DemeterDemeter was one of the most important goddesses of ancient
Greece. And so she is understandably one of the deities most frequently depicted on coins. Her depiction has interested me for a long time.
Her
standard attributes always include the ears of grain in her hand, often together with a
head of a poppy, and a burning torch, sometimes two torches. The torch may be surrounded by a
snake. More rarely it is accompanied by an additional cista mystica from which a
snake rises. But there are also pictures of her riding a
biga with torches in her hand, pulled by winged snakes. She is often veiled, as befits one of the most venerable goddesses. Sometimes she wears a
Kalathos, but not always.
Coin #1:Moesia inferior,
Nikopolis ad Istrum,
Diadumenian, AD 217-218
AE 27, 13.88g, 0°
struck under governor Statius Longinus
Obv.: M OΠEΛ ΔIAΔOV - MENIANOC K
Bust, draped and
cuirassed, seen from front, bare-headed, r.
Rev.: VΠ CTA ΛONΓINOV NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC / IC
Demeter, in long robe and mantle, veiled, standing frontal, looking l., resting
with raised left hand on a long, burning torch, around which a
snake is coiling
and holding ears of grain in her extended right hand over a cista mystica with
open lid, from which a second
snake rises.
Ref.: a) not in
AMNG:
Rev. AMNG I/1, 1836
b)
Varbanov 3722
c)
Hristova-Hoeft-Jekov (2020) No. 8.25.5.4 (same dies)
rare, almost VF, dark green
patina Etymology:Even the ancient world recognised a composite in its name, the second part of which is
μητερ (Greek = mother). The first element has not been unanimously clarified until today. Of course
γη- = earth (especially the Orphicists) is discussed, so that she would then be the earth mother (
Pauly). It is possible that Demeter already appears in Linear A as
da-ma-te.Mythology:Demeter was the daughter of Uranos and
his sister Rhea. Like all
his children, she was eaten by Uranos after her birth, but spat out again when Metis gave him an emetic. She was considered the goddess of the
field and of fruits, especially of grain. At first the grain grew among the other grasses and herbs and was unknown to
man. She taught them how to collect and store it, sow it and bake bread with it. Before that, people
had fed only on acorns (Virgil, Georgica). According to some, this was done in
Egypt, according to others by the Athenians or in
Sicily.
Egypt was considered by the
Greeks to be the oldest country in the world and the source of all knowledge,
Sicily was an important supplier of grain in ancient times
In the Orphic Hymns it is said that she also invented
ploughing with oxen. According to Kallimachos and Diodoros Siculus, she is said to have been the inventor of the laws and to have urged people to respect the property of others. That is why in Greek she was called
thesmophoros = bearer of the laws.
Because of her beauty her brother
Zeus fell in love with her and sired
Persephone with her. Her brother Poseidon also desired her. She tried to escape him by turning into a
horse and joining the herd of horses of
king Onkios in Arcadia. But she was not successful. Poseidon recognised her anyway, turned into a
horse as well and sired the famous black-maned stallion Areion and a daughter with her. Their name is sometimes called Despoina or
Hera. But her real name could not be mentioned outside the mysteries (Apollodor; Pausanias).
This misdeed grieved her so much that she wrapped herself in black clothes, avoided the
other gods, and finally retreated into a cave. She no longer cared for the grain, everything withered away, and
man and cattle began to suffer and die of hunger. No one knew where she was until
Pan, who roamed everywhere, discovered her in Arcadia and reported this to
Zeus.
Zeus sent the Parzes to her and they succeeded in persuading Demeter to change her mind.
Demeter herself, on the other hand, loved Jasion above all, a son of
Zeus and Elektra. To him she gave birth to Pluto, the god of wealth and prosperity. But Zeus' jealousy was so great that he killed Jasion with a bolt of lightning.
I have already told the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades in detail. Among the other known mythologies of the Demeter is the story of
Triptolemos, the oldest son of Keleus in Eleusis, to whom she gave her
snake biga so that he could spread the use of grain throughout the world. To this story belongs the following coin (both stories are, by the way, in my first volume of
mythology from 2017).
