Featured The thin line between love and death: Eros-Thanatos

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Roman Collector, Jan 19, 2020.

  1. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    The identity of the figure on the reverse of this little provincial is somewhat unclear. Varbanov describes the figure as a "winged Genius," Moushmov as "Thanatos or Eros," and the Corpus Nummorum as "Nude Eros in attitude of Thanatos." So, which figure is depicted here -- Genius, Eros, or Thanatos?

    [​IMG]
    Caracalla, AD 198-217.
    Roman provincial AE 17.1 mm, 3.44 g, 12 h.
    Thrace, Hadrianopolis, AD 198-217.
    Obv: AVT K M AVP CE ANTΩNEINOC, laureate head, right.
    Rev: AΔΡIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Nude Eros-Thanatos standing right, left leg crossed over right, leaning with right hand and left elbow on inverted lit torch.
    Refs: Varbanov 3526; Jurukova, Hadrianople 390.2; CN 5217; Moushmov 2615; cf. SNG Cop 271.
    Notes: Reverse die match to CN 5217 specimen (Nacionalen Arheologičeski Institut s Muzej, Sofia, no. 1566).

    I think Genius can be readily dismissed here as a possibility. There is simply no mythological basis for identifying the figure on the reverse of this coin as Genius. Distinguishing between Eros and Thanatos, however, isn't so easy because the two deities were conflated in antiquity. It's perhaps best to refer to this figure as Eros-Thanatos.

    The Greek word θάνατος (thanatos) means death, and Thanatos was thus a personification of death. Hesiod's Theogony (758 ff)[1] describes Thanatos as a son of Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness) and the twin of Hypnos (Sleep).

    Thanatos had numerous other siblings responsible for human ills: Geras (Old Age), Oizys (Suffering), Moros (Doom), Apate (Deception), Momus (Blame), Eris (Strife), Nemesis (Retribution) and even the Stygian boatman Charon. Thanatos had three half-sisters, the Moirai (the Fates, daughters of Night), of which one of them, Atropos, was a goddess of death in her own right.

    Early depictions of Thanatos in art and literature depict him as a fully-grown, bearded, winged male figure who carries away the dead, such as on this Attic krater[2], which depicts Sarpedon’s body carried by Hypnos and Thanatos (note the name Θάνατος is retrograde), while Hermes watches.

    12344.jpg

    Over time, Thanatos became associated more with a gentle passing than a woeful demise, in contrast to Keres, the personification of violent death. As such, he becomes depicted as a nubile, beardless winged youth, as on this Attic vase[3] and sculptured marble column drum[4], each in the British Museum.

    12341.jpg

    12343.jpg

    By the Roman imperial period, Thanatos became even more youthful and was regularly depicted as a very young boy. Many Roman sarcophagi depict him as a winged boy, very much akin to Cupid. Particularly relevant to the iconography on the coin above, "Eros with crossed legs and torch reversed became the commonest of all symbols for Death", observes Arthur Bernard Cook.[5] This terracotta figurine from the 3rd century AD[6] depicts the god in exactly the same way as on the reverse of my coin -- a winged boy with legs crossed with an inverted torch to extinguish its flame against the ground, an allegory for snuffing out a human life.

    12342.jpg

    ~~~

    1. Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914.

    2. Side A of the so-called “Euphronios krater”, Attic red-figured calyx-krater signed by Euxitheos (potter) and Euphronios (painter), ca. 515 BC. H. 45.7 cm (18 in.); D. 55.1 cm (21 11/16 in.). Formerly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (L.2006.10); Returned to Italy and exhibited in Rome as of January, 2008.

    3. Hypnos and Thanatos carrying the body of Sarpedon from the battlefield of Troy. Detail from an Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. 440 BC. British Museum, accession number Cat. Vases D56.

    4. Winged youth with a sword, probably Thanatos, personification of death. Detail of a sculptured marble column drum from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, ca. 325-300 BC. Found at the south-west corner of the temple. British Museum, accession number GR 1872.8-3.9 (Cat. Sculpture 1206).

    5. Cook, Zeus: A study in ancient religion, 1940:1045, citing Adolf Furtwängler, in Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der grieschischen und römischen Mythologie.

