Dear friends of ancient mythology! I know this coin is in not good condition. But I want to tell something about Priapos and for that this coin is qualified especially well. It is an AE21 of Trajan Decius from Lampsakos. Coin #1: Mysia, Lampsakos, Trajan Decius AD 249-251 AE 22, 4.15g, 22.23mm, 0° obv. AYT KOI TPAIAN ΔEK[IOC] bust draped, laureate, r. rev. ΛANYAKHN / [Ω]N - EΠI AΠOΛΛ in l. and r. field [ΩN] - ETOY Priapos, stg. l., draped to hips, with Ithyphallos, resting with raised l. hand on Thyrsos and holding in extended r. hand Kantharos ref. cf. SNG Paris 1294 very rare, good F to about VF Notes: This coin shows beside its mythology some numismatic anomalies: (1) ΛAN in error for ΛAM (2) KOI in error for a. KVI, as abbreviation for QVINTVS, or b. KAI, as abbreviation for KAICAP = Caesar (Curtis Cay) (3) For the magistrate Apollonius it is not possible to find a reference Priapos was the son of Aphrodite and born in Lampsakos in Mysia. Therefore Lampsakos was the most important city of the Priapos cult. The special feature of this coin is the fact that Priapos here is not depicted as a dumb and horny garden dwarf as usually but with Thyrsos and Kantharos, the attributes of Dionysos! Mythology: Priapos was the son of Aphrodite and Dionysos, referring to other sources son of Adonis or even of Zeus himself. When Aphrodite saw how ugly her child was looking, with big tongue, thick belly and exorbitant member, she threw it away and denied it. It is said that the reason for his deformity was the envy or jealousy of Hera. She should have touched the pregnant belly of Aphrodite with evil magic hand. A herdsman should have found the child and brought it up because immediatly he has assumed that this being could be important for the fertility of plants and animals. Not until Roman times he changed into a bizarre garden god and a kind of scarecrow. So it was assigned to him that he tried to rape the sleeping Hesta but was betrayed by the cry of an ass. In Bithynia it is said that he has educated the young War God Ares whom he first has teached dancing and thereafter the war handcraft. So he rather was a warlike god, and one of the Titanes. For this reason he belongs probably to the series of pre-hellenic, semi-animal teachers of gods, like Kedalion, Chiron, Silen or Pallas. Background: Priapos is the ithyphallic god of animalic and vegetabilic fertility and generally a bringer of mercy and protector against evil, originated at the coast of the Hellespont, especially in Lampsakos. The city of Priapos is named after him. His name is related to Priene, Priamos and the name of the Bithynean war god Prietos. Probably together with Alexander's Crusade his cult spread in the Greek world and absorbed various local deities like Phallos in Attica or Mutunus in Rome, which he replaced. Primarly coarse formed, red coloured wooden statues were sacrified to him, so-called Hermes columns (a bust on a column). Typically his position was in Lordosis (leaning back) with erected phallos. In his function as fertlitity god he acted positive aiding as well as saving against harm. In Roman times his role was limited asgarden god. But he was the protector of wanderers and in Greece patron of sailors and fishermen. His sanctuaries were artless and imbedded in the landscape. As heir of the sepulcric Phalloi he was grave guardian too. This directs to a deeper meaning. Ocassionally he became even an All God. In Lampsakos donkeys are sacrified to him which leads to mythological explanations, e.g. the proverbial horniness of donkeys. From the graffiti on the walls of his sanctuaries a separate poetic genre developed, the Priapea and the Priapean measure. Coin #2: Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum, Septimius Severus, AD 193-211 AE 19, 1.62g, 18.46x15.81mm, 225° obv. AV KAI CE. - CEVHPOC Laureate head r. rev. NIKOΠOΛIT - ΠPOC ICTPO Priapos, wreathed wit ivy (?), stg. half left with extended r. hand, , with his l. hand lifting his cloak to show his enormous phallos. ref. a) not in AMNG: cf. AMNG I/1, 1380 (for the type only) b) not in Varbanov c) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) No. 8.14.17.5 (plate coin) VF, nearly black patina, oval flan Naturally the depiction of Priapos stimulated to sarcasm but Priapos would not have been accepted if not a serious belief would have been behind him. So even in Christian times there were Priests, Priestresses and whole societies which were addicted to him. He had mysteries too and had a strong support by Dionysos who has attracted and influenced him. Furthermore he is related to Aphrodite, Pan, the Nymphs, Silvanus and Herakles. He only became mythical in the Hellenistic period and even that only slightly. History of Art: From the many representations and illustrations of Priapos I have selected this impressive fresco from Pompeii from the 1st century AD. Today it is located in the Museo Nazionale Archeologico in Naples. It shows the god weighing his phallos against a basket of garden produce. He is crowned with a Phrygian bonnet, he wears Phrygian boots and has a thyrsos decorated with a pine cone at his side. This fresco was originally located at the entrance of the house of the Vettii, one of the richest families of Pompeii. Not only did it show their wealth, but it was also meant to protect them from evil, especially at the entrance. Sources: (1) Vergil, Georg. IV, 111 (2) Tibull, I.1.22.4.8 (3) Horaz, Sat. I, 8 Literature: (1) Karl Kerenyi, Die Mythologie der Griechen (2) Der kleine Pauly Online-Sources: (1) theoi.com (2) Wikipedia Best regards
I'm pretty sure after 5 more examples of "enormous phallos" this thread will be closed by the morality squad...
