Antaeus the GIANT & the 11th labor of Herakles - How good is your Greek?

I am always happy to get a coin featuring a different labor of Herakles, as witnessed by my latest article on the man/God: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/wh...a-movie-about-post-em-up.386593/#post-7896060
But then he also had some serious labors inside of his labors (he was a meta mega man) and I don't think any beat all of the labors he had in his 11th (on most accounts) labor, The Golden Apples of the Hesperides!

(The Nymphs of the evening and sunset tend to the garden...and could tend my garden anytime)

In that last post I talked all about the many things he labored while sharing my, then, latest coin of Herk's labors:

Gordianus III (238-244 AD). AE34 (21.86 g). Cilicia, Tarsus.
Obv. AVT K M ANTΩNIOC ΓOPΔIANOC CEB / Π Π, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right, holding spear and shield decorated with gorgoneion between two serpents.
Rev. TAPCOV MHTPOΠOΛEΩ, A / M in left field, K / Γ / B in right field, Herakles standing left holding club in right hand, apples of the Hesperides in left hand, lion skin hanging from left forearm, to left dead serpent in tree.
SNG Paris 1669 (same dies).
Light green patina. Fine/almost very fine.
See Voegtli, Heldenepen, pp. 42-44: this scene appears on the provincial coins of Tarsus and ten other cities.
From the François Righetti Collection.

So, this is just going to be about Antaeus the GIANT opponent (his name literally translates to opponent or opposer in Greek) of Herakles and my new coin featuring their Earth shattering battle:

CILICIA, Tarsus. Philip I. 244-249 AD. Æ 33mm (21.1 g). Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / Herakles and Antaeus: Herakles standing facing, head left, leaning right and wrestling Antaeus; he lifts Antaeus up into the air by the waist while Antaeus tries to break his grip.

*My ID is far from certain and any help is appreciated. I couldn't find any coins where their legs and postures aligned like this. Philip I is just the closest. And ALL the Philip I coins have him with a radiate bust. If anyone reads Greek well, pointers are appreciated as this coin appears to lack the 2 table top looking ΠΠ = PP that would be in "Philippus" ΦIΛΙΠΠON as we see in the example I've borrowed from CNG here:


(Note Antaeus temple of skullsbehind the combatants. More to come)

As many know Antaeus was invincible, so long as his feet touched the Earth. And why was that? Well, Antaeus mother was none other than Gaia herself. THE personification of the Earth. Meaning, so long as he was in his mother's embrace nothing could hurt him (no Oedipal jokes please). Adding a tinge of humanity to the beyond human story. Oh, and his father was Poseidon. Talk about a dude not to be messed with!
Antaeus would challenge all unlucky enough to come along to a wrestling match...to the death! He'd killed so many men that, "he built a temple to his father using their skulls." Spine tingling stuff
After getting his Heraklass handed to him time and again, Herakles realized that he would need to improvise. So he lifted the mighty son of immortals into the air and bear hugged him to death

(talk about keeping your enemies closer)

Just out of his mother's touch their was nothing Antaeus could do but die by being crushed to death in Herakles arms.

Post script:
Antaeus "bones" were located in a sacred place in Tangier (named after Antaeus' wife Tinge). Probably old dinosaur bones, but their story crops up several times in the ancient record. Some stories even have Herakles getting involved with Tinge after the death of Antaeus. Stating that she bore him a son, Sophax, who would go on to do great things including being the one to name Tingis after his mom.
Antaeus survives to this day though, as his story has been commemorated in art through the ages. From ancient times, to the renaissance and up to the modern day:





So please share any of your labors of Herakles coins, favorite stories, thoughts on my coins identification or anything that lifts you up into the air

 

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Maybe Volusian ?

The OVO at 12'clock is making me think Volusian.

 

Here's Constantius I with a casual looking Hercules...probably bored with posing.