    6. Terracotta figurine of Eros leaning on an inverted torch, dating from the 3rd century AD. On display in the Ancient Agora Museum in Athens, housed in the Stoa of Attalus. Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, November 9, 2009. The copyright holder of this file allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other use is permitted.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2020
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  3. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Great post and a most interesting read. Thanks for this.
     
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  4. Clavdivs

    Clavdivs Well-Known Member

    Excellent post ... here is my Diadumenian featuring Eros/Thanatos:

    upload_2020-1-19_12-59-17.png

    Diadumenian

    City/Mint Markianopolis
    Size (mm) 16
    Weight (g) 2.99
    Ob. Leg. M OPELLIOC ANTWNINOC
    Meaning Marcus Opellius Antonius
    Ob. Desc. Bare headed and draped bust of Diadumenian, right

    Rev. Leg. MARKIANO-POLEITWN
    Meaning (Coin) of the people of Markianopolis – A prince crowned by the gods
    Rev. Desc. Eros/Thanatos standing left, resting chin on palm, leaning on (extinguished) inverted brand


    Here is a paragraph I had gathered while attributing the coin some time ago:

    Eros was worshiped as a fertility god and associated with love and sexual desire. Sometimes thought of as Thanatos, ‘god of death’, due to his association with the concept of life after death. The symbolism here, of the extinguished torch, may represent joy after sexual fulfilment, or hope for life after death.
     
  5. Jochen1

    Jochen1 Well-Known Member

    I go with Patricia Lawrence who has written "Death is never exhausted."

    Jochen
     
  6. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Looks like someone snuffed his genitals instead! :inpain:

    Nice thread.. Thanks for sharing!
     
  7. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    When researching the type a few years ago, I came across this interesting article, which disagrees with associating the depicted Eros with Thanatos. It lays out a fairly comprehensive argument, but I think things are still open to interpretation.

    Commodus - Eros Thanatos.jpg COMMODUS
    AE20. 4.43g, 19.6mm. THRACE, Philippopolis, circa AD 180-192. Varbanov 1054 var. (obv legend and bust type); RPC Online Volume 4, #7571 var. (same). O: AV KAI MAP AY [KOMOΔOC], laureate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind. R: ΦIΛIΠΠOΠOΛЄITΩN, winged Eros standing right, legs crossed, resting on inverted torch.
    Ex George Spradling Collection
     
  8. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    That's a fascinating article -- thanks for pointing it out to me.
     
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  9. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    After reading the article posted by @zumbly and this interesting one, "Prolegomena to a Study of Eros on Roman Provincial Coinage" by Francis Jarman and Patricia Lawrence, I favor the explanation that the figure on the reverse of this coin type represents Eros/Cupid, but I still can't rule out Genius or Eros as Thanatos, either.

    Eros/Cupid is commonly depicted in ancient Greek and Roman art with a torch, with which he inflames the passions. See, for example, this statuette from the first century, BC, in the Harvard Art Museum:

    47334111.jpg

    There is another possibility for the identity of the figure on the OP coin's reverse. The inverted torch suggests the extinguishing of love (not necessarily the snuffing out of life by Thanatos, as suggested in my OP), and the coin might portray Anteros, known as Λυσέρως (Serv. in Virg. Aen. IV.520),"the deliverer from love."

    The relevant portion of Servius' commentary on book four of Virgil's Aeneid (the Dido story) cited above is roughly translated, "They invoke Anteros, the contrary to Cupid, whose responsibility it is to disentangle unfair love and is known as Eros Anteros Luseros."[1]

    Servius' commentary notwithstanding, Cupid seems to have assumed Anteros' role in Ovid's The Remedies for Love, where he is known as Lethaeus Amor (Ovid, Rem. Amor. 551-555), roughly "the eraser of love from the memory."[2] The relevant passage is translated[3]

    There, in a curious guise, dwells Cupid as healer of heartache,
    There on his torch he pours water cooling the flame.​
    Thither young men and girls repair when their vows are a burden,
    Seeking forgetfulness there, freed from the hurt in the heart.​

    It seems reasonable to conclude that the figure on the reverse is more likely to be Eros/Cupid, possibly in his guise as Lethaeus Amor, as symbolized by the inverted torch, than Thanatos per se. However, I think I was too quick to dismiss the notion of Genius.

