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<p>[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 5373577, member: 83845"]My first coin of 2021 comes packed with plenty of historical interest. I always enjoy it when a coin type I own was mentioned directly by an ancient source such as this one is. In addition it shows Homer, the legendary rhapsode credited by the ancient Greeks as the author of the Illiad and the Odyssey on the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1229434[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Ionia, Smyrna</font></p><p><font size="3">Menophilos Krabaus, magistrate.</font></p><p><font size="3">Ae Homereium, struck ca. 105-95 BC</font></p><p><font size="3">Dia.: 21 mm</font></p><p><font size="3">Wt.: 7.05 g</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: Laureate head of Apollo right</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: ΣΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ MHNOΦIΛOΣ KPABAYΣ. </font></p><p><font size="3">Homer, holding scroll and resting chin upon hand, seated left on plinth; sceptre behind</font></p><p><font size="3">Ref.: Milne 1927, 294</font></p><p><font size="3">Ex Plankenhorn Collection of Ionian Coins</font></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b><u>Connection of Homer to Smyrna</u></b></span></font></p><p>This coin was struck in the ancient city of Smyrna on the coast of Ionia. Smyrna claimed to be the birthplace and home of the poet and developed a specific local legend about his origins there.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to the legend, Homer was the son of a woman named Kritheis. Some of the stories claim that Homer’s father was a diety of some kind and others that Kritheis was sent to Smyrna to hide her shame because she became pregnant without a husband. According to the Smyrnians Kritheis gave birth to Homer on the banks of the River Meles which flowed near Smyrna. She named him Melesigenes which translates to “son of Meles” or “Meles-born.”</p><p><br /></p><p>As a young man he lost his vision and acquired the name Homer because this was a colloquial term used for the blind by Ionians and people from Kyme at the time (homereuontes = people to follow, on account of the blind needing guides)[2]. (Note: There are many other stories about how Homer got his name)</p><p><br /></p><p>In antiquity there was a cave near the source of the River Meles in which the Smyrnians claimed Homer composed his epic poems.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1229432[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">This is the oldest continuously used bridge in the world. It spans the River Meles and was built in 850 BC near ancient Smyrna. That makes it old enough that Homer might have used it (assuming any of his legends are based in truth). Image ca. 1860 via the Library of Congress.</font></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b><u>Mention of the Coins by Strabo</u></b></span></font></p><p>To strengthen their special claim that their city was the birthplace of Homer the Smyrnians struck coins with him on the reverse shown in a seated position, holding a scroll and resting his chin on his hand in a thoughtful pose (such as shown on my new coin). Strabo actually mentions these coins in his description of Smyrna.</p><blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>“There is also a library; and the Homereium, a quadrangular portico containing a shrine and wooden statue of Homer; for the Smyrnaeans also lay especial claim to the poet; and indeed a bronze coin of theirs is called Homereium. [1]”</i></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>It’s interesting to note that the word Strabo uses for statue is <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xoanon" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xoanon" rel="nofollow">xoanon</a>, which designates a specific type of pre-historic carved wooden statue. This suggests that the tradition of Homer in Smyrna went back well into the dark ages.</p><p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">........................................</p><p><br /></p><p>This thread also gives me the opportunity to post my pre-Euro Greek coin showing Homer that my dad brought back to the US after living shortly in Greece and gave to me when I was a kid.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1229433[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><u><b>References</b></u></span></font></p><p>[1]</p><p><a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14A*.html#note52" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14A*.html#note52" rel="nofollow">https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14A*.html#note52</a></p><p><br /></p><p>[2]</p><p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XvqNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=%22homereuontes%22+in+ancient+greek&source=bl&ots=1fvVJIoO8F&sig=ACfU3U0hAjBlhUa4-jCC8cU4WfsRtdQ6Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzs9W71oHuAhXDpFkKHVwtA3QQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22homereuontes%22%20in%20ancient%20greek&f=true" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XvqNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=%22homereuontes%22+in+ancient+greek&source=bl&ots=1fvVJIoO8F&sig=ACfU3U0hAjBlhUa4-jCC8cU4WfsRtdQ6Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzs9W71oHuAhXDpFkKHVwtA3QQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22homereuontes%22%20in%20ancient%20greek&f=true" rel="nofollow">https://books.google.com/books?id=XvqNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq="homereuontes"+in+ancient+greek&source=bl&ots=1fvVJIoO8F&sig=ACfU3U0hAjBlhUa4-jCC8cU4WfsRtdQ6Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzs9W71oHuAhXDpFkKHVwtA3QQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q="homereuontes" in ancient greek&f=true</a></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #ff0000"><b>Please post your coins showing historical figures that weren’t rulers or deities.</b></span></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 5373577, member: 83845"]My first coin of 2021 comes packed with plenty of historical interest. I always enjoy it when a coin type I own was mentioned directly by an ancient source such as this one is. In addition it shows Homer, the legendary rhapsode credited by the ancient Greeks as the author of the Illiad and the Odyssey on the reverse. [ATTACH=full]1229434[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Ionia, Smyrna Menophilos Krabaus, magistrate. Ae Homereium, struck ca. 105-95 BC Dia.: 21 mm Wt.: 7.05 g Obv.: Laureate head of Apollo right Rev.: ΣΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ MHNOΦIΛOΣ KPABAYΣ. Homer, holding scroll and resting chin upon hand, seated left on plinth; sceptre behind Ref.: Milne 1927, 294 Ex Plankenhorn Collection of Ionian Coins[/SIZE] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B][U]Connection of Homer to Smyrna[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] This coin was struck in the ancient city of Smyrna on the coast of Ionia. Smyrna claimed to be the birthplace and home of the poet and developed a specific local legend about his origins there. According to the legend, Homer was the son of a woman named Kritheis. Some of the stories claim that Homer’s father was a diety of some kind and others that Kritheis was sent to Smyrna to hide her shame because she became pregnant without a husband. According to the Smyrnians Kritheis gave birth to Homer on the banks of the River Meles which flowed near Smyrna. She named him Melesigenes which translates to “son of Meles” or “Meles-born.” As a young man he lost his vision and acquired the name Homer because this was a colloquial term used for the blind by Ionians and people from Kyme at the time (homereuontes = people to follow, on account of the blind needing guides)[2]. (Note: There are many other stories about how Homer got his name) In antiquity there was a cave near the source of the River Meles in which the Smyrnians claimed Homer composed his epic poems. [ATTACH=full]1229432[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]This is the oldest continuously used bridge in the world. It spans the River Meles and was built in 850 BC near ancient Smyrna. That makes it old enough that Homer might have used it (assuming any of his legends are based in truth). Image ca. 1860 via the Library of Congress.[/SIZE] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B][U]Mention of the Coins by Strabo[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] To strengthen their special claim that their city was the birthplace of Homer the Smyrnians struck coins with him on the reverse shown in a seated position, holding a scroll and resting his chin on his hand in a thoughtful pose (such as shown on my new coin). Strabo actually mentions these coins in his description of Smyrna. [INDENT] [I]“There is also a library; and the Homereium, a quadrangular portico containing a shrine and wooden statue of Homer; for the Smyrnaeans also lay especial claim to the poet; and indeed a bronze coin of theirs is called Homereium. [1]”[/I][/INDENT] It’s interesting to note that the word Strabo uses for statue is [URL='https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xoanon']xoanon[/URL], which designates a specific type of pre-historic carved wooden statue. This suggests that the tradition of Homer in Smyrna went back well into the dark ages. [CENTER] ........................................[/CENTER] This thread also gives me the opportunity to post my pre-Euro Greek coin showing Homer that my dad brought back to the US after living shortly in Greece and gave to me when I was a kid. [ATTACH=full]1229433[/ATTACH] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][U][B]References[/B][/U][/COLOR][/SIZE] [1] [URL]https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14A*.html#note52[/URL] [2] [URL='https://books.google.com/books?id=XvqNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=%22homereuontes%22+in+ancient+greek&source=bl&ots=1fvVJIoO8F&sig=ACfU3U0hAjBlhUa4-jCC8cU4WfsRtdQ6Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzs9W71oHuAhXDpFkKHVwtA3QQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22homereuontes%22%20in%20ancient%20greek&f=true']https://books.google.com/books?id=XvqNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq="homereuontes"+in+ancient+greek&source=bl&ots=1fvVJIoO8F&sig=ACfU3U0hAjBlhUa4-jCC8cU4WfsRtdQ6Sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzs9W71oHuAhXDpFkKHVwtA3QQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q="homereuontes" in ancient greek&f=true[/URL] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#ff0000][B]Please post your coins showing historical figures that weren’t rulers or deities.[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]
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