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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 2808769, member: 57495&quot;]<i>&quot;And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy; </i></p><p><i>but the wide-pathed earth yawned opened there in the Plain of Nysa, </i></p><p><i>and the Lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her. </i></p><p><i>The Son of Kronos, He who has many names,</i></p><p><i>caught her up against her will upon his golden chariot, </i></p><p><i>and bore her away lamenting.&quot;</i></p><p>- Homeric Hymn to Demeter</p><p><br /></p><p>The tale of Persephone&#039;s abduction by Hades, the God of the Underworld, was one of the most famous in Greek mythology.&nbsp; It was the popular of subject of vase paintings, frescos, mosaics, and sculpture for many centuries, and during the rule of the Roman Empire, coins showing the scene of the abduction were struck in Provincial mints from Sicily and Macedonia to Lydia, Cicilia, Phoenicia and Judaea.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;d been keeping my eye out for a decent example of the type when this 2nd century civic issue of Hierapolis jumped out at me.&nbsp; It&#039;s not particularly high grade, but the style is excellent and the devices are quite nicely highlighted by the earthen deposits.&nbsp; It has an attractive feminine bust of Dionysos on the obverse (feminine even for Dionysos!), and I particularly love that the reverse is anepigraphic, with no legends to distract from the scene itself. </p><p><br /></p><p>As always, please feel free to post anything you feel may be appropriate. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]656641[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>PHRYGIA, Hierapolis</b></p><p><b>Civic Issue</b></p><p>AE28. 12.36g, 28mm. Circa AD 2nd-3rd centuries. RPC Online 2045; SNG Cop 428. O: IЄPAΠOΛЄI-TΩN, head of youthful Dionysos right, wearing ivy wreath. R: The Abduction of Persephone: Hades in galloping quadriga right, carrying off struggling Persephone.</p><p><br /></p><p>A mural from a Macedonian royal tomb, thought to have been painted by Nicomachus of Thebes between 360-330 BC, depicts Persephone&#039;s abduction by Hades.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]656643[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Abduction of Persephone sets the stage for the story of Demeter&#039;s quest for the return of her daughter, which itself plays a vital part in the Eleusinian mysteries of her cult.&nbsp; Demeter had visited Eleusis in Attica in the guise of an old woman when mourning Persephone&#039;s loss.&nbsp; There, she was received hospitably by the royal family of Eleusis.&nbsp; One of the Eleusinian princes who found favour with her was Triptolemos, to whom she revealed the secrets of her religion and that of agriculture.&nbsp; Amongst her gifts to him was a chariot and a pair of winged serpents.&nbsp; Triptolemos was to use this flying, snake-drawn chariot to travel across the earth, spreading the knowledge of agriculture and the use of the plough.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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