Remembering Ancestors

[Phil Anthos]

This is the beginning of the dark months, when Persephone descends to spend Her time with Hades in the Underworld. Traditionally the time of the final harvest, it is also a time of reflection, of looking back over the prior year, and of remembering those who have gone on before us.

I thought we could post our coins here which depict this time, limnal images from coins of the Underworld, the afterlife, etc.

I'll start with this one, one of my favorites...

 

Syracuse, Reign of Hiketas

287-283 BC AE23 (23mm, 11.375g, 135o) O: Head of Kore (Persephone) left, wreathed in grain; ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ before, pellet and stalk of grain behind. R: Nike driving biga right, whip in right hand, reigns in left; star above, Σ in exergue. HGC 2, 1446; Calciati II, p. 259, 123; SNG ANS 760 var. (no Σ in ex.); Sear 1209 ex Forvm Ancient Coins “Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious fruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus which Earth made to grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a snare for the bloom-like girl -- a marvelous, radiant flower. It was a thing of awe whether for deathless gods or mortal men to see: from its root grew a hundred blooms and it smelled most sweetly, so that all wide heaven above and the whole earth and the sea's salt swell laughed for joy. And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy; but the wide-pathed earth yawned there in the plain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her -- the Son of Cronos, He who has many names.” ~ The Homeric Hymn to Demeter Happy Halloween! ~ Peter

Edited October 31, 2024 by Phil Anthos

[Ryro]

Great idea for spooky day!

PHRYGIA, Hierapolis. Civic issue. Circa 2nd century AD. Æ 27mm (10.56 g). Head of youthful Dionysos right / Rape of Persephone: Hades in galloping quadriga right, carrying Persephone. SNG von Aulock -; SNG Copenhagen 428; BMC -. Fine, dark grey-brown patina. Rare. Purchased from Savoca April 2023

And here mom is trying to find her stolen child:

Maximus

(Caesar, 235/6-238). PHRYGIA. Bruzus. Ae. 5.94 g. 24 mm.

Obv: Γ IOY OYH MAΞIMOC K.

Bareheaded and cuirassed bust right.

Rev: ΒΡΟVΖΗΝΩΝ.

Demeter, holding torch in each hand, in biga right drawn by winged serpents searching for daughter Persephone.

RPC 5626; SNG von Aulock 3526.

Very fine. From the Tareq Hani collection. Purchased from Savoca April 2023

[Phil Anthos]

 

A modern coin from Gabon (not mine)...

 

Edited October 31, 2024 by Phil Anthos

[DonnaML]

Happy Halloween! Here's one showing Hades [as Serapis] and Cerberus:

Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 18 (133/134 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from rear, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΤΡΑΙΑΝ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Serapis [associated with Hades] seated left on high-backed throne,  crowned with modius, wearing himation, holding scepter in left hand, and extending right hand downwards toward Cerberus/Kerberos seated to left at his feet; L IH [= Year 18] in left field.  RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 5871 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5871;  BMC 16 Alexandria 620-621 at p. 74 & PL. XIII [Poole, Reginald Stuart, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 16, Alexandria (London, 1892)]; Köln 1095 [Geissen, A., Katalog alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen, Köln, Band II (Hadrian-Antoninus Pius) (Cologne, 1978, corrected reprint 1987)]; Dattari (Savio) 1480 [Savio, A. ed., Catalogo completo della collezione Dattari Numi Augg. Alexandrini (Trieste, 2007)]; Emmett 892.18 [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; Milne 1394 at p. 34 [Milne, J.G., Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins (Oxford 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay, 1971)]; K&G 32.571 [Kampmann, Ursula & Ganschow, Thomas, Die Münzen der römischen Münzstätte Alexandria (2008)]. 25 mm., 12.42 g., 12 h.

