Dear friends of ancient mythology! Already in our school days we have read with pleasure in Goethe's Faust, Part 2, the scene in the laboratory: MEPHISTOPHELES leering. Thessalian witches! Well! They are people, For whom I have long inquired. To dwell with them night after night, I don't think it would be pleasant; But to visit, try - You can see Mephistopheles licking his lips! The following coin takes us right into this Thessalian witch world: The coin: Thessaly, Pherai, 353-352 BC (National Museums in Berlin). AE 21 (trichalcone), 6.55g, 30° Obv.: Head of the water nymph Hypereia with wreath of reeds 3/4 n. l.; in left field fish swimming upwards. Rev.: ΦEPAIΩN Enodia, in long chiton, seated lady on horse, riding r.; holding long torch in front of body; in upper left ield, fountain in form of lion's head with water flowing from its mouth Ref: BMC 22; SNG Copenhagen 247; BCD Thessaly II, 716; Hoover HGC 4, 565 VF, somewhat rough Note: The en face effigy of the nymph on the obverse is inspired by Syracusan coin designs. There the famous die engraver Kimon first showed the local nymph Arethusa in frontal view with her hair open. Pherai: Pherai was an ancient city in the Thessalian landscape of Pelasgiotis. Due to its location, Pherai dominated the port city of Pagasai and the Pagasitic Gulf, the only large bay in Thessaly connected to the Aegean only by a narrow strait. The city profited from the grain trade and trade in other goods, so that a prosperous middle class was able to form, in contrast to the other more agrarian cities of Thessaly. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian War it became the seat of tyrannical rule. Lykophron of Pherai was the first to establish a thoroughly popular tyranny. In 404 BC, he succeeded in defeating the noble family of the Aleuads of Larissa. The Larissaians, however, enlisted Persian support and returned. These ongoing conflicts between the Larissaians and the tyrants of Pherai subsequently determined the political development of Thessaly. Later, Antiochos III of Syria conquered Pherai, but was soon forced to surrender it to the Romans. Today, only sparse remains of the ancient city can be seen, e.g. the Hypereia spring. According to mythology, Pherai was founded by Pheres, the son of King Cretheus of Iolkos and Tyro. He was the father of Admetos, Lykurgos and the daughter Idomene. Admetos succeeded him on the throne. He is known among other things for the fact that Apollo had to serve him for 10 years after his banishment from Olympus. He was followed by his son Eumelos, who fought as leader of the Pheraeans and Iolians before Troy. Hypereia: Hypereia was the source nymph of the famous water spring of Pherai. She is already mentioned by Homer (Iliad 6, 457). Sophokles (Fragm. 911) writes of the water "which the gods love". Hera is said to have bathed in its crystal-clear, healing waters to restore her virginity. She is usually depicted as a lion's head from whose mouth the water emerges. This lion's head, which represents the spring's enclosure, also exists as a single depiction on coins: 2nd coin Thessaly, Pherai, ca. 404-369 B.C. AE 19 (dichalcon), 3.78g Obv.: Laureate head of Enodia r. Rev.: Fountain in the shape of a lion's head r. Ref.: BCD Thessaly II, 689; HGC 4, 577 London Ancient Coins, Vcoins This spring has been there since people settled there, from about 3000 BC, and since those times it bubbled in abundance until 1998, when it suddenly dried up. I have attached a picture from Ottoman times and a sad picture of the spring today, north of the town of Velestino. The "Hypereia krini" in Ottoman times The "Hypereia krini" near Velestino today. According to Pindar, the name of the spring comes from Hyperes, the son of Melas and Eurykleia. Melas, in turn, was a son of Phrixos, the brother of Helle, after whose death the Hellespont was named. Enodia: For a long time it was assumed that Enodia was simply an epiklesis of Hekate. However, it is now believed that it is the ancient Thessalian goddess Enodia who took the name Hekate Mythology: Enodia is closely associated with Pherai. In the time of Pheres, the founder of Pherai, shepherds are said to have found her in the field and brought her to the city. So she grew up together with the city and became its patroness. Her name comes from the Greek εν (= in, on) and οδος (= way), thus as much as "the one on the way". She is also spelled with Gemmination Ennodia I will stick with Enodia here though. Her name says that she was a goddess of the streets, standing at crossroads and on the main road, watching over the entrances to the city, but also over the entrances to private houses. In this sense she was apotropaic as a tutelary goddess, as were Hekate or Hermes. She was even supposed to keep pestilence away. The fact that she is often found in cemeteries underlines her chthonic character. She was worshipped together with Zeus Meilichios, in some places even in a common sanctuary. Meilichios was also a chthonic deity, the Zeus in the underworld. Her main place of worship was Pherai, especially before the 5th century BC. Since Pherai was an important city at that time, the cult of Enodia