Constantius I
A.D. 304- 305
24x25mm 9.0g
FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES; laureate head right.
HERCVLI VICTORI; Hercules stg. facing, hd. l., r. leaning on club, l. holding apples of Hesperides and Nemean lion’s skin; across fields S-P and Δ in left field.
in ex. ALE
RIC VI Alexandria 40

 

C POBLICIUS QF ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS POBLICIA
AR Serratus Denarius
OBVERSE: ROMA, draped bust of Roma right, helmeted & decorated with corn ears, control mark letter above
REVERSE: C•POBLICI•Q•F, Hercules strangling the Nemean lion, club at his feet
Struck at Rome 80 BC
3.88g, 16mm
Cr380/1, Syd 768, Poblicia 9

 

Excellent Herakles post @Ryro .

An Indo-Scythian representation.




My interest in Greek mythology was likely sparked by Steve Reeves as Hercules. I know that there have been many other and possibly more accurate portrayals of Herc over the years but for me, Reeves will always be Hercules.

 

Thanks so much! I think you might be onto something! Looking at his coinage he did have a Herakles vs Antaeus but it's in latin:

and looking at provincials of his with his name in Greek it really does look much like my coin!
*Spoiler! I don't have the coin yet but will feel much more confident once I can look at in hand.
Here's his name in Greek "OYOΛOYCCIANOC" and what I am seeing on the coin:

If that is just wishful thinking and someone has a better idea please let me know. But with what we can see of the legend I really think you got it!

Rad coin @Victor_Clark and look at those Golden Apples of the Hesperides that he is holding! Very cool

And from late Rome from Victor to early Rome from @Bing Very fun RR. I think POBLICIUS would be more popularus if he wasn't such a private person

LOVING your Indo-Scythian @Deacon Ray
That reminds me of my Herakles squared!

Lysias
BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Circa 130-125 BC. Æ (20x20mm, 8.82 g, 12h). Indian standard. Head of Herakles right, lion’s skin tied around neck, club over shoulder / Elephant advancing right; monograms in exergue. Bopearachchi 8A; SNG ANS 1040-7. VF, dark green patina. Ex: Timeline Auction

 

GREAT coins.
My only coin depicting one of the labors is this Tarentum with the Nemean lion.
I have certainly seen better examples, but the coin has its appeal, at least for me



Calabria. Tarentum circa 380-325 BC.
Diobol AR
10 mm, 0,90 g
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 380-325 BC. AR Diobol Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with hippocamp/ Herakles crouching right, holding club and strangling the Nemean Lion to right. Vlasto 1303–5; HN Italy 911.

I thought I could help with a positive ID for the Antaeus coin but I am not sure at all.
In RPC there are 4 examples
https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?q=antaeus+tarsus

The only one that might be a match is still Philip I (from the RPC examples) because I see ΚΑΙ ΙΟΥ but you might be on the right track with Volusian.

 

Nice work @Ryro.

I was going to mention the CC in his provincial name but figured your sleuthing skills would have no problems once given a nudge

 

Well now, as @ambr0zie points out, there are no examples of my coin on RPC (I also checked ACsearch and Wild Winds) the question becomes, is mine an unlisted coin? (he said rubbing his hands together like an old timey prospector thinking he's struck gold).

 

That is a seriously cool new coin, @Ryro! Have you tried searching ISEGRIM? I always struggle with that platform but it is a valuable resource.

 

Thanks @TIF ! No. But thanks for the resource. Checking now!

 

Here's a pretty horrible, sort of related Herakles coin that tells a story....the beauty of Roman provincial coins not found on Roman imperials:

Trajan Decius. 249-251 AD. Tarsos, Cilicia. Æ 32. 14.51 gm. Obv: Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right, as seen from behind. Π - Π to right and left. Rev: Herakles holding club in right hand, lion's skin draped over left arm and left hand holding the infant Telephos, who reaches down to a Doe (hind), tree of the garden of Hesperides in the background? AMK in the exergue.
Per Dr. Hans Voegtli: "We know pictures of Herakles from the pictures of the garden of the Hesperides. It goes back to Myron. It can't be excluded that the idea for this Telephos portrayal in Tarsos might have been the Hesperides adventures" (of Herakles).
The Telephos/hind depiction seems to allude to the legend of abandonment of Telephos to die in the wilds by King Aleus, father of Auge who bore the son, fathered by Herakles, against his wishes. Telephos was suckled and saved by the hind (elaphos). Telephos, unknowingly, later married his own mother Auge...but that's another story....NNM 92, 1941, 216 (Adana Museum Collection). Like CNG Electronic Auction 237 (21.07.2010). SNG France__; BMC__; SNG Levante__; SNG Levante suppl__; SNG von Aulock__; SNG Copenhagen__. Extremely rare. Third example known?