My example Description MOESIA INFERIOR. Nicopolis ad Istrum. Septimius Severus (193-211). Ae. Obv: AY K [...] CEVHΡΟ. Laureate bust right. Rev: NIΚΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ ΠΡOC IC. Priapus standing left, pointing at his erected phallus.
AE17 Septimius Severus (193-211). Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum. Obv. Laureate head right. AV KAI CE CEVHΡOC. Rev. Priapus standing left, pointing at his enormous member. NIKOPOLI TWN [PROCIC]. 17 mm, 2.41 gr. Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) 8.14.17.4 (same dies).
Are there any Roman Imperial coins with such depictions, or do they appear only on Roman Provincial coins? If you're ever interested in purchasing a Roman bronze figurine of Priapus, so you can view him in all his three-dimensional glory, be careful: the majority of them are probably fakes. (Think about it: how likely is it that such an appendage would survive intact after a couple of thousand years buried in the ground, given how commonly mere arms, legs, noses, and heads break off?) I have no such coin myself, although the obverse of a Q. Titius Republican coin I own has been identified with Mutinus Titius [also spelled Mutunus Tutunus], a local Roman equivalent of Priapus. It shows only a head, though! Roman Republic. Q. Titius, AR Denarius, Rome 90 BCE. Obv. Head of Mutinus Titius[?] [ = Priapus] right w/beard & winged diadem / Rev. Pegasus springing right, “Q TITI” on tablet below. RSC I Titia 1, Crawford 341/1, Sear RCV I 238. 18.5 mm., 3.8 g. See RSC I at p. 91: "The god Mutinus Titius is the same as Priapus, who had a temple at Rome, and who was especially worshipped by young married women." But see Crawford Vol. I, no. 341/1 at p. 346 & n. 1, challenging the identification of the obverse portrait with Mutinus Titius: "I do not know what the head on 1 is (there are no good grounds for regarding it as that of Mutunus Tutunus)," citing opposing views on the issue.
Very interesting coins. Thanks guys for helping me bone up on the priapic iconography on these ancient coins.
This is a documentary about this subject. Since it was on TV, AND that I found it on the Internet, it MUST be a true story. Besides, the guy being tossed to the floor, and the name of the movie is my namesake... so, its gotta be true.
Isn't it wonderful, how the ancient Greeks endowed their gods with very human characteristics and emotions as reflected in their mythology and works of art!
Oh yes, very much. They are capable of almost everything, ranging from love, to jealousy, to hatred, to revenge - the whole range of behavior that we humans are capable of. That's what makes the gods, goddess, demigods, nymphs and monsters so interesting. They can be selfish and self-serving; they lie readily and yet be protective of those they love. In Circe Athena demanded the death Circe's newborn son, Telegonus. Did this because, as a goddess, she could foresee that Telegonus would kill Odysseus, the mortal she loved and protected. Circe was able to thwart Athena through sorcery, and Telegonus did indeed kill Odysseus, who was his father, accidentally, when he voyaged to visit him as a young man.
I think you may have missed my obviously feeble attempt at a joke. I was referring to one particular characteristic displayed by the titular subject of this thread.
This subject has come up before... https://www.cointalk.com/threads/mercury-fertility-god.239460/#post-1826856
I don't have a coin of Priapus, but here's an ithyphallic Oesho... Kushan, King Kanishka, AD 127 – 150. AE Drachm, 17mm, 4.34g Obverse: Crowned, diademed king facing, holding spear and sacrificing at altar left, Bactrian legend around Reverse: OOKþO, two-armed ithyphallic Oesho facing, head turned to left,nimbate, holding various attributes, tamgha at left
Actually the fresco from Pompeji with Priapos was hidden behind a door and only shown to adults and if you gave a tip to the guardian. Jochen
Wow. Talk about memories rushing back from the abyss. (Okay, PRETEND we were talking about memories rushing back from the abyss.) When I was about 13 years old, taking a first-year Latin class, I went on one of those pre-packaged educational tours. This one was to Italy. This was--oh, my God!--fifty years ago. We went to Pompeii one day. Being a bit of an oddball, I immediately wandered off from the group and started exploring the place on my own. I came to this one house where there were about 10 or 12 people standing around. Inside was some sort of guard or uniformed guide who was standing next to a locked wall cabinet, about 3' x 3' or so, probably about 5' off the ground. The guard held out his hand, and everyone put some money into it, so I did the same. After he collected a handful of change from everyone, he unlocked and opened the cabinet, revealing that very fresco that Jochen1 posted! I had never heard of Priapos at the time and assumed it was just some sort of risque, humorous decoration, wondered why someone would want that it their living room. How amazing to see it here after all those years! EDIT. In the time it took me to type this, Jochen1 just beat me to the story.