quickly spread to Thessaly, Southern Macedonia and even Thrace, where the epithet thea (Lat. dea = goddess) was often attached to her, a sign that she was actually an "immigrant goddess" there. But she became a Panthessalian goddess during this time. This was also related to the striving for a Thessalian sense of belonging. According to Polyainos, Enodia was a national deity during the Ionian migration. She was worshipped until Roman times, as can be seen from votive offerings to her. The use of Enodia for the new Thessalian identity, which was to be created with the refoundation of the Confederation by Flaminius 196, failed, however, as it was not suitable for this purpose. It is completely absent on Thessalian coins from the post-Flaminian period. Thus the resolutions of the new covenant were also not published in a sanctuary of Enodia, neither in Pherai nor elsewhere in Thessaly. Nor is there any evidence of possible investment in one of her sanctuaries, and no month of the Thessalian calendar used after 196 seems to acknowledge and honour the goddess. Identification with Hekate Because of many similarities between the two goddesses, Enodia was identified with Hekate. They have in common the protection of the crossroads, the warding off of evil and animals such as the dog. Thus, Lucian describes the rites of Hekate as "rites of Enodia". Pausanias reports how a black puppy was sacrificed to Hekate-Enodia by the Spartans at night. In the 4th century, Hekate-Enodia was associated with spirits and seen as the cause of the "holy disease (perhaps epilepsy)". According to Wilamowitz, however, Enodia belongs to the ancient Hellenic deities before the time of the Olympians. It was not until the spread of the cult of Hekate from Asia Minor to mainland Greece that she was worshipped in certain sanctuaries along with Hekate. He also pointed out her connection with children and the underworld, which was expressed in a variety of epithets. This was used especially by writers to establish a connection with Persephone, Hekate and Artemis. But Wilamowitz already recognised the independent existence of a goddess Enodia, especially because she was common in Thessaly, where Hekate was absent. Her syncretisation with Artemis or Hekate took place outside Thessaly. There she was also referred to simply as Artemis Pheraia or just Pheraia. Chrysostomou suspects that although the original character of the goddess was terrifying, she already developed in the classical period into a deity who served her worshippers in a variety of ways. And so Hekate, Artemis et al. were assimilated with Enodia and not Enodia with these goddesses. The Enodia priestess Chrysame In his "Strategemata", the Macedonian writer Polyainos tells the following about the wartime stratagem of the Thessalian Enodia priestess Chrysame: When, during the colonisation of Ionia by the Greeks, the Greek conqueror Cnopus of Kodridae fought the Ionians at Erythrai, he received the oracle saying "to take Chrysame the priestess of Enodia as general of the Thessalians." This he did, and Chrysame chose a large bull and mixed into its feed poisonous herbs that caused madness. When the two armies faced each other, she had an altar built and brought the magnificently decorated bull. But the bull broke out and attacked everything in its path. The Erythraeans took this as a good sign, caught the bull and sacrificed it to their gods. They divided the meat among themselves. But this was also poisoned and produced the same madness that afflicted their whole army. Then Chrysame ordered the enemy to attack, and the Erythraeans were cut down. Thus Cnopus came into possession of Erythrai. Thessaly was known for its witches, and especially for the use of herbs. Thessalian witches were said to be able to conjure up even the moon Note: Polyainos (Latin Polyaenus), * c. 100, was a Macedonian rhetor, lawyer and writer in Rome. Of his works, only the "Strategemata" have survived in their entirety, in which he dealt with military strategies and which he dedicated to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus so that they would avoid the mistakes of earlier commanders in their campaign against the Parthians. Art History: The iconographic type of Enodia appears regularly in Upper Macedonia from the Hellenistic to the late Roman period. It is identical to the images on the coins. (1) The first image shows the votive relief for Enodia from the 3rd century AD from Hagia Paraskevi (Elimeia) [Chrysostomou (1998), pl. 14Α]. Depicted is Enodia on a horse sitting side by side with a short torch and a dog accompanying her. The dog is a typical attribute of Hekate as well. (2) The second picture shows a consecration gift with an inscription, also from this sanctuary. It is a marble relief from the time between the 2nd and 1st century B.C. Here Enodia stands in a long chiton (chiton pederes), which is girded cross-shaped under the breast, and with long sleeves and 2 torches in 3/4 view. A horse and a dog can also be seen. It was donated by a Ma (Μα[ς Μενάνδρου), today in the archaeological collection of Kozani. Sources: (1) Homer, Ilias (2) Sophokles, Fragments (Loeb Classic Library) (3) Apuleius, Metamorphoses (4) Goethe, Faust 2. Literature: (1) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon, 1770 (2) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (3) Head, Historia numorum (4) Der Kleine Pauly (5) Wikipedia (6) C.D.Graniger, The Regional Cults of Thessaly, 2006 (Dissertation) (7) Kalliopi Chatzinikolaou, Locating Sanctuaries in Upper Macedonia According to Archaeological Data, in Kernos, Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique, 23/2010 (8) Chrysostomou, P., Η θεσσαλική θεά Εν(ν)οδία ή Φεραία θεά, 1998 (9) Wilhelm Gemoll, Griechisch-deutsches Schul- und Handwörterbuch, 1954 Best regards Jochen
