Mythology and symbolism

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by expat, Jul 14, 2023.

  1. expat

    expat Remember you are unique, just like everyone else Supporter

    A lighthearted look at an Ancient subject.

    I begin this around the time of Greece 450BCE, with a similarity continuing to Late Roman times.

    In mythological history, the Kabeiroi were one or many deities of the chthonic persuasion. They were worshipped by a mystery cult in the North Aegian islands of Lemnos and maybe Samothrace. They had a mysterious genealogy buried in folklore and their number varied, but often referenced as pairs of males or females.
    The pileus was a brimless felt hat, worn in ancient Greece between 8th – 4th century BCE. The two stars either side of the pileus represent the Kabeiroi, in a similar fashion to the Dioscuri being represented the same way on some Roman coinage.
    TROAS, Birytis.jpg
    The Dioscuri were a popular image on Republican coinage and their representation on later coinage were a pair of stars.
    nd2PR8zf4dAMQ7q6rGm9J6Ho5brXEJ.jpg
    L. Memmius AR Denarius (20mm, 3.77 g.)
    Rome mint, struck 109-108 BC Gens Memmia
    Obv. Apollo facing right, wearing oak wreath, mark of value below chin.
    Rev. The Dioscuri standing facing, each holding spears and bridle of their horses, Xanthus and Cyllarus. Moneyer name in exergue.
    Crawford 304
    The gens Memmia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Memmius Gallus, praetor in 172 BC. From the period of the Jugurthine War to the age of Augustus they contributed numerous tribunes to the Republic.
    The differing mythology of Dioscuri
    sons of Zeus, the horsetamer Castor, and Polydeuces (Lat. Pollux) the master of the art of boxing. In Homer they are represented as the sons of Leda and Tyndareos, and called in consequence Tyndaridae, as dying in the time between the rape of Helen and the Trojan War, and as buried in their father-city Lacedaemon. But even under the earth they were alive. Honoured of Zeus, they live and die on alternate days and enjoy the prerogatives of godhead. In the later story sometimes both, sometimes only Polydeuces is the descendant of Zeus. They undertake an expedition to Attica, where they set free their sister Helena, whom Theseus has carried off. They take part in the expedition of the Argonauts. They undertake an expedition to Attica, where they set free their sister Helena, whom Theseus has carried off. They take part in the expedition of the Argonauts. Castor, who had been born mortal, falls in a contest with Idas and Lynceus, the sons of their paternal uncle Aphareus. The fight arose, according to one version, in a quarrel over some cattle which they had carried off; according to another, it was about the rape of two daughters of another uncle Leucippus, Phoebe and Hilaira, who were betrothed to the sons of Aphareus. On his brother's death Polydeuces, the immortal son of Zeus, prays his father to let him die too. Zeus permits him to spend alternately one day among the gods his peers, the other in the lower world with his beloved brother. According to another story Zeus, in reward for their brotherly love, sets them in the sky as the constellation of the Twins, or the morning and evening star. They are the ideal types of bravery and dexterity in fight. Thus they are the tutelary gods of warlike youth, often sharing in their contests, and honoured as the inventors of military dances and melodies. The ancient symbol of the twin gods at Lacedaemon was two parallel beams, joined by cross-pieces, which the Spartans took with them into war. They were worshipped at Sparta and Olympia with Heracles and other heroes. At Athen too they were honoured as gods under the name of Anakes (Lords Protectors). At sea, as in war, they lend their aid to men. The storm-tossed mariner sees the sign of their beneficent presence in the flame at the mast-head. He prays, and vows to them the sacrifice of a white lamb, and the storm soon ceases.
    The rites of hospitality are also under their protection. They are generally represented with their horses Xanthus and Cyllarus, as in the celebrated colossal group of Monte Cavallo in Rome. Their characteristic emblem is an oval helmet crowned with a star. The worship of Castor and Pollux was from early times current among the tribes of Italy. They enjoyed especial honours in Tusculum and Rome. In the latter city a considerable temple was built to them near the Forum (414 B.C.) in gratitude for their appearance and assistance at the battle of the Lake Regillus twelve years before. In this building, generally called simply the temple of Castor, the senate of ten held its sittings. It was in their honour, too, that the solemn review of the Roman equites was held on the 15th July. The names of Castor and Pollux, like that of Hercules, were often in use as familiar expletives, but the name of Castor was invoked by women only. They were worshipped as gods of the sea, particularly in Ostia, the harbour town of Rome. Their image is to be seen stamped on the reverse of the oldest Roman silver coins.


    City Commemorative.jpg
    Thanks for reading, post your coins of this subject or anything vaguely related.
     