This coin -- now my only aureus -- depicts Ceres and Proserpina (probably representing Faustina II and her daughter Faustina III):

Antoninus Pius AV aureus, ca. AD 151 [see fn], Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, ANTONINVS AVG – PIUS P P TR P XIIII / Rev. On left, Ceres [probably representing Faustina II] standing three-quarters facing, head right, holding two grain ears in right hand; on right, Proserpina standing facing, head left, next to her mother, holding pomegranate in extended left hand, the two gazing at and embracing each other [probably celebrating birth of Faustina III in AD 150/151; hence the reverse inscription naming Laetitia, the personification of joy], LAETITIA – COS IIII.  19 mm., 6.89 g., 6 h. RIC III 199c [“Scarce”] (see http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.199C ); Cohen 476; Sear RCV II 4008; BMCRE IV Antoninus Pius 725 & Pl. 15 No. 14; Strack 224 [Strack, Paul L., Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil III: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit Antoninus Pius (Stuttgart, 1937)]; Calicó 1556 [Calicó, E. Xavier, The Roman Avrei, Vol. I: From the Republic to Pertinax, 196 BC - 193 AD (Barcelona, 2003)]; Dinsdale 037180 [Dinsdale, Paul H, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161: Antonine Coinage (2nd Rev. ed., Leeds 2021) Ch. 18 at p. 421; photo at same page, indicating a probable obverse die match to my specimen] [see http://romanpaulus.x10host.com/Antoninus/old/18 - Antoninus Pius - TR POT XIIII Period - 150-151 (med_res).pdf.]* Purchased from Arete Coins [George Matev], Seattle, WA, Feb. 2022; ex Classical Numismatic Group [CNG] E-Auction 360, Sep. 30, 2015, Lot 458 (from “Group SGF” Collection); ex Jesús Vico, S.A., Auction 141, Mar. 5, 2015, Lot 121.** [Footnote omitted.]

And here is Ceres searching for her daughter after the kidnapping by Pluto:

Roman Republic, M. [Marcus] Volteius, AR Denarius, 78 BCE (Crawford) or 75 BCE (Harlan). Obv. Head of Liber [Crawford, Harlan, Yarrow] or young Bacchus [see BMCRR, Sear] right, wearing ivy wreath / Rev. Ceres standing in biga of snakes right, holding torch in each hand, searching for her daughter Proserpina; behind, control symbol of thyrsus; in exergue, M•VOLTEI•M[•F]. 17 mm., 3.87 g. Crawford 385/3; RSC I Volteia 3 (ill. p. 100); BMCRR I 3160; RBW Collection 1416 (ill. p. 291); Harlan RRM I Ch. 12 pp. 66-68 [Michael Harlan, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (Vol. I) (2012)]; Yarrow pp. 168-169 & ill. p. 170 fig. 4.8 [Liv Mariah Yarrow, The Roman Republic to 49 BCE: Using Coins as Sources (2021)]. Purchased 8 Aug 2022 from Lucernae Numismatics, Alcala la Real, Spain.* 

 

* This coin, depicting Liber (or Bacchus) on the obverse and Ceres in a biga of snakes on the reverse, searching for Proserpina -- one of five coins issued by M. Volteius as moneyer during that year -- relates, like the other four Volteius coins, to one of the five principal agonistic festivals which were celebrated annually at Rome. This one relates specifically to the Ludi Cereales, the games of the goddess of grain, held from 12 to 19 April each year. See Harlan RRM I p. 62 (citing Mommsen); see also Yarrow pp. 168-169:

 “Crawford suggests [Vol. I p. 402] that the issue is anticipating the moneyer’s campaign for an aedileship and encodes a promise of largitones, or generosity, in his potential staging of the games. Yet, different magistrates oversaw each of these games: the ludi Cereales fell under the purview of the plebeian aediles; the ludi Romani under the curule aediles; and the ludi Apollinares under the praetor urbanes. The moneyer cannot be campaigning for all simultaneously. Instead, we might want to think about this series as a miniature fasti (calendar) or symbolic representation of the religious year.”