    For there is another interpretation of Genius here that is compelling. Frederick Weber notes a circular bezel of a Hellenistic finger ring which bears an intaglio device of a winged Cupid-like figure seated at the foot of a sepulchral column and leaning on an inverted torch. He calls the figure a genius and explains:

    One might here allude to something which is often not recognized, namely, that perhaps, strictly speaking, the winged genius with inverted torch represented on Roman tombs, antique gems, &c., is not a "genius of death," but rather "a genius of the mourning for death." If that were so, the winged boy with the inverted torch would be more nearly related to the true god of love than has been popularly admitted, for he would represent the fond but hopeless yearning ("Pothos," πόθος) after a loved one lost by death.​

    But Weber also concedes that Thanatos may be depicted as a Cupid-like figure, noting:

    Isaac D'Israeli, however, wrote in the same sense as King: "Love, with a melancholy air, his legs crossed, leaning on an inverted torch, the flame thus naturally extinguishing itself, elegantly denoted the cessation of human life."​

    So, I'm no closer to understanding the reverse figure than before, for Genius, Eros and Eros as Thanatos all seem to be plausible identities for the figure.



    ~~~

    1. Ἀντέρως (Anteros) was the god of requited love, literally "love returned" or "counter-love" and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of unrequited love.

    2. Lethaeus is a Latin adjective meaning "of or relating to Lethe", "of the underworld", or "causing forgetfulness or sleepiness".

    3. Ovid, and Rolfe Humphries. The Art of Love: the Loves, the Art of Beauty, the Remedies for Love and the Art of Love. Indiana University Press, 1957, p. 198.

    4. Weber, Frederick P. Aspects of Death and Correlated Aspects of Life in Art, Epigram, and Poetry: Contrib. towards and Anthology and an Iconography of the Subject. Illustr. Especially by Medals, Engraved Gems, Jewels, Ivories, Antique Pottery, Etc. With 146 Illustr. Paul Hoeber, 1918, p. 590.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2020
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  10. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    I am resurrecting this thread (sorry, Thanatos) because I finally landed one of these Eros-Thanatos types, one I've been hankering for for a while. :joyful:

    There aren't very many of these online, this post on CT being most informative (note I cribbed the @Roman Collector attribution above - thanks RC!). One thing that puzzles me is that some descriptions say the torch is resting on an altar, others (RC's, etc.) don't mention the altar. To me it looks like the top of the torch, with maybe some guttering flames or smoke rising, and so I left off the altar (and because I trust RC's judgment).

    It came in a scruffy, undescribed lot from eBay and so was cheaper than I deserve. My photos are too bright and make it look lighter and more gruesome than it is in hand - it is a nice medium green. Note the wisp of patina preserving Eros-Thanatos's modesty. :shame:

    Hadrianopolis - Caracalla Eros Than lot Jul 2021 (0).jpg
    Caracalla Æ 17
    (c. 198-217 A.D.)
    Thrace, Hadrianopolis

    AVT K M AVP CE ANTΩNEINOC, laureate head, right / AΔΡIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Nude
    Eros-Thanatos standing right, left leg crossed over right, leaning on inverted lit torch.
    (3.52 grams / 17 x 16 mm)
    eBay July 2021
    Attribution Notes:
    Varbanov 3526; Jurukova, Hadrianople 390.2; CN 5217; Moushmov 2615; cf. SNG Cop 271.
    Possible Die Matches:
    Roma Numismatics E-Sale 84, Lot 1178, 21.02.2021
    Classical Numismatic Group, Auction 88, Lot 743, 14.09.2011

    I think mine might be a die match, as noted. Below are two others, mine on top, the one from CNG in the middle (same as Wildwinds plate coin); and Roma's on bottom. Or maybe not - :watching:

    Hadrianopolis - Caracalla Eros Than lot Jul 2021 (0die matches).jpg
     
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  11. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    Why would the Romans put an inverted torch on these coins? What was their message to the viewing public? Why? How did the message reflect back on the imperial figure and their family on the obverse? Still a mystery to me.
     
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  12. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    You might check out that link that @zumbly included in his post above - it is quite comprehensive in the whole Roman-cherub-torch-death thing.

