Happy Thanksgiving from the GoCertify Team

Here at the GoCertify world headquarters, we will be taking Thursday (though not Tuesday and Wednesday, or Friday) off this week in observance of the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Among other things, all of us will be giving thanks for all of you, because we wouldn't be here without all of GoCertify's loyal visitors.

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There are a couple of prevailing symbols of Thanksgiving. Last year's quiz featured the turkey, and this year we're turning to the cornucopia. How much do you know about the horn of plenty? In the spirit of education, we offer the following Thanksgiving Day quiz. We hope you enjoy a safe and plenteous holiday weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

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NOTE: Normal operations will resume with Ed Tittel's regular column on Friday.

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1) True or False: In Greek mythology, the cornucopia originated in the story of Zeus, later king of the gods, who as an infant was raised in a cave on Mt. Ida, and accidentally broke off one of the horns of the she-goat who suckled him.

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2) True or False: In Greek mythology, the cornucopia originated in the story of Heracles, who was wrestling with the river god Achelous and ripped off one of Achelous' horns.

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3) True or False: In Greek mythology, the cornucopia is prominently linked to Hades, god of the underworld.

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4) Which popular book series that later became a movie series incorporates a cornucopia into a decidedly non-festive setting, using it to mark the distribution of tools and weapons to combatants?

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5) Which U.S. state features a cornucopia in its official state seal?

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6) Which U.S. state billed itself as the Cornucopia of the World in an attempt to encourage settlement by immigrants and U.S. citizens willing to farm the land?

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7) What kind of cheating does Marge Simpson inadvertently expose at the Cornucopia Competition in the opening moments of Episode 20 of Season 18, "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot"?

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8) Which Star Wars character owns a "cornucopia"?

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9) Which American painter depicted the aforementioned cornucopia legend involving Achelous in a mural 22 feet long and 5 feet high?

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10) Which classic rock band recorded a song titled "Cornucopia"?

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ANSWERS

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1) True. After the horn was removed, it began to pour forth a perpetual supply of nourishment for the infant deity.

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2) False. This is the origin story of the cornucopia in Roman mythology, which adopted many Greek mythical figures (including the renamed Hercules). According to legend, Hercules and Achelous were battling over a women. Nymphs filled the horn with a selection of fruits, but Achelous was not consoled.

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3) True. The two symbols most prominently associated with Hades are the scepter and the cornucopia.

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4) The Hunger Games (the title of both the series and its first volume), by Suzanne Collins. At the beginning of the games, the child combatants are encourage to fight over access to the Cornucopia and its riches.

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5) North Carolina. The state seal was officially adopted in 1971.

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6) California. The propagandizing poster, released in 1885, sought to attract 1 million immigrants to take possession of 43,795,000 acres of federal land. The poster also boasted that California is favored by a "climate for health and wealth, without buzzards or cyclones."

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7) Horn stuffing. Marge pats the winning cornucopia, inadvertently causing it to spill and revealing that most of the space on the inside is filled with a stryrofoam core.

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8) Nyreen Vollen. A freighter pilot, Nyreen owns a Monarch-class cargo ship named Cornucopia. Near the end of the Clone Wars, Nyreen helps the Mandalorian chieftain Kal Skirata in his cause of liberating clone troopers and allowing to live free and independent lives.

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9) Thomas Hart Benton. Achelous and Hercules depicts Hercules bare-chested and wearing blue jeans while grappling a large bull by the horns (Achelous could assume the form of a bull). Originally installed at department store in Kansas City, the painting has since been added to the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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10) Black Sabbath. "Cornucopia," about the allure of wealth and materialism, is the seventh track on the band's fourth album, the creatively titled Vol. 4. Later, 1990s doom metal band Type O Negative recorded an instrumental cover version of "Cornucopia."