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<p>[QUOTE="Jochen1, post: 3376694, member: 103829"]Dear Friends of ancient mythology!</p><p><br /></p><p>Many coins of Thrace depict snakes. Here I have a type from Augusta Trajana:</p><p><br /></p><p>Thrace, Augusta Trajana, Geta, AD 209-212</p><p>AE 30, 16.5g, 225°</p><p>obv. AVT K Π CEΠT - IMOC ΓETAC</p><p>Bust, cuirassed, seen from behind, laureate, r.</p><p>rev. AVΓOVCTHC - TPAIANHC</p><p>Snake, radiate and with nimbus, in four elaborated coils erected r.</p><p>ref. Schönert-Geiss 496 (1 ex. only!); Varbanov 1356</p><p>very rare, about EF, brown patina</p><p>[ATTACH=full]895743[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>On ancient coins we find many depictions of snakes. I remind of the snake as attribute of Salus, or the famous Cistophori where a snake is climbing out of a Cista mystica, the snake basket, belonging to the cult of Dionysos and playing an important role in the Eleusinic Mysteries too. And don't forget the Alexandrian Agathodaimon. But this is not the matter with the snake on this coin. It is a Pontic type.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is some evidence that the snake erecting here in four elaborated coils and has a radiate head with nimbus is Glykon, the Snake God. This god was invented in the midth of the 2nd century AD by the Greek prophet Alexander of Abounoteichos. This we know from the books of the Greek author Lukian of Samosate (c.120- c.190 AD).</p><p><br /></p><p>In one of his scripts he mocks in a cracking mode the charlatan which he calls Alexander the oracle trader. Apart from his affronts we can accept that this cult, at least the snake which was worshipped by Alexander, has its origin in Macedonia, where snake cults are known since the 4th century BC. It is told f.e. that the mother of Alexander the Great became pregnant after sleeping with a snake. The prophet Alexander brought the god, a very great snake, to his home city Abounoteichos in Paphlagonia and built up a temple which became then a famous oracle.</p><p><br /></p><p>An interesting inscription was found in Caesarea Trocetta in Asia Minor which mentions an Apollo priest which calls himself 'Miletus, son of Glykon and Paphlagonia'. Perhaps the parents of this man couldn't create children and visited the temple of Glykon after which the wife was pregnant. Children being born in this manner by divine intervention often got the name of the god to commemorate his help. So this inscription confirms to a certain extent the claim of Lukian that the charlatan Alexander has helped the women to become pregnant in a much more profane sense.</p><p><br /></p><p>Numerous votive donations, statues and coins found in the whole area between Danube and Euphrat prove that the cult of the Snake God was still alive at least one century after the death of the prophet. Alexander which finally was seen as son of Podalirus and great-son of Asklepios(!) received after his death religious honours and was considered as prophet of the god himself.</p><p><br /></p><p>His big success in inventing a new religious cult seems to be symptomatic for the change in religious conception off from the traditional belief which escalated in the late 2nd and 3rd century and culminated in the rise of Christianity.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]895746[/ATTACH]</p><p>I have added a pic of a sculpture from the museum of Constanta/Romania (the ancient Tomis) which closely matches the Snake God Glykon. It is from Pat Lawrence. You see that this snake has a more human- or lion-like head. About this snake Lukian writes:</p><p><br /></p><p>"Then long before they had prepared a snake head from linen and completed which had a kind of human appearence, which was full painted and which looked very alive. It could open and close the mouth by using horse-hairs, and a cloven tongue also controlled by horse-hairs could be outstretched."</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Literature:</b></p><p>(1) Lukian of Samosata, Alexandros or the False Prophet</p><p><br /></p><p><b> Online Sources:</b></p><p>1) <a href="http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm</a></p><p>2) <a href="http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/gregorov/hadrian/hadr215.