Coin #2Cilicia, Kelenderis,
Elagabal, 218-222
AE 22, 6.16g, 330°
Av.: M(?) AVP AN - TΩNINOC (both N's retrograde)
Awarded
head n.r.
Rv.: K - E - [ΛE]NΔEPITΩN (both N's retrograde)
Demeter holding torch in her raised right hand diving r. in a
biga, which is drawn by two winged
Ref.:
SNG Levante 548 (same dies);
SNG von Aulock 5650
rare,
good SS, extraordinary
stylePedigree:
ex
Hirsch auction 168 (1990), lot 729
ex
Gorny & Mosch
auction 108 (2001), lot 1525
ex. Münzen und Medaillen 20 (2006), lot 233
N
ote:Here Demeter drives the
snake biga, which she later gave to
Triptolemos.
If someone
had helped her find
Persephone, he was rewarded by Demeter. In gratitude she gave Phytalos the branch of a fig tree and taught him how to
plant and cultivate it. She gave Pandareios the gift of eating as much as he wanted without harming him. On the other hand, she took revenge on those who
had not helped her. To Ascalabos, who
had mocked her when she drank thirstily from a
bowl, she poured the rest of the barley-filled water (
kykeon) into
his face, turning him into a spotted
lizard (Greek:
askalabotes). Lynkos,
king of the Scythians, who wanted to execute
Triptolemos, she turned into a lynx (Greek
lynkos). Erysichthon, who who cut down a forest sacred to her she gave insatiable hunger, so that he finally ate himself. Acheron, who
had revealed that
Persephone had eaten some pomegranate seeds, so she
had to stay in the underworld, she turned into a night
owl. According to others, she
had hung an enormous
stone around
his neck.
Background:According to
Pauly she was a special form of the earth goddess with a strong emphasis on the agricultural aspect. Hiding in a cave, the abduction of her daughter into the underworld and the snakes tied to her show that there was a connection to the
chthonic gods. But unlike the underworld gods, she was rather peaceful and not threatening.
She was a harvest goddess with wheat blond hair (Iliad). The farmers prayed to her for
good harvests. In
Crete "harvest" even meant "to pay homage to Demeter". The origin of her complex form was probably
Thessaly with a connection to the pelasgian
Dos =
Pheraia. Their connection to Iasion and Plutos also speaks for this. These were not grain demons, but
chthonic healers (
Pauly).
According to some, she was once a queen in
Sicily whose daughter was kidnapped by a pirate who took her to Pluto. In
Sicily, the granary of
antiquity, there was a true Demeter religion, which, like the mother in Persephone/Kore, lamented the disappearance of the
plant world. With the gathering of Core
flowers in the
meadows, hopes of immortality were attached to the rebirth of nature in
spring. This was also expressed in the balance between the
chthonic and epichthonic nature of the
corn. and underworld goddess Demeter herself. From the
Christian side, such as Augustinus, the idea of a cyclical process of creation associated with Demeter was vehemently rejected, as it was contrary to her eschatological idea that
history should be directed towards one goal.
The mystical seeds of Demeter as the guide to rebirth did not only include the
grains of the
field, but also the flocks of the dead! Thus not only did her Eleusinian retinue include agricultural demons such as Dysaules and cultural heroes such as
Triptolemos, but also infernal beings such as Baubo and Daeira. In the theology of Orphism, she is fused with the Magna
Mater, which also includes Kabiren and Idaean dactyls.
Festivals of Demeter:The most important place of worship for Demeter was in Eleusis, which is said to have been an entrance to the underworld. The Eleusinian Mysteries were held every year in their honour. But with the spread of Christianity, the cult of Eleusis lost its importance. After an attempt by Emperor
Julian II. Apostata to revive the mysteries, Emperor
Theodosius I had the temple closed in 392. Four years later the Temple of Eleusis was finally destroyed by the
Visigoths under Alaric I.
