
, and it is particularly associated
with the
Thanksgiving
holiday in
North America
.
Allegorical
depiction of the Roman
goddess
Abundantia
with a cornucopia, by
Rubens
(ca. 1630)
In Mythology
Mythology
offers multiple
explanations of the origin
of the cornucopia.
One of the best-known involves the birth and nurturance of the infant
Zeus, who had to be hidden from his devouring father
Cronus
. In a cave on
Mount Ida
on the island of
Crete
, baby Zeus was cared for and protected by
a number of divine attendants, including the goat
Amalthea
(“Nourishing Goddess”), who fed him
with her milk. The suckling future king of the gods had unusual abilities and
strength, and in playing with his nursemaid accidentally broke off one of her
horns
, which then had the divine power to
provide unending nourishment, as the foster mother had to the god.
In another myth, the cornucopia was created when
Heracles
(Roman
Hercules
) wrestled with the river god
Achelous
and wrenched off one of his horns;
river gods were sometimes depicted as horned. This version is represented in the
Achelous and Hercules
mural painting
by the
American Regionalist
artist
Thomas Hart Benton
.
The cornucopia became the attribute of several
Greek
and
Roman deities
, particularly those associated
with the harvest, prosperity, or spiritual abundance, such as personifications
of Earth (Gaia
or
Terra
); the child
Plutus
, god of riches and son of the grain
goddess Demeter
; the
nymph
Maia
; and
Fortuna
, the goddess of luck, who had the power
to grant prosperity. In
Roman Imperial cult
, abstract Roman deities who
fostered peace (pax
Romana) and prosperity were also depicted with a cornucopia,
including Abundantia
, “Abundance” personified, and
Annona
, goddess of the
grain supply to the city of Rome
.
Pluto
, the classical ruler of the underworld in
the
mystery religions
, was a giver of agricultural,
mineral and spiritual wealth, and in art often holds a cornucopia to distinguish
him from the gloomier Hades
, who holds a
drinking horn
instead.
Modern depictions
In modern depictions, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped
wicker basket 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
. The Great
Seal
of
North Carolina
depicts Liberty standing and
Plenty holding a cornucopia. The coat of arms of
Colombia
,
Panama
,
Peru and
Venezuela
, and the Coat of Arms of the State of
Victoria, Australia
, also feature the
cornucopia, symbolising prosperity.
The horn of plenty is used on body art and at Halloween, as it is a symbol of
fertility, fortune and abundance.
-
Base of a statue of
Louis XV of France
In
Greek
and
Roman mythology
,
Apollo, is one of the most
important and diverse of the
Olympian deities
. The ideal of the
kouros
(a beardless youth), Apollo has been
variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy;
archery
; medicine and healing; music, poetry,
and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son of
Zeus and Leto
, and has a
twin
sister, the chaste huntress
Artemis
. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced
Etruscan mythology
as Apulu. Apollo was
worshiped in both
ancient Greek
and
Roman religion
, as well as in the modern
Greco
–Roman
Neopaganism
.
As the patron of Delphi
(Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an
oracular
god — the prophetic deity of the
Delphic Oracle
. Medicine and healing were
associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his
son Asclepius
, yet Apollo was also seen as a god
who could bring ill-health and deadly
plague
as well as one who had the ability to
cure. Amongst the god’s custodial charges, Apollo became associated with
dominion over
colonists
, and as the patron defender of herds
and flocks. As the leader of the
Muses (Apollon Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo
functioned as the patron god of music and
poetry
.
Hermes
created the
lyre for him, and the instrument became a common
attribute
of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were
called paeans
.
In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo
Helios he became identified among Greeks with
Helios
,
god of the sun
, and his sister Artemis
similarly equated with
Selene
,
goddess of the moon
. In Latin texts, on the
other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of
Apollo with
Sol
among the
Augustan poets
of the first century, not even
in the conjurations of
Aeneas
and
Latinus
in
Aeneid
XII (161–215). Apollo and Helios/Sol
remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the third
century CE.
Gemini
is one of the
constellations
of the
zodiac
. It was one of the 48 constellations
described by the 2nd century AD astronomer
Ptolemy
and it remains one of the 88 modern
constellations today. Its name is
Latin
for “twins,”
and it is associated with the twins
Castor and Pollux
in
Greek mythology
. Its symbol is
(Unicode ♊).
In
Greek
and
Roman mythology
,
Pollux and Castor or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the
Dioskouri. Their mother was
Leda
, but Castor was the mortal son of
Tyndareus
, the king of Sparta, and Pollux the
divine son of Zeus
, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan.
Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been
born from an egg, along with their twin sisters
Helen of Troy
and
Clytemnestra
.
In Latin the twins are also known as the Gemini or Castores.
When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality
with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the
constellation
Gemini
. The pair were regarded as the patrons
of sailors, to whom they appeared as
St. Elmo’s fire
, and were also associated with
horsemanship.
They are sometimes called the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids, later
seen as a reference to their father and stepfather
Tyndareus
.
Edremit is a district in
Balıkesir Province
,
Turkey
, as well as the central city of that
district, on the west coast of
Turkey
, not far from the
Greek
island
Lesbos
. It is situated at the tip of the gulf
with the same name (Gulf
of Edremit), with its town center a few kilometers inland, and is an
important center of trade, along with the other towns that are situated on the
same gulf (namely Ayvalık
,
Gömeç
,
Burhaniye
and
Havran
). It is also one of the largest district
centers of Balıkesir Province.
Coordinates:
 39°35′N
27°01′E
The
Greek
name for Edremit is Adramyttion (Άδραμύττιον)
and the Latin
name is Adramyttium, mentioned in
the New Testament
(Acts 27:2), as a city of
Asia Minor
on the coast of
Mysia
, which was called
Aeolis
in classical antiquity. The ship in
which
Apostle Paul
embarked at
Caesarea
belonged to this city (Acts 27:2). He
was conveyed in it only to
Myra, in Lycia
, whence he sailed in an Alexandrian ship
to Italy
. It was a rare thing for a ship to sail
from any port of Judea
direct for Italy. In the 19th century,
the name Adramyti was used. However the ancient city was not Edremit itself ; it
is in Ören, Burhaniye
.
Edremit’s economy relies largely on the production of olives, as well as on
tourism.
Kaz Dağı
National Park, extending around the
ancient Mount Ida
(mentioned in
Homer
‘s epic poems such as the
Iliad
), is situated within the boundaries of
Edremit district and is an important tourist attraction with its natural scenery
and a number of picturesque small villages around it. In ethno-cultural terms,
the population of Edremit is a mixture of
Balkan Turks
, descendants of immigrants from
Aegean Islands
, some
Circassians
, as well as native
Tahtacı
Turkmens
, who pursue their own traditions and
life-style to this day. A private museum of ethnography in the village of
Tahtakuşlar is one of the rare institutions in Turkey focusing on Tahtacı
culture. The district of Edremit, especially around Kazdağı, is largely covered
with forests.
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