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  3. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I believe the connection with mythology and symbolism is one of the great attractions of the ancient coinage. I have long said that this doggone Ancients tab here at CoinTalk gets me in trouble constantly. If I had never seen this place, I could have kept plodding along comfortably with my US coins...... Ahh, but I am drifting away from the subject...

    I once saw a coin on this form that had a "triskeles of legs".... Now to this day, I couldn't tell you what the symbolism reflects, but I was mesmerized by the image and had to have one for myself.

    aspendostriskeles.jpg
     
  4. expat

    expat Remember you are unique, just like everyone else Supporter

    I think it started as an image on pottery from the City of Aspendos in Ancient Pamphylia.
     
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  5. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    The triskeles earliest use is seen three millennia before appearing on Syracuse coins. Initially a religious symbol of the sun, likely representing Baal. Agathokles adopted it as his emblem, presumably because the triangular shape resembles the shape of Sicily.
    It is quite possible that Aspendos in Pamphilia, which also used the triskeles symbol on their wrestler coinage, had been in contact with Lycia. At the time of the Lycian league, which existed since the 3rd century the triskelion was not used on coinage anymore.
    Familiar as an ancient symbol of Sicily, it dates back to when Sicily was part of Magna Graecia, the colonial extension of Greece beyond the Aegean. Pliny the Elder attributes the origin of the triskelion of Sicily, the ancient Trinacria from the Greek tri (three) and akra (end, limb), to the triangular form of the island, which consists of three large capes equidistant from each other, pointing in their respective directions, the names of which were Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybæum.
     
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  6. Curtis

    Curtis Well-Known Member

    I find mythology both one of the most rewarding and most intimidating things about ancient Greek & Roman Provincial coins. One approach might be to start reading books about mythology generally. The nice thing about coins, though, is that you can start with bite-sized pieces.

    Here’s a newer addition: Hemiobol from Skione (6mm, 0.34 g, struck c. 480-454/3 BCE), whose coinage often features the mythical hero, Protesilaus, from the Trojan War.

    There had been a prophecy that the first Greek to land ashore would die. (Odysseus avoiding death by leaping upon his shield.) Even knowing his his fate, Protesilaus sacrificed himself, stepping onto the shores and slaying several Trojans before being killed by Hector.

    Galst Hemiobol Skione Final Tags.jpg

    Of the reverse, Galst & van Alfen wrote: “The significance for the eye as an emblem of Skione is not known” (2016: p. 476, XIII.9, this coin). But I'm very curious if anyone has ideas...

    Interesting that Protesilaus appears on Macedonian coins, as he was actually reputed to be a Thessalian. Maybe the Thessalian coins were already too full of their own mythological references!

    I got started on the Thessalian bronzes several years ago when I bought several dozen, from various cities, in group lots of BCD Collection Duplicates from CNG. (Unbelievably cheaply, by the way.) Just a couple examples:

    On the reverse of the coins from Halos (20mm, 5.98g, 3rd century BCE) we see the mythological Phrixos flying on the ram with the golden fleece (I love that design!):

    BCD Halos AE Dichalkon.jpg
    (But why does it have the AX monogram usually for Achilles? Maybe a mint official?)

    Returning to The Iliad and the Trojan War on the small bronzes of Lamia (14.5mm, 2.89g, 4th century BCE)...

    Here we see Philoktetes shooting an arrow and striking a bird. (From Sophocles: “This bow gave me the food my stomach craved, by shooting birds as they passed overhead.”)

    BCD Lamia Thessaly AE.jpg

    In various Greek traditions (incl. Homer’s Iliad and the plays of Sophocles), the mythological archer Philoktetes (Philoctetes), in possession of Herakles’ bow and arrows, became stranded on the island of Lemnos en route to the Trojan War.

    There the invincible weapons of Herakles served the lowly purpose of hunting birds. In some tellings, Philoktetes, once retrieved from Lemnos, would kill Paris, son of Priam, and hide inside the Trojan Horse.


    I could keep going and going -- just on that initial group of Thessalian bronzes.… Even without ever getting to Jason or Thessalos or – my favorite – Peloros!

    There’s a lot there to learn about the complex and unique “local” mythology of Thessaly, such as every city and region had in the Classical world.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2023
  7. expat

    expat Remember you are unique, just like everyone else Supporter

    Thank you @Curtis I, too, have an interest in localised mythological subjects alongside the wider known stories. Also how different countries and peoples can share the same myths and yet have totally diverse heroes and their own definitions of said subject. Each new subject I discover makes for fascinating reading.
     
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  8. Mr.MonkeySwag96

    Mr.MonkeySwag96 Well-Known Member

    My Dioscuri denarii:

    upload_2023-7-15_4-36-47.jpeg

    upload_2023-7-15_4-37-37.jpeg

    upload_2023-7-15_4-38-6.jpeg
     
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