Featured The thin line between love and death: Eros-Thanatos

Thanks @Ryan McVay , Here is the most comprehensive site for Eros coins. Is Francis Jarman Brittanicus on Forvm?

http://eroscoin.blogspot.com/2011/03/introduction.html

 

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Thanks! That is the site. It should be a book at some point!

Here are my 3 examples:
Caracalla: Very Rare


And 2 Septimius Severus types. As I recall the Left-facing is Rare.

 

I thought I had one of these, but it's just Eros on a dolphin instead.

 

I know nothing of the mythology of Eros, but that is also my take on his pose here, learning on his torch (or elsewhere leaning on a pillar) - that this is a depiction of a weary Eros (not a weary Thanatos!) akin to the weary Hercules leaning on his club.

Eros' torch would then be upside down not because he is extinguishing it (and anyways the flames are still there), but just so that he can lean on it!

I would guess that most repeated themes like this on coinage are things that would have been immediately recognized at the time - a well known cultural reference. Perhaps a weary Eros has it's roots in some myth/poem/etc ?

 

A very interesting thread. The dividing line between love and death is very fine indeed.

Here's a fairly modern take on the subject:

 

Here's Eros putting the "atomic piledriver" on the torch.

 

On the subject of Eros, as depicted in Antiquity, there is a book which has fabulous photos of ancient works in different media, titled Eros in Antiquity. The photographs were done by Antonia Mulas. This is an art book, but not one for the coffee table if there are kids around - strictly adult in nature.

This book was published in 1978 and is readily available online.