Regarding the design of this type, the identification of the obverse head as Bacchus or Liber would ordinarily be immaterial. See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby, London, 1990) at p. 33 (entry for “Bacchus”): “For the Romans . . . . [Bacchus] was generally identified with the Italian deity Liber, whose name is probably derived from the same root as the word ‘libation,’ suggesting that in Italy he was an earth or vegetation spirit who could be worshipped by pouring offerings upon the ground. . . . Bacchus appears rarely upon Roman imperial coins (and when he is given a name, he is called Liber). He is shown as a youthful male figure, nude or partly draped, perhaps with a wreath of ivy leaves.” On this type, however, given the reverse design of Ceres searching for her daughter Proserpina (see below), a specific identification of the obverse as Liber is important because of the play on words with “Libera”: see Jones, op. cit. at pp. 167-168 (entry for “Libera”), explaining that Libera “is an alternative name for Proserpina the daughter of Ceres,” noting “the building of a temple to Ceres, Liber and Libera after the city had been saved from famine in the 4^th century BC.” See also Harlan RRM I pp. 67-68, stating that the ivy wreathed head of Liber “was intended to recall the dedication of the temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera built at the foot of the Aventine near the Circus Maximus where the games of Ceres were held. The temple was dedicated in 493 on 19 April, which in Republican times was the closing day of the festival.”

The reverse design, depicting Ceres in a biga of snakes holding two torches, evokes “the well-known story of the abduction of Ceres’ daughter Proserpina by Pluto and the world-wide search made by Ceres to recover her,” a myth that “explains the yearly cycle of food production” and was originally an ancient Greek myth “adopted by the Romans when they assimilated the Greek Demeter with their native Ceres.” Id. p. 67. The story is recounted by many ancient authors, in both its Greek and Roman versions. See the quotations collected by @Roman Collector at https://www.numisforums.com/topic/1193-faustina-friday-%E2%80%93-snake-biga-edition/#comment-20720. Thus, I will limit myself to a quotation from Ovid, Fasti, Book IV, April 12: The Games of Ceres (A.S. Kline verse translation, 2004, at https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/OvidFastiBkFour.php#anchor_Toc69367858 ). This portion recounts the beginning of Ceres’ search, as she leaves her home of Sicily, flying over the waves in a chariot drawn by two yoked serpents, holding two torches in her hands to light the dark:

“Like the bird mourning for her lost Itys.

Alternately she cried: ‘Persephone!’ and ‘My daughter’,

Calling and shouting both the names in turn,

But Persephone heard not Ceres, nor the daughter

Her mother, and both names by turns died away:

If she spied a shepherd or farmer at work,

Her cry was: ‘Has a girl passed this way?’

Now the colours faded, and the darkness hid

Everything. Now the wakeful dogs fell silent.

High Etna stands above vast Typhoeus’ mouth,

Who scorches the earth with his fiery breath:

There the goddess lit twin pine branches as torches:

And since then there are torches handed out at her rites.

There’s a cave, its interior carved from sharp pumice,

A place not to be approached by man or beast:

Reaching it she yoked serpents to her chariot,

And roamed the ocean waves above the spray.”

Harlan suggests that a reenactment of this story was probably a part of the ceremonies of the Ludi Cereales, which (as Ovid mentions in the quotation above) included the passing out of torches to the populace as they entered the Circus Maximus. Harlan RRM I at p. 67. [Remainder of footnote omitted.]

Here's another snake biga:

Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 21 (AD 136/137), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate bust left, slight drapery on far shoulder, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΤΡΑ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Triptolemus standing right, wearing chlamys, in biga drawn by two winged serpents crowned with pschents/skhents [the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt], his left hand holding up front of chlamys to form a pouch filled with seeds, and his right hand raised to scatter the seeds, L KA (Year 21) above serpents to right. RPC Vol. III 6135 (2015) & RPC III Online 6135 at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6135 (date placement var.; no example with this coin’s date placement in RPC or found in acsearch); Milne 1531 (same date placement, “above to right,” as this coin); SNG France 4, Alexandrie II 2007 (ill. Pl. an 21/1) (date placement var.); Emmett 900.21; K&G 32.723; Dattari (Savio) 1485 (obv. bust var. [right], date placement var., same specimen as Staffieri 90 [Triton XXI, 9 Jan 2018], ill. p. 52); BMC 16 Alexandria 582 (ill. Pl. II) (obv. bust var. [right], date placement var.); Sear RCV II 3746 (obv. bust var. [right], date placement var.). 23 mm., 12.90 g., 11 h. Purchased from Classical Numismatic Group, LLC [CNG] Electronic Auction 531, 25 Jan 2023, Lot 710.*

