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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ryro, post: 8221445, member: 91461&quot;]I&#039;ll start with my latest coin of Artemis (Diana to the Romans) and then tell her story:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443942[/ATTACH]</p><p>Lydia. Hierokaisareia. Pseudo-autonomous issue AD 54-68. Time of Nero. ΚΑΠΙΤΩΝ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΥΣ (Kapiton, high priest)</p><p>Bronze Æ</p><p>17 mm, 3,22 g</p><p>IЄPOKAICAPЄωN, draped bust of Artemis right, with bow and quiver over shoulder / ЄΠΙ ΚΑΠΙΤωΝOC ΑΡXΙЄΡЄωC, forepart of stag right.</p><p>very fine</p><p>RPC I 2390.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Greek gods being what they were/are, Artemis was a true splash of cold water in the faces of such sexual deviants as Zeus, Ares and Artemis own twin brother Apollo and their exploits. Not to mention Aphrodite or Hera herself!</p><p>The sporty Spice of the Olympians really. The goddess of the hunt and wild animals was A-sexual and swore to never fall in love. Surely in part due to her own father&#039;s philandering ways (she and Apollo were born of Leto in one of Zeus&#039;s countless <i>love</i> affairs):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443946[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Just like on the coin, Artemis is rarely seen without her stag by her side)</p><p><br /></p><p>So serious was she about her chastity that when the hunter hero Aktaion <b>accidently</b> spied her nude bathing with her nymphs</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443943[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Yeah, in my younger days I may have been willing to let myself be eaten by hounds to view such a scene<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie50" alt=":happy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie93" alt=":troll:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />)</p><p><br /></p><p>she turned the hunter into a stag for his dogs to devour!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443944[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Bell krater (mixing bowl) in Ceramic, Red Figure from Athens at the start of the classical period, around 470 BCE, of Artemis ensuring a most macabre death for Aktaion&#039;s mistake)</p><p><br /></p><p>Ironically to us now a days, the virgin goddess was also the goddess of childbirth and helping ease birthing mothers pains.</p><p>Stories abound of her spiteful nature. Just like all Olympians are, she was incredibly vein. Similar to her brother&#039;s flaying of Marsyas for trying to say he was a better musician, she sent a wild boar to kill Adonis for the incredibly petty reason of him boasting that he was a better hunter than she:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1443999[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Seems reasonable)</p><p><br /></p><p>She would also play a key role from the very beginning of the Trojan war. Her brother being the patron God of the city, she also backed that doomed place.</p><p>When the Greeks set sail on the voyage to steal back Helen Artemis calmed the sea. Agamemnon once promised her that he would sacrifice his daughter to her. The Greeks were going nowhere until Iphigenia was dead. In one of the most bizarre and sickening twists of a story filled with bizarre and sickening twists, Agamemnon relented and agreed to the killing of his own daughter. Some stories say that at the last moment Artemis saved Iphigenia to turn her into Hekate goddess of witchcraft:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1444011[/ATTACH]</p><p>PHRYGIA.Apamea.Pseudo-autonomous.Time of the Severans (193-235). Ae.</p><p>Obv : ΠAMЄIA.</p><p>Turreted and draped bust of Tyche to right.</p><p>Rev : CΩTЄIPA.</p><p>Hekate triformis, holding torch in each hand.</p><p>BMC 110-113.</p><p>Condition : Nice green patina.Good very fine.</p><p>Weight : 2.2 gr</p><p>Diameter : 15 mm</p><p><br /></p><p>So prolific was she and her worship (that lasted over a millenia) hundreds if not thousands of Temples and sanctuaries were built in her name.</p><p>The Temple of Artemis in Jordan is still around today:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1444000[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Built during the time of Antoninus Pius)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1444023[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>A couple other favorites of Artemis/Diana coins:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1444016[/ATTACH]</p><p>Macedonia under Roman rule</p><p>AR tetradrachm- 16,21 gram,31 mm, struck after 168AD at Amphipolis</p><p>obv: diademed head of Artemis Tauropolos facing right with quiver over shoulder in the center of a Macedonian shield, shield decorated with seven eight-pointed stars within double crescents</p><p>rev: Club of Herakles within oak wreath, monograms and legend around, thunderbolt at left</p><p>AMNG III, 159, SNG Cop 1314, BMC 2</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1444021[/ATTACH]</p><p>CILICIA, Soloi. Circa 100-30 BC. Æ 21mm (7.81 g, 1h). Bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver over shoulder; c/m: rose / Athena advancing right, brandishing thunderbolt and holding shield; monograms to left. SNG France 1189 var. (monograms); SNG Levante 860 var. (same).</p><p><br /></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]yRYFKcMa_Ek[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for reading! Please post your coins of Artemis/Diana, brother Apollo, coins of Lydia, favorite stories of the beautiful goddess that none could have or anything that surely none on CT Are-to-miss<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie46" alt=":facepalm:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie33" alt=":cigar:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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