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/gregorov/hadrian/hadr215.htm" rel="nofollow">http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/gregorov/hadrian/hadr215.htm</a></p><p>3) How to invent a new cult? (German)</p><p><a href="http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:GhAtty4VaisJ:archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2004/5103/pdf/ChaniotisAlex.pdf+glycon+lukian+heidelberg&hl=de" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:GhAtty4VaisJ:archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2004/5103/pdf/ChaniotisAlex.pdf+glycon+lukian+heidelberg&hl=de" rel="nofollow">http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:GhAtty4VaisJ:archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2004/5103/pdf/ChaniotisAlex.pdf glycon lukian heidelberg&hl=de</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Best regards[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Jochen1, post: 3376694, member: 103829"]Dear Friends of ancient mythology! Many coins of Thrace depict snakes. Here I have a type from Augusta Trajana: Thrace, Augusta Trajana, Geta, AD 209-212 AE 30, 16.5g, 225° obv. AVT K Π CEΠT - IMOC ΓETAC Bust, cuirassed, seen from behind, laureate, r. rev. AVΓOVCTHC - TPAIANHC Snake, radiate and with nimbus, in four elaborated coils erected r. ref. Schönert-Geiss 496 (1 ex. only!); Varbanov 1356 very rare, about EF, brown patina [ATTACH=full]895743[/ATTACH] On ancient coins we find many depictions of snakes. I remind of the snake as attribute of Salus, or the famous Cistophori where a snake is climbing out of a Cista mystica, the snake basket, belonging to the cult of Dionysos and playing an important role in the Eleusinic Mysteries too. And don't forget the Alexandrian Agathodaimon. But this is not the matter with the snake on this coin. It is a Pontic type. There is some evidence that the snake erecting here in four elaborated coils and has a radiate head with nimbus is Glykon, the Snake God. This god was invented in the midth of the 2nd century AD by the Greek prophet Alexander of Abounoteichos. This we know from the books of the Greek author Lukian of Samosate (c.120- c.190 AD). In one of his scripts he mocks in a cracking mode the charlatan which he calls Alexander the oracle trader. Apart from his affronts we can accept that this cult, at least the snake which was worshipped by Alexander, has its origin in Macedonia, where snake cults are known since the 4th century BC. It is told f.e. that the mother of Alexander the Great became pregnant after sleeping with a snake. The prophet Alexander brought the god, a very great snake, to his home city Abounoteichos in Paphlagonia and built up a temple which became then a famous oracle. An interesting inscription was found in Caesarea Trocetta in Asia Minor which mentions an Apollo priest which calls himself 'Miletus, son of Glykon and Paphlagonia'. Perhaps the parents of this man couldn't create children and visited the temple of Glykon after which the wife was pregnant. Children being born in this manner by divine intervention often got the name of the god to commemorate his help. So this inscription confirms to a certain extent the claim of Lukian that the charlatan Alexander has helped the women to become pregnant in a much more profane sense. Numerous votive donations, statues and coins found in the whole area between Danube and Euphrat prove that the cult of the Snake God was still alive at least one century after the death of the prophet. Alexander which finally was seen as son of Podalirus and great-son of Asklepios(!) received after his death religious honours and was considered as prophet of the god himself. His big success in inventing a new religious cult seems to be symptomatic for the change in religious conception off from the traditional belief which escalated in the late 2nd and 3rd century and culminated in the rise of Christianity. [ATTACH=full]895746[/ATTACH] I have added a pic of a sculpture from the museum of Constanta/Romania (the ancient Tomis) which closely matches the Snake God Glykon. It is from Pat Lawrence. You see that this snake has a more human- or lion-like head. About this snake Lukian writes: "Then long before they had prepared a snake head from linen and completed which had a kind of human appearence, which was full painted and which looked very alive. It could open and close the mouth by using horse-hairs, and a cloven tongue also controlled by horse-hairs could be outstretched." [B]Literature:[/B] (1) Lukian of Samosata, Alexandros or the False Prophet [B] Online Sources:[/B] 1) [url]http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm[/url] 2) [url]http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/gregorov/hadrian/hadr215.htm[/url] 3) How to invent a new cult? (German) [URL='http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:GhAtty4VaisJ:archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2004/5103/pdf/ChaniotisAlex.pdf+glycon+lukian+heidelberg&hl=de']http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:GhAtty4VaisJ:archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2004/5103/pdf/ChaniotisAlex.pdf glycon lukian heidelberg&hl=de[/URL] Best regards[/QUOTE]
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