Dear Friends of ancient mythology! This coin was already longer in my collection under the name "Skylla", which I had taken over from the seller. Then I heard from a friend who was better informed than me that it was actually an Ichthyocentaur! Now I could correct the attribution. I'm deeply ashamed to admit that I have never heard before of these mythological beings. In my estimation it is the sole type of coin depicting theme. The Coin: Bithynia, Nikomedeia, Plautilla, AD 202-211 AE 20, 3.17g, 19.94mm, 225° obv.: ΦOV ΠΛAV - TIΛΛA CEBA / CTH Bust, draped, r. rev.: NEIKOMHΔEΩ - N / ΔIC NEΩKO / PΩN Female ichthyocentaur, diademed, nude, with forefeet of horse and serpentine-shaped fishtail, riding l. over waves; holding rudder over l. shoulder and in extended r. hand unknown object (dolphin?) ref.: Gen. Rec. 253 var. (has only CEBA); Lindgren 172 very rare, F/F+, dark, nearly black patina (not green as on the pic!) Note: Gen. Rec. writes "Monstre marin, ayant un corps de femme". Mythology: Wikipedia writes of 2 ichthyocentaurs, the twins Aphros and Bythos. But actually they appear in a greater number. And there are not only male, but female ones too, as can be seen on this coin. This is rather rare on the other centaurs. They are sea monsters with a human upper body, a serpent-shaped fishtail and forefeet of a horse. Often they are horned. Usually these horns are lobster claws. Sometimes they are crowned. Or they are winged where the wings sometimes are from seaweed or other sea plants. Whereas the common hippocentaurs, except the wise Cheiron and a few others, are very rowdy guys, usually wearing a club, the ichthyocentaurs are rather peaceable beings, often wearing musical instruments like a lyra or a flute. But like the hippocentaurs who are chasing nymphs they are chasing nereids. On the other side they are said to place value on family and friends. They are able to breath underwater and could swim very fast. Their relation to the nereids made possible that they could live hundreds of years because the nereids warned them always against upcoming dangers. Under water they could communicate with all other marine animals. The best-known ichthyocentaurs were the twins Aphros (= sea foam) and Bythos (= sea depth). There parents are said to be the Titan Kronos and the nymph Philyra, a daughter of Okeanos. Kronos approached her in the shape of a horse to hide his infidelity from his wife Rhea, and created Cheiron with her. When Philyra saw her offspring for the first time she was so horrified by his appearence that she asked Zeus to be changed into a limetree and that happened. This mythology seems to be transferred to Aphros and Bythos so that they become the brothers of Cheiron. But usually they were called his half-brothers. Here the mythology seems to be confused a bit. But that is well known from other ancient mythologies too. The reason are sometimes changes over time or regional modifications. There was no coherent codex at all. Pseudo-Hyginus (Fabulae 197) writes that the seacentaurs have been derived from the fish god of the Syrian mythology, sometimes called Dogon, who has carried Aphrodite, the later Astarte, after her sea birth to the beach. Little-known is the hypothesis that these twins have been placed as zodiac sign of the fishes (pisces) to the sky. Etymology of "Afrika": The present name of Africa was used first by Scipio Africanus, conqueror of Carthago, and has meant originally only the region around Carthago and Utica where the Libyan people of the Afri were living. The Afri claimed their descent from Aphros, therefore the name Aphroi (Lat. Afri). After the victory over Carthago in 146 BC the name Africa was extended by the Romans under the name Africa proconsularis up to the border of Egypt. The continent itself was called Libya. According to Georgios Kedrenos, a Byzantine historian of the 11th resp.12th century, who has written in his "Concise History of the World" about the etymology of the Afri, Aphros was the husband of Astynome, who bore Aphrodite to him. Naturally Aphrodite and Aphros have the same etymology (Gr. aphros = foam). Astonyme herself came from the "island" of Lakeria, which is nothing other than the Thessalian city of Lakereia at Magnesia the home of Cheiron and Philyra too. These all was a explanation remodelled especially for the African etymology (Pauly's Realenzyklopädie). And here seems to be the source of the mythology that Aphros was the son of Kronos and Philyra and thereby the brother of Cheiron. History of Art: The first depictions of ichthyocentaurs we find under Skopas (about 420 - about 330 BC), besides Praxiteles probably the most important Greek sculptor. From Skopas on the fine art of the Greeks and the Romans populated the depiction of the sea with this genus of fishcentaurs with many different species like sea-rams, sea-dragons, sea-stags, sea-lions, sea-panthers, sea-horses, sea-bulls and calves, see-elephants and so on (Roscher). At Claudian (about 370 - after 404 AD), court poet under Honorius and Stilich, Venus is riding over the sea on an ichthyocentaur, here called Triton. But tritons actually don't have animal forefeet and usually are holding big shells and not a lyra or a flute. We see, that already in ancient times these sea monsters are not well distinguished On a mosaic from Zeugma/Commagene (today in the museum of Gaziantep/Turkey) with the titel "Birth of Aphrodite" the two ichthyocentaurs are lifting the cockle with the goddess from the sea. Here Aphros and Bythos are named directly. It is suggested that Aphros is seen as foster-father of Aphrodite. A pic of the mosaic from Zeugma/Commagene A similar motiv "The Birth of Aphrodite Anadyomene" we find on a relief of a sarcophagus in the Villa Borghese from the 3 century AD. 2 ichthyocentaurs are holding a cockle shell in which Aphrodite is crouching with a boy beside her holding a torch. Beneath the shell 2 cupids are playing with a young sea-dragon and a young sea-lion. A pic of the relief from the sarcophagus in the Villa Borghese Basically we are knowing not much of the ichthyocentaurs, except that what we can conclude from the depictions of fine art and from a short note in the Byzantine Lexicon of the Suda. Here Aphros is called the first king of the Carthaginians who were named Aphroi after him.This is affirmed by a mosaic found in Tunesia near Carthago, today in the Bardo museum in Tunis. We see Poseidon in his chariot accompanied by 2 African sea gods. One of them is Aphros, the other the twin-tailed Triton, the god of the Libyan lake Tritonis. A pic of the mosaic from the Bardo museum in Tunis Both sea gods appear too on a pair of matching sculptures (today in the Louvre and in the Musei Vaticani) which show them carrying satyrs from the companions of the god Dionysos, after his company was driven into the sea by king Lykurgos of Thracia. Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), the great court painter of the Medici (he who has invented the term "Renaissance") has painted a picture "First fruits of the Earth Offered to Saturn" (1555-1557, Palazzo Vecchio/Firenze), where in a detail 2 ichthyocentaurs are seen amusing themselves with beautiful nereids. The detail of the painting of Giorgio Vasari Sources: (1) Hesiod, Theogony (2) Apollonius of Rhodos, Argonautika (3) Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae, online at theoi.com (4) Suda, Byzantine Greek Lexikon, online under http://www.stoa.org/sol/ (5) Joannes Tzetzes, ad Lykophron Literature: (1) William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, online too (2) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, online to Online-Sources: (1) Wikipedia (2) theoi.com Best regards
Thanks for that illuminating post, Jochen. I'd never heard of Ichthyocentaurs before either, and am likewise glad to correct the description of my coin (a double die match of yours, I think?). I had the reverse described as a triton holding a trident and conch shell, but I agree it looks more like a rudder. Unfortunately, on mine it's also not clear what is being held in his (her?) other hand.