*See https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Triptolemus: “Triptolemus was a demi-god of the Eleusinian mysteries who presided over the sowing of grain-seed and the milling of wheat. His name means "He who Pounds the Husks."  In myth, Triptolemos was one of the Eleusinian princes who kindly received Demeter [Ceres] when she came mourning the loss of her daughter Persephone [Proserpina]. The young goddess was eventually returned to her from the Underworld, and Demeter in her munificence, instructed Triptolemos in the art of agriculture, and gave him a winged chariot drawn by serpents so that he might travel the world spreading her gift. 
Source: http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/EleusiniosTriptolemos.html.”

Finally, here are some illustrations from a 1924 children's book I have ("A Child's Book of Myths"), by Margaret Evans Price, showing Pluto in his kingdom doing what appears to be a fire dance of some sort, Pluto kidnapping Proserpina, and a very sad-looking Ceres searching for her daughter.

[Phil Anthos]

Another Persephone, a most fascinating goddess..

Syracuse, Reign of Agathokles

317-289 BC AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 17.14g) O: Wreathed head of Kore (Persephone) right, wearing pendant earring and necklace; KOPAΣ behind. R: Nike standing right, hammer in right hand, erecting trophy; triskeles to lower left, [ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΙΟΣ] behind, all within dotted border. Struck between 313–295 BC. HGC 2, 1536; SNG ANS 670-76; SNG Cop 766ff; Sear 972v; BMC 388v ex Museum Surplus “Kore, the Girl, is so intimately associated with her mother Demeter that they are often referred to simply as the Two Goddesses or even as Demeteres. Kore’s own enigmatic name is Persephone, or Phersephone, and in Attic Pherrephatta. In Homer she is mentioned alone and also in conjunction with her husband, Hades-Aidoneus, the personification of the underworld; her Homeric epithets are venerable, agaue, and awesome, epaine. Her two aspects, girl-like daughter of the Corn Goddess and Mistress of the Dead, are linked in the myth which, though ignored in heroic epic, is responsible almost exclusively for defining the picture of Demeter. The earliest extended version is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, but Hesiod already alludes to it in the Theogony as an ancient and well known story, and aspects of the later tradition seem to preserve very ancient material.” ~ Walter Burkert (Greek Religion, 1985)

[kirispupis]

Funny, I just read the story last night in Ovid's Fasti.

Well connected with the abduction of Persephone and Demeter's sorrow is of course the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Attica, Eleusinian festival
350-300 BCE
15.97mm 3.37g
Obverse: Triptolemos in winged car drawn by serpents left
Reverse: Eleusi, pig standing right on mystic staff, bucranium below
SNG Copenhagen 315
Ex Glenn Woods

 

I visited the site in 2023 but was sadly informed that the Mysteries are no longer held... 😞 

[Phil Anthos]

Somewhere very near there is a small skeleton key with my wife's ashes inside.

The Sons of Dysaules
The story of Triptolemus being charged with bringing agriculture to man has been well told. That of his brother Eubouleus perhaps less so.
Eubouleus was a swineherd whose pigs were lost when the Earth gaped open to swallow up Persephone.
Pigs were sacrificed during the Eleusinian Rites in a women’s mystery ritual known as the Thesmophoria. The piglets would be washed in the sea during the Procession and then brought back to the Sanctuary and ritually slaughtered.
It is interesting to note that in ancient Greek religion pigs were thought to be able to absorb miasma from humans, making this an even more appropriate offering.

"It is said, then, that when Demeter came to Argos she was received by Pelasgos into his home, and that Khrysanthis, knowing about the rape of Kore, related the story to her. Afterwards Trokhilos, the priest of the mysteries, fled, they say, from Argos because of the enmity of Agenor, came to Attika and married a woman of Eleusis, by whom he had two children Eubouleos and Triptolemos. That is the account given by the Argives."
~ Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 14. 3