Coin #3Thrace, Anchialos,
Gordian III, 238-244
AE 25, 9.8g, 24.74mm, 225
the so-called "Dreier (= value of Three)"
Av.:
AVT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC AVΓ
Laureate
head.r.
Rv.: AΓXIAΛ - EΩN
Demeter, richly draped and veiled, sitting on a basket (cista mystica), holding in her
outstretched right hand ears of grain and poppy and in her raised left hand long
torch.
Ref:
AMNG II, 641
var. (3 ex., 1, 2 in
Berlin, 3 in
Sofia), Av. (3)
Sofiarare, almost VF
Note:Here Demeter is depicted sitting as in
Knidos (see below), but on a cista mystica, and thus has a relationship with the Eleusinian Mysteries.
In
Greece there was the
Thesmophoria, a 10-day festival in honour of Demeter. Only women were allowed to participate in this festival. In
his comedy "
Thesmophoriazusai", 411 B.C., Aristophanes mocks the festival: He has Euripides and
his brother-in-law dressed in women's clothes mingle with the celebrants, which gives the opportunity for rough jokes. It is known that Alkibiades, together with
his comrades,
had imitated this festival a few years earlier, in 415. He
had disguised himself as the high priest, another one
had played the torchbearer. This led to the famous trial against him and to
his deposition as commander-in-chief of the campaign to
Sicily (the so-called
Hermen Crimes).
History of Art:A popular theme in
antiquity was the abduction of
Persephone by Hades, pictures of her stay in the underworld and her return.
Triptolemos are also frequently found. But motifs from other Demeter
mythology are rarely found. Here is one of these rarer depictions:
Demeter sitting on a throne stretches out her hand to Metaneira, who sits before her and
hands her three ears of wheat. Detail of an Apulian red-figured
hydria, c. 340 BC, attributed to the Varese painter. Today in the Old Museum of the National Museum in
Berlin. Metaneira, the mother of
Triptolemos,
had given Demeter a warm welcome when she came to
Attica.
Reliefs with
triptolemos and
statues of Demeter are known from ancient times, such as the sitting statue of
Knidos. Here Demeter is depicted in a serene, timeless posture, underlining her maternal role in the
pantheon of the 12 Olympic Gods. In
Knidos she was worshipped together with Hades and other underworld gods and her daughter
Persephone. The marble statue dates from 350 BC and is now in the British Museum in
London.
Mythological representations of Demeter, on the other hand, as already mentioned, are only few in
antiquity. This changed in modern times. As an example: the ceiling painting by Giovanni the Udine from the Villa Farnesina in
Rome (1511/12) shows
Venus,
Hera and Demeter.
Demeter/Ceres is often depicted in a triumphal
chariot to celebrate
happiness and prosperity. She was painted by Rubens with
Pan and
nymphs. The motto of Terenz "
Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus" (= without fruit and wine
Venus freezes) also served as a model for emblems and paintings.
Sources:(1)
Homer, Ilias
(2) Hesiod, Theogony
(3) Vergil, Georgica
(4) Ovid, Ars amatoria
(5) Kallimachos, Hymnes
(6) Apollodoros, Bibliotheke
(7) Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheke
(8) Pausanias, Voyages in
Greece Secondary Lietrature:(1) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon
(2) Wilhelm Heinrich Röscher, Lexikon der Mythologie
(3) Karl Kerenyi, Die Mythologie der Griechen
(4)
Robert von Ranke-Graves, Griechische Mythologie
(5) Der Kleine
Pauly(6) Reclams Lexikon der antiken Götter und Heroen in der Kunst
(7) Hans-Joachim Hoeft, Münzen und antike Mythologie - Reise in ein fernes Land, 2017
Online Sources:(1) theoi.com
(2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demeter_of_Knidos
(3) sammlung.theologie.uni-halle.de/demeter/
(3)
WikipediaBest regards