Dear friends of ancient Mythology! Hades, Ploutos, Pluto, Pluton and then Serapis are an almost inextricable group of underworld gods. Here I will try to untangle this tangle a little. Hades was the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea and a brother of Zeus, Poseidon and Hera (Homer). Hesiod added Hestia and Demeter to him. He was swallowed by Kronos, as were all his children except Zeus, but was then broken out again by an emetic of Metis. According to some, it was also a stone that Zeus then had erected for worship at Delphi. In the battle of the Titans, Hades sided with Zeus. He used the Hades cap, a camouflage cap that made him invisible. According to an older legend, he had been given this by the Cyclopes in gratitude for their liberation, just as Zeus was given the bundle of lightning and Poseidon the trident. After that, the world was divided: Zeus got the sky, Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld. Earth and Olympos were common property. According to Homer, he was the implacable god of the underworld, his kingdom a place of terror and horror. It was as closed off as Zeus' heaven. That is why he was also called Zeus katachthonios, the subterranean Zeus. His attribute was the sceptre. His wife was Persephone, who was an equally implacable judge. But they only became judges in Aeschylos. Later genealogists also named Radamanthys, Minos and Sarpedon (or Aiakos) as judges of the underworld (Cicero, Ovid). They did not form a family. The Furies were close to them, but could not have been his daughters, which they were later made to be. Hades does not actually appear in myths, since he knows nothing of Earth and Olympos in the underworld. He does not intervene in the human world. There are only 2 stories in which he comes to the upper world, whereby the robbery of Persephone also only takes place at the command of Zeus. (1) In the Homeric Hymns, the story is told of the robbery of Persephone, which had happened near Nysa, but whose geographical location is unclear. When Persephone/Kore was playing there in a flower meadow, the earth suddenly opened up and Hades came in a chariot with his 4 immortal black horses and abducted her into the underworld. Claudius Claudianus even knows the names of the horses: Aethon, Alastor, Nykteus and Orphnaios. Note: Claudius Claudianus, born c. 370 probably in Alexandria - died after 404, was a late ancient Greek writer, court poet under Honorius and Stilicho. One of his most important works is the mythological epic "de raptu Proserpinae". Around 400, a statue was even erected for him on Trajan's Forum in Rome, the pedestal of which is still preserved. 1st coin: Lydia, Maionia, Marcus Aurelius, 161-180. AE 35, 24.70g, 0° struck under the archon Quintus, who was 1st archon for the second time Obv.: AVT KAIC - ANTΩNEINOC AVP Laureate bust r. Rev.: E-Π-I KVEINTOV B - AP - X A - MAIONIΩN. Hades, with clothes blowing in the wind, charging in quadriga r., head turned l., embracing the struggling Persephone, who has spread her arms in despair; r. beneath the horses her fallen basket of flowers; above them the flying Eros. Ref.: SNG by Aulock 3018 VF, pretty blue-green patina, flan crack at 7h. Pedigree: ex coll. Marcel Burstein, Nevada ex auction Peus 366, 2000 The second time there was a fight with Herakes at the gate to the underworld when he brought up Kerberos. In the process Hades was hit on the shoulder by an arrow from Herakes and had to be healed on Mount Olympo by Paion, the physician of the gods. 2nd coin: Bithynia, Herakleia Pontika, Septimius Severus, 193-211. AE 30, 17.23g, 30.09mm, 195°. Obv.: .AV - T. - K.Λ.CEΠ. - CEVHPOC Π Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r. Rev.: HPAKΛHAC - EN ΠON - TΩ. Herakles, nude, lion skin over left arm, holding club with left hand over arm, standing frontally, head turned l., holding in his lowered right hand by a rope the three-headed Kerberos, who is sitting l. beside him r. and looking up at him Ref.: SNG of Aulock 378 (Obv. same die, Rev. however different type; for Rev. cf. 397 for Macrinus); not in SNG Copenhagen, SNG Tübingen, SNG Lewis; not in Rec. Gen. extremely rare, fig. almost SS, roughness on Vs. Pedigree: ex lanznumismatik, Ebay, 2007. Later Ovid tells us that Hades fell in love with the nymph Menthe, who was transformed by Persephone out of jealousy into the spearmint (Mentha spicata). Mentha spicata, own photo from my