Nice issue.
As dougsmit wrote, the iconography of the
hare on the coinage of Rhegion and
Messana (Zankle), the two cities of the Straits of Messina, is closely linked to the historical figure of the tyrant Anaxilas (circa 500-476 b.C.). He was architect of the period of major
military and political power of the ancient colony of
Chalcis, Rhegion.
Anaxilas was responsible for the creation of the
Magna Graecia Strait powerful State, and politically united today's city of Reggio and Messina. That State, which only for a short time managed to control
maritime traffic, is historically the first attempt to bring political unity to the two sides of the Strait.
The tyrant died in 476 BC after 18 years of unchallenged power, going down in
history as the first
man to have joined the Straits of Messina under a single political authority.
Anaxilas gained control of Rhegion in 494 and subsequently in 488 seized control of Zancle, which he re-named
Messana, after transferring a large contingent of Messenian refugees from the
Peloponnesos there.
Immediately after the conquest,
Messana adopted the same
types and
weight system of Rhegion (Euboean-Calcidian: one stater-tridrachm = circa 17,2g = three drachms 6,70g).
Eight years later, probably to give
his empire a more international economic power, on 480 b.C. Anaxilas decided to adopt for the two ciites the
Attic standard (one stater-tetradrachm = circa 17,4g = four drachms 4,36g), and introduced the new
types Biga of mules/Hare bounding.
And here we come to the topic of this discussion.
BIGA OF
MULES:
Aristotele tells us (Arist. Rhet. 3, 2, 1405b 23) that Anaxilas won the
mule biga event in the Olympic Games, probably on 484 or 480 b.C.
The Olympic
victory is celebrated by the charioteer shown on the
obverse of this coin and similar issues from
Messana, which probably represents the tyrant himself during the race.
HARE:
Aristotele also tells us that Anaxilas "introduced the
hare into
Sicily" (Arist. fr. 578 R ap. Poll. V, 15).
For a long time scholars have wondered if this passage from Aristotle is to be interpreted in a literal way, meaning that he
had introduced a new variety of
hare to
hunt in
Sicily.
Perhaps the question is a
bit more complex, and "the introduction of the
hare" is to be interpreted in a metaphorical sense, meaning the introduction of a cult linked to the animal.
The solution to the riddle
comes from another
type, an extremely
rare Tetradrachm minted in the same city,
Messana, some years after the death of Anaxilas (photo courtesy Staatliche Museen
Berlin)
Here we can clearly understand that the
hare is a religious symbol, linked to the cult of the god
Pan.
Homeric Hymn 19 to Pan (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.) :
"Hermes . . . came to Arkadia (Arcadia), the land of many springs and mother of flocks, there where his sacred place is as god of Kyllene (Cyllene). For there, though a god, he used to tend curly-fleeced sheep in the service of a mortal man, because there fell on him and waxed a strong melting desire to wed the rich-tressed daughter of Dryopos, and there he brought about the merry marriage. And in the house she bare Hermes a dear son who from his birth was marvellouse to look upon, with goat's feet and two horns--a noisy, merry-laughing child. But when the nurse saw his uncouth face and full beard, she was afraid and sprang up and fled and left the child. Then luck-bringing Hermes received him and took him in his arms: very glad in his heart was the god. And he went quickly to the abodes of the deathless gods, carrying his son wrapped in warm skins of mountain hares, and set him down beside Zeus and showed him to the rest of the gods. Then all the immortals were glad in heart and Bakkheios (Bacchic) Dionysos in especial; and they called the boy Pan [i.e. derived from the word pantes meaning ‘all’] because he delighted all their hearts.".And what is the link between
Pan and Anaxilas?.
Anaxilas was a shrewd and intelligent statesman.
He knew that the Messenians from him deported to Zancle after the expulsion of Samians, would need to adapt to the new land, in order to be reliable subjects of
his domain.
For the
men of ancient
Greece probably the emotional bond more closely with their cultural roots was made up of myths and legends popular in their homeland. Well, we know from archaic poets like
Pindar, that the cult of
Pan was widely spread in the neighboring regions of Arcadia and Messenia, quite the homelands of the new citizens of Zankle-Messana!
So, in my opinion, the
hare on the coins of
Messana, has a political-cultural meaning.
Bye friends
Nico