    But it strikes me as weird too. Imagine if the US mint released a commemorative quarter commemorating death - say a skull and crossbones on the reverse. On one hand there would be much complaining. On the other hand, I think a lot of people - Goths? Bikers? - would really like it. Although neither Goth nor biker, I'd really like a US death quarter. Then the mint could issue an IRS commemorative and then we'd have Death and Taxes on our coinage! :)
     
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  13. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    Let me further possibly confuse the issue. I used to have the coin below that was apparently unique at the time. Here we see the winged figure leaning on a column and extending downward a torch fashioned from what appears to be a tree limb!!

    So, question #1, on the versions above is the figure really leaning on a torch to extinguish it?....or:

    Question #2: Most important to my musings, is the figure extinguishing a flaming torch or IGNITING IT from a flaming altar or some other fire source?? The later would make much more sense as a depiction of perhaps "good times to come," etc. to the Roman people!....rather that death.
    SeptSevNicopolis3.jpg
    My previous opinion: Septimius Severus. 193-211 AD. MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum. Æ (17mm, 2.46 gm, 1h). Obv: AV KAI CEVH(POC?). Laureate head right. Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩΝ ΠPOC (ICTPO, in ex.?), Winged Genius (Eros?) standing right, leaning on column and resting inverted torch (on altar?). Torch fashioned from a tree limb...quite unusual. Unpublished and possibly unique per an author of HH&J. To be included in a new addenda to Hristova-Hoeft-Jekov.
     
  14. happy_collector

    happy_collector Well-Known Member

    Nice pickup, @Marsyas Mike.

    I really like the relaxing Eros-Thanatos design. That's why I picked up the Roma E-sale example. Glad to know another CT-er having a possible die match. :)
     
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  15. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    I'm glad to know you got the Roma example! That's a nice one for sure. :)
     
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  16. Tigermoth1

    Tigermoth1 Active Member

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  17. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    We each will see the matter in different ways. Herodotus related an interaction between Solon, the wise man, and Croesus, the rich king. Croesus believed his wealth made him the happiest of all men. Solon pointed out that a life can not be judged truly happy until the circumstances of its end is known. We all will die someday. Honoring Thanatos might be a way of praying that our torches be extinguished happily. Recently the news has been filled with stories of people who lost their lives in terrible fires where they watched their families burn. Others have died alone in quarantine separated from their families by Covid. The coin shows a wish for a death that brings the inevitable termination without the suffering we all have seen in someone we knew. To me, this is a reasonable type for a coin. The modern 'death' coin would not feature a skull and crossbones but might show the scene from 'This is Us' where the mother, surrounded by all who love her, winds down like an old clock. 'That' you will die is a given fact; 'how' remains to be determined. I believe the ancients were more aware of this than many are today.

    What was Caracalla asking with this one? Who did he wish would have an easy and timely death? Father? Brother? Himself???
    pm1300bb2300.jpg
     
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  18. Tigermoth1

    Tigermoth1 Active Member

    "Ah, Princely love of my dreams, I heard you
    Sigh [saw you fall], while blithely rippling
    Bramble locks, a rush of willow saplings;
    those eyes and aery hirsute trunk, Adieu!"
    The goat boy chases winged tigers through
    Eye of Peacock forest; the centaur king
    leans against a nearby tree, wrinkling
    His brow, looks on and sadly says: "Undo
    this wretched knot that binds my heart; so dear,
    the thought of you is feeling, silence e-
    voking the dawn, this poem in a tear.
    I kiss this golden ring and vow to thee
    my troth and pray that the gods keep you near."
    Thus said, the centaur bows on bended knee.
     
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  19. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Tiger Moth was an most excellent aircraft.......
     
  20. ancientone

    ancientone Well-Known Member

    I may change my descriptions from Eros back to Thanatos.

    Extinguishing torch on a pile of rocks.
    bizya~0.jpg


    callatis~0A.jpg


    c9.jpg
     
  21. Ryan McVay

    Ryan McVay Well-Known Member

    Nice Eros with torch. I must have missed this thread last summer. If you are interested, Jarmin has a website full of all the different Eros types. The torch downward is just 1 of about 25 types. If I can find his website address I'll post it along with 3 variants I have.
     
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