Dear friends of ancient Mythology! Here I want to tell something about the nymph Histiaia. Because there is only few to tell about Histiaia herself I have enlarged the topos to "Histiaia and her family": 1st Coin: Euboia, Histiaia, 196-146 BC. AR - Tetrobol, 2.3g, 13.37mm, 315°. Obv.: Bust of Histiaia, draped, with necklace and ear-ring, hair rolled up in sphendone, wreathed with vine leaves and grapes. Rev.: [IΣTI] - AIEΩN The nymph Histiaia, in long dress, seated n.r. on the stern of a ship decorated with wings, leaning back with right hand and holding stylis in left hand. Below ME(?) and trident. Ref.: BMC 128, 30ff; BCD Euboia 382; SNG 517 var. VF, old dark toning, rev. somewhat off-centre. 2nd Coin: Euboia, Histiaia, 196-146 BC. AR - Tetrobol, 1.32g, 13.91mm, 315°. Ref,: BMC 128, 30ff; SNG 517var. Small, irregular flan Notes: The stylis is a freestanding hasta with a transverse bar on the stern of ancient ships. It can be found on coins of Histiaia and others since 340 BC. Its origin is Phoenician and it is marked as a sacred standard in place of statues of gods at the stern (Pauly). For this reason it cannot be a Prora. Earlier publications, even Mionnet and the great Eckhel, erroneously had Histiaia sitting on the front of the ship and mistook the aphlaston for a swelling sail. Problem of dating: This coin type has been struck in different periods The first issue are thought to have begun around 340 BC to commemorate the expulsion of the pro-Macedonian tyrant Philistides. A second issue probably existed between 313 BC and 265 BC, thus beginning at the time when Euboia had declared itself independent. The last period was from 196 to 146 BC, beginning before the Roman victory over Perseus in 168 BC. There are also a large number of Macedonian imitations from this period. These are of coarse style and easily recognisable and go under the name of Histiaika or Argyria Histiaika (Head). In Pat Lawrence's opinion, my first coin does not date from the 4th century because of its style. Rather, it bears resemblance to the "Invitation to the Dance" group from the later Hellenistic period, the so-called "Hellenistic Rococo". The second coin is probably one of the Macedonian imitations. Mythology: Histiaia was the daughter of Hyrieos. The city of Histiaia in northern Euboia is said to have been named after her. Hyrieos was a son of Poseidon and Alkyone and king of Hyria in Boiotia. He was married to the nymph Klonia, by whom he had the sons Nykteos, Lykos and Orion (Apollodor; Hygin. Fab.). There is a mythology of the treasure-house of Hyrieos told by Pausanias: Agamedes and Trophonios, the sons of Erginos, king of Orchomenos, were architects and were considered specialists in the construction of temples and palaces. When King Hyrieos commissioned them to build a treasure house, they added a stone to the walls which they could remove without anyone noticing. Through this opening they kept crawling and stealing Hyrieos' treasures. The king saw his treasure getting smaller and smaller, even though the door locks were not broken. So he set traps to catch the thief. Agamedes got caught in these traps and, to prevent discovery, Trophonios cut off his head. But he himself was swallowed up by the earth at the same moment. Close to Histiaia was the village of Oreos, which was united with Histiaia in 445 BC. Oreos is said to have received its name from Orion, who was raised here (Strabo). For this reason, August Baumeister, for example, assumes that Hyrieos, the father of Histiaia, is Orion himself. But Histiaia and Orion, the representatives of the two sister cities, could also have been siblings, both children of Hyrieos. Orion, the presumed brother of Histaia, is the well-known giant hunter of Greek mythology from Boiotia, who was placed in the sky as a constellation after his death. Palaiphatos gives an account of his conception, which I will quote here: his name comes from ουρησις, from piss, and he was initially called Ourion because he was created through urine. But since this name was a bit too indecent, they made an O out of the Ou and called him Orion. And that's how it all happened: Once Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes were visiting King Hyrieos. In gratitude for his hospitality, they allowed him to make a request. Thereupon the childless Hyrieos wished for a son. The gods took the skin of the ox sacrificed to them, let all their urine into it, ordered him to bury it in the earth and only take it out after 10 months. This he did and found Orion in it. Roscher writes on this: "an ugly fairy tale has arisen about its creation through etymological wit." History: Histiaia is situated on the northern coast of Euboia, the second largest island in Greece, and was founded as an Attic colony. It is already named in Homer's Iliad and described as πολυσταφυλος = rich in wine. Thus the vine leaves on the head of Histaia are easily explained. The ancient and modern name Εὔβοια is derived from εὖ 'good' and βοῦς 'cattle' and means. 'land of well-fed cattle'. After the departure of the Attic colonists it united with the neighbouring town of Oreos, and so it was afterwards generally called by writers. They were given a common wall, 2 acropoleis and a common harbour. The territory of Histiaia included the whole north, a quarter of the whole island. It was occupied by the Persians in the Xerxes campaign. Afterwards it joined the 1st Attic League. In 446 B.C. there was an uprising because of the tribute payments, which was put down by the Athenians. The inhabitants were expelled and Attic colonists settled there. In 404 the inhabitants were allowed to return. In the Corinthian War it stood with the whole of Euboia against Sparta and came under Spartan occupation until its liberation in 377. Afterwards it was a member of the 2nd Attic League, interrupted only in 343-341 by the tyranny of Philistides, who was supported by Philip. In the Hellenistic period it was mostly under Macedonian rule until the conquest by the Romans and Attalus of Pergamon. It was declared free in 197 BC. Its widespread coin finds testify to its great commercial importance in Hellenistic times. Pliny already mentions it as an abandoned place in the 1st century AD. Today there are only a few archaeological remains, some walls and temple foundations (Pauly). Modern Oreoi lies slightly to the west of ancient Oreos. Modern Oreoi (Geotag Aeroview, Wikipedia) Sources: (1) Homer, Ilias (2) Eustath. Ad Homer (3) Palaiphatos, Peri apiston historion (4) Strabon, Geographika (5) Apollodor, Bibliotheke (6) Hyginus, Fabulae (7) Plinius, Naturalis historia Literature: (1) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (2) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon, Leipzig 1770 (Facsimile) (3) August Baumeister, Topographische Skizze der Insel Euboia, 1864 (Reprint) (3) Der Kleine Pauly (4) Barclay V. Head, Historia Numorum (Ed Snible, online) Best regards Jochen
Great write up. These circulated for many years. Below is the "Jimmy Durante" Variety. Histiaia, Euboia 340 - 330 B.C. Silver Tetrobol O: Head of nymph Histiaia right wearing an earring, hair bound in sakkos (sphendone) wreathed with vine R: Nymph seated upon a stern of galley holding a mast with cross-piece (trophy stand), grapes on vine to left; wing on prow; IΣTIAI-EΩN 14mm 2.4g BMC Central Greece p.127, 24-25; Sear 2495 Slightly overstruck. Die break on nose.
@Jochen1 ...Thoroughly enjoyed the write up Thanks. What a lovely portrait on the 1st tetrobol..Beautifully engraved and on a flan less than 14mm..Impressive!
