My last purchase of 2016

After running it through CT's resident expert on coins with this mythological figure, I acquired one of my own. It wasn't crazy urgent but I did want to add a man-faced bull coin to my collection. I also wanted a coin from Magna Graecia. So when this coin came up in one of my searches I decided to go for it. I purchased this on the last day of 2016, so it just barely made it as my last coin of last year!

Neapolis, Campania
AR nomos
Obv: Head of nymph right, wearing broad headband, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace
Rev: Man-headed bull walking right, head facing; above, Nike flying right, placing wreath on bull's head; NEOΠOΛITΩN in exergue
Mint: Neapolis
Date: Mid-late 4th century BC


In ancient Greek mythology, Achelous was the patron god of the river of the same name in Greece. However, earlier before this, Achelous had originally been the god of all water. His status as the protector of the largest river in Greece elevated him to be the most important of all the river gods, and according to Homer, Achelous was the creator of all of the fresh water in the world. This legend persisted into Roman times. In addition to being a man-faced bull, he also was depicted as either a gray-haired old man or a younger bearded man with horns and a serpent-like body.

The man-faced bull was something found among several of the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean, and is thought to ultimately have an Eastern origin, being spread to Europe by way of seafarers. It also became a popular symbol among Greek mercenaries. The idea of Achelous taking the form of a man-faced bull originated with the Etruscans in the 8th century BC.

Achelous was said to have been the son of either Oceanus and Gaia, or Oceanus and Tethys. He came into conflict with Heracles over who would wed Deianeira, the daughter of King Oeneus. During the battle, Achelous, who was in human form, transformed into a bull and then had one of his horns pulled off. The defeated Achelous then had to trade the goat horn of Amalthea for his own broken horn. In addition to this story there are a few more myths as well.

Ovid's description of Achelous's dwelling in Metamorphoses, ("made of spongy pumice, and rough tuff. The floor was moist with soft moss, and the ceiling banded with freshwater mussel and oyster shells.") served as an inspiration for the development of 16th century Italian mannerist garden grottos, and Italian midday meals were influenced by the food Achelous served to Theseus.

(Source: Achelous on Wikipedia)

Achelous:





Achelous vs Heracles:



Neapolis (modern-day Naples, Italy):


Magna Graecia:



I wonder how Achelous would fare in a fight against Manbearpig from South Park?!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Ya gotta love dem MFB (not so much the MBP)

 

Oh GOSH.. why did I look at and read this thread.. Now I'm going to have my first nightmare of 2017!

 

Bet placed on MFB, got it!

Oops! (and by that I mean "muah hah hah hah" )

 

IDK, MBP is tough

 

Cool silver MFB... some really nice detail on the face.

Sorry, but I can't resist posting my somewhat radioactive-looking Neapolis AE whenever the opportunity presents itself .


CAMPANIA, Neapolis
AE20. 6.05g, 20.3mm. CAMPANIA, Neapolis, circa 270 - 250 BC. MSP I, 328; Taliercio IIIa.6 (13 ex.); Sambon 656; SNG France 986. O: NEOΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ, laureate head of Apollo left, gamma behind. R: Man-faced bull walking right, head facing, crowned by Nike flying right above; beneath bull, IΣ; X monogram in exergue.

 

No need to apologize for a really nice coin! When I go for a bronze, I'll want something at least close to this or better.

I figure its usually a given to post anything related to the OP so I don't really specify in my threads to post your coins. If it helps generate interest in the thread and provides something to look at, then its welcome in my book!

 

Wow, fantastic OP-addition, Jango ... congrats on the man-faced bull

... oh, and Z-bro, that coin always makes me jealous (great eye-appeal)

Ummm, I have a couple of cool man-faced bull coin thingies ...

Campania, Cales AE20
265-240 BC






Neapolis, Campania, AR Nomos
320-300 BC



... again => congrats on your sweet OP-addition, Mat

Happy New Coin-Year!! (I wanna see lots of big AE winnas!!)

 

Thanks for the comments+likes so far!

 

ManBearPig - he's real, I'm super serial!

Sweet MFBs. I want one so bad.

Erin

 

Ok, calm down Al Gore

Thanks Erin!

 

Nice MFB @ValiantKnight ! Way to end out the 2016 year! I really like these MFB's!


Campania Neapolis 320-300 BC AR Nomos Nymph Achelous
Mine kinda has that "Eyes without a Face" look...



Sicily Gela AR Litra Horse-Achelous 0.63g 13mm 465-450 BCE Obv-Rev HGC 2 p 373



Campania AE Apollo-Achelous -275-250BCE PLATE COIN 3 KNOWN RARE SNG ANS 474 - Listed Potamikon pg 232 Plate 343

 

Great set Al! My favorite is the litra.

 

Great choice VK!

 

Nice example and you got a great deal.

In my opinion it is Acheloios Sebethos as a man-faced bull on the reverse. You might be interested in the inexpensive eBook version of Potamikon, only 19GBP from the publisher (Archaeopress). There we explain the theory of local embodiments of Acheloios.

 

I definitely am more intrigued and interested now about MFB so I will most likely buy the eBook, probably next week though because of FUN. Thanks for the tip Nicholas!

 

For those interested, stay tuned for when I post the in hand pics! (after it arrives of course)

 

Learned something new today !

 

Man faced bull/bull bodied man is on my wish list now!

Look what you've done here @Nicholas Molinari !

 

Aw don't blame the guy! Who wouldn't want something that looks like it grew up around Chernobyl