 

Great coin, @Ryro! I wish I could help you identify it, but your guess is probably better than mine, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if it turned out to be unpublished. Why not?

I have only two of Hercules's labors, both on RR coins, representing
Herc. wrestling the Nemean lion, and pursuing the Erymanthean boar:

Roman Republic. C. Poblicius Q.f. AR Serrate Denarius, 80 BCE. Obv. Head of Roma right, wearing helmet decorated with grain ears; ROMA behind, V above / Rev. C•POBLICI•Q•F; Hercules standing left, strangling the Nemean Lion; bow and quiver to left, club below, V above lion. Crawford 380/1, RSC I Poblicia 9, Sear RCV I 308 (ill.), Harlan, RRM I Ch. 5 at pp. 23-27, BMCRR Rome 2896. 20.13 mm., 3.84 g.

Roman Republic, Marcus Volteius, AR Denarius, 78 BCE (Crawford) or 75 BCE (Harlan). Obv. Head of young Hercules, wearing lion’s skin headdress, right / The Erymanthian boar running right; M•VOLTEI•M•F in exergue. Crawford 385/2; RSC I Volteia 2; BMCRR 3158, Sear RCV I 313 (ill.); Harlan, RRM I Ch. 12, pp. 62-79 at pp. 74-77, Sydenham 775. 18.5 mm., 3.96 g., 7 h.



[This coin, depicting Hercules and the Erymanthian boar -- one of five coins issued by M. Volteius as moneyer during that year -- relates, like the other four Volteius coins, to one of the five principal agonistic festivals which were celebrated annually at Rome, this one specifically to the Ludi Plebeii, held each year from 4 to 17 November. Hercules had a special relationship with the Circus Flaminius, which was where the Ludi Plebeii were held, and was near the temple of Hercules Magna Custos ad Circum (Hercules the Great Guardian at the Circus). See Harlan at p. 76 for a summary of the legend of Hercules capturing the Erymanthian boar alive, the fourth of the twelve labors of Hercules. Harlan points out that according to tradition, the tusks of the Erymanthian boar were preserved at the sanctuary of Apollo at Cumae -- perhaps establishing a connection of the Erymanthian boar to the Circus Flaminius (where the Ludi Plebeii were held) and the nearby temple of Hercules Magna Custos ad Circum (which was supposedly built on the advice of the Sibyl of Cumae). This may have been the rationale for the portrayal of the Erymanthian boar on this coin rather than one of Hercules’s other labors.]

 

I wasted all day at work and couldn't read this entertaining thread until just now. I was going to suggest Volusian, but I see you are on top of it!

 

here's one of my favorite Hercules--



A.D. 312- 313
21mm 4.7g
IMP C CONSTANTINVS P F AVG; laureate and cuirassed bust right.
HERCVLI VICTORI; Hercules standing right, leaning on club and holding Victory on globe and lion’s skin.
In ex. R S
RIC VI Rome 299

Workshop not in RIC ex- Dattari

 

Nice writeup, @Ryro.

Here are my only 2 Hercules coins. Planning for more next year.

Gallienus 29 of Heracleopolis (as Sebastopolis), Pontus.
263/4 AD. Ae
Obv: AΥT KAI ΠO ΛIK ΓAΛΛIHNOC, bust right
Rev: CЄBACTO HΡAK [ЄT] ςΞC, Hercules running left, capturing the Cerynean Hind.
12.69 g, 29.9mm
Papillon Numismatic, 2021


Maximianus. Silvered Antoninianus
289 AD
Obv: IMP C MAXIMIANVS P AVG; bust right.
Rev: VIRTVTI AVGG; Victory crowning Hercules, who is strangling lion. Club thrown behind him.
21x23mm 3.0gm
RIC Vii Lyons 462