mapping, Vöhringen, district of Rottweil, August 2021 Another nymph, Leuke ("the White"), is said to have been transformed into the white poplar (Populus alba) after her death. In the Suda, another daughter Makaria is given as the daughter of Hades and Persephone, who does not appear anywhere else. In contrast to Thanatos, she stands for blessed death. Etymologically (but not mythologically!) related is the Island of the Blessed, where today the Macaronesian Islands are understood to mean the Canary and surrounding islands. It is understandable that the fearfulness of his nature made him shy and afraid to speak his name. This gave rise to a multitude of euphemisms, e.g. "the many-absorber", where the many were the dead. Or "the great host". In the Odyssey, he was also the psychopompos who guided the dead into the underworld with his staff, like Hermes later on. He was also called Zagreus (= the great hunter), a name that later stood for Dionysus, "the honourable one" or even Euboulos the "benevolent one". As "gatekeeper" he possessed the key to the underworld, which he later gave to Aiakos. These euphemisms are connected with the Eleusinian Mysteries. Under their influence, there was a complete transformation of the conception in the 5th century. Through the important role of Persephone, the god of the dead became a god of fertility and vegetative wealth. And this also required a new name: Hades became Plouton! He was the god who was responsible for grain, the source of prosperity, but also for the metals in the earth. He first appeared among the poets of the 5th century, where he was later also called Plouteus. His iconography included the cornucopia. Ploutos now represents the milder side of the chthonic powers and displaces Hades from this aspect until it sinks to a mere place name. In contrast to Hades, there were numerous cults for Ploutos and also theoxenia, guest banquets with the god. Ploutos, the son of Demeter and Iasion (Hesiod), is to be strictly distinguished from Plouton. He is the figure of abundance and wealth, originally of the grain store stored underground. In Eleusis he had a naiskos and was worshipped as a "divine child", probably as an inheritor of Minoiscan ideas. His birth was one of the Eleusinian dromena (cultic acts). Here it was a child of Gaia, as there was no room for another son besides Plouton and Persephone. Since after the emergence of trade and commerce a more effortless and also more dishonest profit was possible, Ploutos was readily attributed with injustice and blindness (Pauly). Although he is depicted as a child, according to Roscher he is not a personification but only an allegory of wealth. 3rd coin Phrygia, Hierapolis, pseudo-autonomous, 3rd century AD. AE 27, 11.72g, 27.07mm, 180°. Obv.: IEPAΠOΛEI - TΩN (from upper left) Head of Dionyso with wreath of ivy r. Rev.: EUBO - CIA (from lower left) Eubosia as Demeter, standing in long robe and cloak l., holding in raised right hand 2 ears of grain and in left arm cornucopiae on which little Ploutos sits and holds out his arms to her. Ref: Numismatics Naumann Auction 44, June 2016, lot 693 (at Wildwinds, same dies!) unpublished in the larger works Very rare, F+ to near VF, greenish brown patina Pedigree: ex Bertolami Fine Arts E-Auction 49, 12.11.17, Lot 484. (mislabelled as SNG of Aulock Pisidia I, 891-7; RPC IX 997. But that is Decius and from Isinda!) Notes: (1) Personification is the conception and representation of non-human objects as persons, as human beings of definite character. (2) Allegory (from Greek = "to speak otherwise"), for a long time understood in art only as a sensual representation of something abstract. In 1928, W. Benjamin detached it from its subordination to the symbol and placed it alongside the symbol as its own form of expression. Through his study of Baroque art, he found that it is, in terms of the philosophy of history, an art form of the decaying times (Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe). Cults: The triad Demeter, Kore, Hades/Pluto is certainly already known Pelasgic. Strabon writes that Hades was originally the king of the Cauconians, a pre-Greek people on the Peloponnes, who only gradually became the underworld god of the Greeks. The only sanctuary specifically dedicated to Hades was in Pylos, because Hades came to the aid of Pylos when it was attacked by Herakles. Especially in Asia minor there were several plutoniums, which were mostly