Dear Friends! Again I want to share a coin worth to explore its mythology. The coin: Magna Graeca, Lukania, Metapontion, ca. 300-250 BC AE 11, 1.59g, 11.2mm, 0° obv. Horned head of Apollo r. rev. META (l. field upward) Barley ear with leaf to r. in r. field above leaf fly (control mark) ref.: Johnston Bronze 64; HN Italy 1700; cf. SNG ANS 587 (control mark); SNG Copenhagen 1256 (same); SNG Morcom 287 (same); Macdonald Hunter 67 (same), VF, green patina, well centered on tight flan The rev. shows an ear of the six lined barley, Hordeum polystichum pyramidatum, the most important grain of the Greeks, and in Metapontion the symbol of the polis. Barley was eaten only roasted and given to the dead for their voyage to netherworld. This too would be an interesting theme. But here we will concentrate on the obv.: the horned Apollo Karneios. Mythology: The origin and the meaning of Karneios was obcure already in ancient times. According to Praxilla of Sikyon, a Greek poetess of the 5th century BC, Karneios was the son of Zeus and Europa, nursed by Leto and Apollo who was fallen in love to him. For the origin of his name there are different explanations: (1) An old myth tells, that the Greeks when building the Troian Horse have cut down trees of the cornel cherries at the Ida mountains (Greek κράνεια). They have grown in a sacred grove of Apollo, and to soften his anger they began to worship him under this name (Pausan. in Lacon.c.13.p.184.; Schol. Callim.ad Hymn, in Apollon v.72.). Today this explanation is obsolete although it is well known that is was strictly forbidden to cut down trees in his sacred groves, to cut off twigs, in fact to carry foliage out of the grove. There were serious punishments: Slaves were whipped, free men were subject of the judgment of the Council. (2) Referring to Pausanias (3, 13, 3.4) his name was originally Karnos and he came from Acarnania. He was an Apollonian seer in the army of the Heraclids, but was suspected to be a spy and therefore slain by Hippotes, a great-grandson of Herakles, when the Dorians were crossing over to the Peloponnesos at Naupaktos (Paus., schol. Theokrit). Apollo's anger, who send them a plague, they softened by rendering divine honour to Karnos and bestowing Apollo himself the surname Karneios. Hippotes was exiled for 10 years by a verdict of Delphi. Konon (narr. 26) calls Karneios a phasma Apollinis (spook of Apollo), that was following the army of the Dorians and finally shot by Hippotes. But because it is hardly possible to shoot a spook he was made a seer of Apollo. But this explanation is rather an aitiological legend, which has been invented in the interest of the Spartans. (3) Today the most probable explanation is the following: Karneios was an old pre-Dorian shepherd and ram god (Greek karnos = ram), who was already found by the Dorians when they invaded the Peloponnesos and whom they melted together with their own Apollo. He is closely related to Apollo Kereates, to Apollo Keraton (Plut. Thes. 21) and to Kertinos (Plut. de soll. anim. 35; Callim. hymn in Apoll. 61). The cult of Karneios: The cult of Apollo Karneios extended mostly to the Peloponnesos and the Dorian colonies. Main places of worshipping Apollo Karneios were Sparta, Sikyon, Thera, Kos and the colonies of Magna Graecia and Kyrene. In Sikyon his priests have had such a high credit that finally they ruled the city instead of the kings (Euseb.). But this is doubted by a number of scientists (Hederich). Referring to Ferdinand Tönnies he should have been worshipped in the oasis of Shiwa before the cult of Zeus Ammon became prevalent. There were sacred groves (so-called Karnesia) for him in Andania/ Messenia and Megalopolis/Arcadia. Apollo Karneios was the most important common deity of the Dorians. He was something like their national god. Temple of Apollo Karneios in Kyrene It is remarkable that the cult of the god took place mainly in Western Laconia, in the region of the Taygetos mountains where the Dorian influence never was very great. In contrast the distribution of the Laconian and Messenian cult of Karneios covers that of the ancient Minyae whose residencies were found especially in the regions of the Taygetos mountains. This is a strong hint that the cult of Karneios belongs to a yet older cultural stratum (Roscher). The Karneia: The Karneia, the festival in honour of the god, took place in the 1st half of the August and lasted 9 days. Regarding the festival the month was called Karneios (Greek actually Metageitnion). For the Spartans it was a very importent festival. So it was not allowed during the festival to go to war. This was the reason that the Spartans came too late to the battle of Marathon! The festival consisted of athletic competitions and of a contest of kithara players. The mayor feature of the festival however was the race of the staphylodromoi. From each phyle were drawn by lot 5 unmarried young men (Karnetes) for 4 years who have to organize the festival under guidance of a priest (Agetes). A young volunteer, decorated with woollen garlands (the Agetes?), who had made special prayers to the city deities, was hunted by young men, the staphylodromoi (= wine grape runners). If he was caught, it was a good omen for the city, if not it was a bad omen. Probably the staphylodromoi had wine grapes in their hands (hence the name). This race has had the features of vintage, harvesting and expiation