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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jochen1, post: 3299785, member: 103829&quot;]Dear Friends!</p><p><br /></p><p>Have you seen this type before: Artemis carrying a child on her arm?</p><p><br /></p><p>Thracia, Philippopolis, Julia Domna, died AD 217(?)</p><p>AE 25, 6.67g</p><p>obv. IOVLIA. - DOM CEBACT</p><p>Bust, draped, r., hair bound in broad chignon</p><p>rev. FILIPP - OPOLITWN</p><p>Artemis, in short chiton with bare r. shoulder and wearing boots, stg. r., resting</p><p>with raised r. hand on inverted spear, holding in l. arm infant Dionysos, who</p><p>stretches his arm to her; on the r. side stag stg. r.</p><p>ref. a) Varbanov (engl.) 1386 var. (is supposed to have IOVLIA DOMA CEB!)</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; b) another ex. in Lanz 112, lot 642 (same dies, heavy worn)</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; c) not in BMC, not in SNG Copenhagen</p><p>very rare, VF, dark-green patina</p><p>pedigree:</p><p>Gorny&amp;Mosch, Auction 160, October 2007, Lot 1838 (spear in error described as torch)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]873900[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The problem with this coin is the rev. depiction. There is no depiction of Artemis with a child in LIMC (hint of a friend from the German Forum). And I don&#039;t know of any relations between Artemis and the young Dionysos. Therefore we have to ask:</p><p>(1) Is it really Artemis and</p><p>(2) is it really Dionysos in her arms?</p><p><br /></p><p>I want to share the informations which I got by my inquiries and hope for some critical comments.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>(1) Artemis as mother of Cupidus/Eros</b></p><p>It is obviously Artemis in her usual hunting clothes, the spear as hunting weapon and with the stag at her feet, but there is no known myth in which Artemis is connected to the infant Dionysos. But I came across another myth where Artemis is not only connected to a child but she herself is the virginal mother of this child! I don&#039;t know wether this can be the actual solution to the coin depiction, because this child is Cupido!</p><p><br /></p><p>My source is Cicero, De Natura Deorum, lib. III, c. 34. He knows from three different Dianas and writes about their parents. There were three differents myths about Diana. According to the first one her parents were Jupiter and Proserpina, the second Diana had as parents Jupiter and Latona, and the third one Upis and Glauce.</p><p><br /></p><p>And Cicero knows from three Cupidos too. The first Cupido was the child of the first Mercurius and the first Diana, the second Cupido the child of the second Mercurius and the second Venus and the third one from Mars and the third Venus.</p><p>And Bingo! Here we have a child of the virginal goddess! And Diana and Cupido would be a nice counterpart to Julia Domna! Sadly the solid objection is the missing wings of the infant. But on the other side which attributions argue for Dionysos?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>(2) Artemis/Bendis as mother of Orpheus</b></p><p>Then a friend from the German Forum has pointed me to the Thracian Artemis, the goddess Bendis. Originally rather correlated with Hera, the Thacians equated her with Artemis, Hekate and Persephone. Her name is according to Kretschmer coming from idg. <i>bhendh-</i> = &#039;to tie&#039;, interpreted as Zygia. But her iconography doubtless shows her character as a hunting goddess: her Epitheton <i>dologchos</i> is enlighted by a Bithynian coin from Nikomedes I, on which she is depicted with double spear and a dagger. She was connected with the god Deoptes who possibly could be a relative of the Thracian rider-god Heros, to whom Bendis has had a special relation too. He was suggested to be besides Bendis as Asklepios on the relief of Piraeus. The cult of Bendis was introduced in Athens 430 BC by its Thracian inhabitants and assisted by the polis because of poltical reasons as is seen on the stone fragments from Munychia. Her sanctum and the festival of Bendideia on 20th of the month Thorgelion with procession and torch relay was supervised by a collegium of Thracian <i>Orgeiones</i>. This official protection of this foreign cult with its supposed orgiastic imprint calls up the echo in the Attic comedy (Strab. 10, 247).</p><p><br /></p><p>Note:</p><p><i> Orgeiones</i> = those in charge of orgia. Often for cults of deities foreign to the area and whose rites were of an orgiastic nature.</p><p><br /></p><p>There was the conception too that the Thracian rider-god Heros was the virginally born son of Bendis. Here we have already the conception which later in the Christianism playes such an important role. And then Orpheus himself, the famous singer and mythical king of the Rhodopian mountains, was suggested to be a son of Bendis.</p><p>Philippopolis was located in the centre of Thrace and surely the cult of Bendis was known. If the figure depicted on this strange coin would be Bendis, the Thracian Artemis, then the missing bow and the missing arrows are easily understandable. Her attribute was the spear.</p><p><br /></p><p>And Orpheus we know from several coins of Philippopolis. Bendis/Artemis and her virginally born son Orpheus would be a nice solution of this strange reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]873902[/ATTACH]</p><p>Philippopolis, Geta, Varbanov 1642. Orpheus taming the wild animals</p><p><br /></p><p>I personally would go with this second suggestion! Comment of Pat Lawrence: &quot;Congratulations on your research. Considering what else may be found on Philippopolis coins and the importance of the city, I find this conclusion extremely attractive&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sources:</b></p><p>(1) Der Kleine Pauly</p><p>(2) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon</p><p>(3) Cicero, De Natura Deorum</p><p><br /></p><p>Best regards[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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