seen as entrances to the underworld, e.g. in Aphrodisias or Hierapolis. The photo shows the Plutonion in Hierapolis/Phrygia (Wikipedia). Here, carbon monoxide (or carbon dioxide) leaked from a fissure in the earth, forming an invisible lake that was deadly to those who did not know their way around. This was passed off as a miracle by the initiated priests. Pausanias describes most of the places of worship in the Peloponnese, always together with Demeter. Male and female animals of black colour were sacrificed to him, especially piglets, which were thrown into pits. Such a sacrifice is also described in the Odyssey, when Odysseus wants to question Teiresias in the underworld. Kirke advises him to sacrifice one female and one male black sheep, but necessarily with their faces turned away. Art History: Because of Hades' unpopularity, there is little evidence and depictions are not consistent throughout. He is usually depicted like Zeus or Poseidon with flowing hair on his head. After Bryaxis created his famous statue of Serapis in Alexandria, all subsequent images resemble him, as can be seen beautifully on the following coin. 4th coin Moesia inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Caracalla, 198-217 AE 28, 14.47g, 28.24mm, 0° struck under the governor Aurelius Gallus Obv.: AV.K.M.AVP - ANTΩNIN Laureate head r. , slight drapery on l. shoulder. Rev.: VΠA AVP.ΓAΛΛOV N - I - KOΠOLEITΩN / ΠPOC ICTPO Hades/Serapis, in himation, with Kalathos, enthroned l., resting on long sceptre with raised l. hand and holding outstretched r. hand over three-headed Kerberos at his feet. Ref.: a) not in AMNG b) Varbanov 3092 c) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2021) 8.18.6.1 (this coin) not common, almost VF, black patina In 212 Carcalla had consecrated a temple of Serapis on the slope of the Quirinal. Roman marble copy of the cult statue of Serapis from Alexandria, found in 1750 in Pozzuoli during the Bourbon excavations, today in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. It is clearly visible that the image on the coin is based on the statue of Bryaxis. It is the blessing giver related to the Plouton with Kalathos. It is therefore Serapis with charges to the benevolent side of Hades. Sources: (1) Homer, Odyssey (2) Hesiod, Theogony (3) Pausanias, Periegesis (4) Strabon, Geographika (5) Cicero, de natura deorum (6) Ovid, Metamorphoses Literature: (1) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon, Leipzig 1770 (also online). (2) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführlichen Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (also online). (3) The Kleiner Pauly (4) Karl Kerenyi, Mythology of the Greeks (5) Robert von Ranke-Graves (6) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov, The coins of Nicopolis ad Istrum, Blagoevgrad 2021 (7) Kirchner/Michaelis, Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe, WBG 1998 (8) Wikimedia Best regards Jochen
Thank you for the great writeup. @Jochen1 . As always, I love the coins and other art you chose as illustrations. Here is my most relevant coin: 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. I'm afraid that Cerberus's three heads look more like an ordinary single head with two front paws on this coin. Here are some illustrations of a famous myth involving Hades/Pluto, from my 1924 copy of "A Child's Book of Myths," which belonged to my father. It was both written and illustrated by the well-known children's writer Margaret Evans Price. The illustrations are very 1920s-ish! Pluto chilling out in Hades, before he sees Proserpina: Pluto kidnaps Proserpina Ceres is sad: Mercury to the rescue, sent by Jupiter: Proserpina eating the fateful seeds: And because the book missed its chance to depict the reunion of Proserpina and her mother, here's the scene on the reverse of my Antoninus Pius aureus depicting Ceres and Proserpina, with the latter holding a pomegranate: And they all lived happily ever after. The End.
@DonnaML Beautiful pictures and what a wonderful aureus, matching the peaceful reign of Antoninus Pius! Thanks for showing Jochen
@Jochen1 ...Thoroughly enjoyed your write up.....Great looking coins... Postumus, Antoninianus, 260-269, Trier, , Billon 21MM Obverse- Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG Reverse- Serapis standing left, raising hand & holding sceptre; prow at his feet to left SERAPI COMITI AVG RIC-329 Trier mint (AD 267)