rites. May be that the race originally has ended with the killing of the caught ram demon (Pauly). Then the convivial part started. On 9 locations tents were erected (Skias), in which always 9 men, representing the 3 phratries (or better Oben, were eating together under the command of an herald. This appears to be the imitation of war life. Obviously the immigrated Spartians have melted their own Apollo cult with the encountered cult. By this the character of the festival has changed to a warrior festival. Of course sacrifices were made to Apollo Karneios, so a ram in Thurioi, or a boar in the Karnesian grove in Messenia. History of Art: (1) In Kyrene/Libya, founded by Dorians from Thera, large parts of his temple are found until today. Apollo Karneios was regarded as mythological founder of the city. To honour him a special monument was erected at the end of the 4th century BC. Here too were celebrated Karneias. These were mentioned by Pindar in his Odes (Pythian 5.80) Monument of Karneios in Kyrene (2) In the National Archaeological Museum in Taranto/Italy exists a red-figured volute Krater from Ceglie del Campo from the 5th century BC, showing dancing girls and youths near a pillar inscribed KARNEIOS. Probably it is the dance of virgins decorated with the Spartian leaf crown for the Karneias (Pauly) Krater from Ceglie (scalarchiv.it) Some notes: Phyle: Tribe, family association (cult community), beside its religious relevance had social, legal and military importance too and was devided in Phratries (sodality). Oben (Greek obai), name for the quarters (Greek Komen) of the Spartan full citizens. Praxilla was an ancient Greek poetess in the 5th century BC from Sikyon whose works were mostly lost. Survived has only one rhyme in hexameter. It is said that she has written a hymn to Adonis too, as well as wine and drinking poems. At the end of the last century BC the Greek poet Antipater from Thessalonika has made a list of the most important Greek poetesses. On this list she has the first place, before Sappho or Erinna. From Erasmus of Rotterdam a proverb is known: "More stupid than the Adonis of Praxilla (Stupidior Praxillae Adonide)". That goes back to a fragment of her hymn to Adonis, quoted by Zenobius, in which Adonis answered to the question, which of all things he was leaving on earth was the most beauty "The sun, the moon, the cucumbers and the apples." This answer seems ridiculous and stupid to the reader. Konon was a Greek mythograph living around the Nativity. His work Diegeseis is mostly known by an excerpt by Photios from Byzantine times. It is a collection of narratives, founder myths, aetiologies (myths explaining the origin of things) and love stories, which should entertain the reader. The Minyae were an ancient Greek tribe in Boiotia around the city of Orchomenos. As their ancestor is seen Minyas. In Mycenean times they were bearer of a highly developed culture. In the Trojan War they manned 30 ships. The mythical Erginos is said to have made Theben tributary. At the end of the 2nd century BC their empire collapsed and the people as a whole disappeared. Even archaeologically it is not identifiable. The claimed connection to the Argonauts ist a post-Homeric construction. Sources: (1) Apollodor, Bibliotheke (2) Kallimachos, Hymns to Apoll (3) Pausanias, Periegesis (4) Pindar, Odes (5) Plutarch, Biographies (6) Herodot, Histories (7) Theokrit, Poems Secondary literature: (1) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (2) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon (3) Der Kleine Pauly, Lexikon der Antike Online sources: (1) Wikipedia (2) www2.warwick.ac.uk (3) scalarchives.itI have attached (1) a pic of the temple of Apollo Karneios in Kyrene (www2.warwick.ac.uk) (2) a pic of the monument for Karneios in Kyrene (www2.warwick.ac.uk) (3) a pic of the volute krater of Ceglie (Photo Scala, Florence) Best regards
Thank you for this @Jochen I always find these different mysterious cults in the Ancient Greek times very interesting. I am actually wondering, do these cult members also worship the other Greek gods, or pretty much only the Apollo Karneios?
A wonderful coin and a truly fantastic write up! Here is my Apollo Karneios, pedigreed to 1979 but which must have an earlier provenance that I have yet to be able to find:
@Ancient.Joe What a Beauty. I'm envious! @Pavlos Because the monotheism was not yet introduced in that time the Greeks and the Romans worshipped many different deities at the same time, the more the better. The temples for the unknown god in Rome and Athens, of which sometimes can be read, can not be verified. But in literatur, e.g. Pausanias, altars for unknown gods are several times described. Jochen
Thank you Jochen for your reply. I know about these alters for the unknown god, and my theory is that who knows this was intended for Jesus/Christian god? I think because of these alters for the unknown god, the Greeks accepted the Christian religion fairly quickly compared to other areas.
Even the new testament, in Acts of the apostles chap. 17, report a speech given by Paul in Athens, and he start talking about “an altar on which had been inscribed ‘To an unknown God’ “. Soon after that many became Christians.
Altar for the unknown gods. Found in Rome SEI DEO SEI DEIVAE SAC G SEXTIVS C F CALVINVSPR DE SENATI SENTENTIA RESTITVIT Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma
