hello all.
today i have a question about a coin i purchased last Fall. it is a
Provincial bronze (26mm) from Perinthos in
Thrace, circa 1st - 3rd century AD...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=1966&pos=0the coin is described as
Demeter veiled right, holding flower in hand / Artemis Tauropolus advancing right, holding two torches.my question is; why is this
Artemis Tauropolus?
Artemis Tauropolus is known to us mainly from Euripides' tragedy 'Iphigenia in Tauris', and Her temple is thought to have been in Tauris (obviously), an
area identified with the Crimean peninsula. not too far from
Thrace, but not exactly next door either. Her cult is said to have practiced human sacrifice, offering up any stranger to their shores. nasty stuff!
Alexander III apparently desired to build a temple to Her in
Amphipolis, but it never materialized before
his death.
okay
fine, but what does any of that have to do with my coin?
the
obverse of this coin is not just a random
portrait of Demeter, but rather a depiction of a
specific myth. this is Demeter veiled and in mourning, gazing longingly at the last reminder of Her lost daughter
Persephone. a very melancholy and touching scene, and the reason i bought this coin (which is outside of my usual collecting
area).
Artemis Tauropolus
had nothing to do with this particular myth, but another goddess was intricately involved...
Hekate.
when Demeter was searching for Her missing daughter, it was
Hekate who told Her of hearing Persephone's cries. and when the situation was finally resolved, and it was decided that
Persephone would spend a certain portion of each year in the Underworld with Hades, it was
Hekate who agreed to
act as guide
(propolos) on this annual journey. this is further confirmed (to me anyway) by the fact that the goddess on the
reverse of this coin is carrying
two torches (phosphoros).
it is true that
Artemis may also be granted the epithet
phosphoros, but in this role She is usually depicted carrying only one torch. this is also true of Demeter, who is occasionally shown carrying a torch.
in fact the example on
Wildwinds is described as Demeter...
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/thrace/perinthos/Moushmov_4386.jpgbut this
still denies the fact that this
coin shows the myth of Demeter and
Persephone, and as such the
reverse can only be a depiction of
Hekate, imo.
now i have read
Greek mythology extensively, as well as Greek drama, and i have delved rather deeply into many of the original sources. however i am not a scholar and i have no college degree in the classics, so i am turning to the many experts here at
Forvm.
why isn't this
Hekate?
thank you in advance for any light shed here (pun very much intended!
).