Nice write-up! Here's my coin from Pherai (attributed to Teisiphon), and my write-up on it. Thessaly. Pherai. Tyrant Teisiphon Æ Chalkous / Bull and Horse 359-353 BCE 15.37mm 3.06g Obverse: Forepart of bull charging right, head facing Reverse: Forepart of horse galloping right, with retrograde legend SNG Copenhagen 246 type Ex Marc Breitsprecher Perhaps nowadays, Teisiphon would have found his sister’s request to murder her husband unusual, but this wasn’t a normal family. His sister’s husband was the Tyrant Alexander of Pherae, world-renowned as a completely lousy guy. Previously disinherited by the Thessalian Confederation and the subject of disgust among Greeks, Alexander would not be missed. He reached this power though a casual game of sibling-fratricide. First, he teamed up with his brother Polydoros to murder their brother Jason. About a year later, Alexander finished Polydoros off and claimed the throne for himself. So, now, Teisiphon’s sister Thebe was asking for her three brothers’ assistance in offing her husband. Her motives remain unclear, but Alexander’s list of massacres and executions required multiple volumes in Santa’s Naughty List and she may have been freaked that she would be next. Still, the operation was far from simple. Alexander, like any tyrant, was concerned for his well-being. His palace was guarded by soldiers and one very bid dog. Thebe’s brothers didn’t like the dog. So, she lured Woofos away with a doggy treat, placed wool on a ladder so they wouldn’t make noise sneaking into the palace during the day, and kept them hidden until night. When Thebe ordered her brothers to finish the deed, they were apprehensive. After all, Alexander was known as a particularly brutish guy. He could think of ways to linger their deaths in the most gruesome ways. But, when Thebe threatened to turn them in unless they completed the task, the agreed. They held down Alexander, killed him, then tossed his body onto the street where it was torn apart by the people. The last part, though, seems a bit dramatic. I mean, was there a crowd that just gathered outside every night with the hopes of a royal body to tear apart, or was there an announcement for the public: Attention: Tyrant mutilation festival at the forum today. Bring the kids! Lots of fun! Cake and cookies. Once Alexander was out of the picture, Thebe and her brothers took power. However, it’s unclear whether they all ruled together, or whether there was some succession. Of the three, Teisiphon is the only one to mint his own coins. However, his brother Lykraphon is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus. Philip II, excited at the prospect of expanding Macedon’s influence by agreeing to Aleuadae’s request for help against Pherae, led a force against them. Pherae then requested help from Phokis, who under Onomarchos managed to inflict two rare defeats on Philip. Undeterred, Philip returned the next year and, in the Battle of the Crocus fields, annihilated the forces of Onomarchos. The battle was considered the bloodiest in Greek history, and Philip made a point to deny the enemy burials due to their sacrilege against the Oracle of Delphi. He then turned his forces against Lykraphon. Using his better judgement, Lykraphon agreed to exile to Phokis and handed Pherae over to Philip. This history leaves the question: What about Teisiphon? Well, it seems like this has been lost to history. However, there are two likely answers. The first is that Teisiphon didn’t long survive the transition. Given that even family Scrabble games could end in bloodshed in Pherae, it’s possible that Lykraphon eliminated both brothers within the first few years. The other possibility is Diodorus was in error. He’s well-known for being unreliable, and in this case the coinage may suggest that it was Teisiphon who took control and negotiated with Philip II. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to really know. We do know that Thebe and her brothers came to really like the Tyrant lifestyle. There were photo ops in Tyrant Monthly and service at restaurants tended to be awesome when bad service meant torture and death. These new tyrants were eventually removed by Philip II, who was more of a “Tyrant in Chief”, which by Thessalian standards was an improvement. After Philip’s death, they would go on to briefly revolt against Alexander III, until he suggested to them that this action was unwise. Their cavalry then played an immense part in his conquering of the Achaemenid Empire.
