The Abduction of Persephone by Hades

"And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy;
but the wide-pathed earth yawned opened there in the Plain of Nysa,
and the Lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her.
The Son of Kronos, He who has many names,
caught her up against her will upon his golden chariot,
and bore her away lamenting."
- Homeric Hymn to Demeter

The tale of Persephone's abduction by Hades, the God of the Underworld, was one of the most famous in Greek mythology. It was the popular of subject of vase paintings, frescos, mosaics, and sculpture for many centuries, and during the rule of the Roman Empire, coins showing the scene of the abduction were struck in Provincial mints from Sicily and Macedonia to Lydia, Cicilia, Phoenicia and Judaea.

I'd been keeping my eye out for a decent example of the type when this 2nd century civic issue of Hierapolis jumped out at me. It's not particularly high grade, but the style is excellent and the devices are quite nicely highlighted by the earthen deposits. It has an attractive feminine bust of Dionysos on the obverse (feminine even for Dionysos!), and I particularly love that the reverse is anepigraphic, with no legends to distract from the scene itself.

As always, please feel free to post anything you feel may be appropriate.


PHRYGIA, Hierapolis
Civic Issue
AE28. 12.36g, 28mm. Circa AD 2nd-3rd centuries. RPC Online 2045; SNG Cop 428. O: IЄPAΠOΛЄI-TΩN, head of youthful Dionysos right, wearing ivy wreath. R: The Abduction of Persephone: Hades in galloping quadriga right, carrying off struggling Persephone.

A mural from a Macedonian royal tomb, thought to have been painted by Nicomachus of Thebes between 360-330 BC, depicts Persephone's abduction by Hades.


The Abduction of Persephone sets the stage for the story of Demeter's quest for the return of her daughter, which itself plays a vital part in the Eleusinian mysteries of her cult. Demeter had visited Eleusis in Attica in the guise of an old woman when mourning Persephone's loss. There, she was received hospitably by the royal family of Eleusis. One of the Eleusinian princes who found favour with her was Triptolemos, to whom she revealed the secrets of her religion and that of agriculture. Amongst her gifts to him was a chariot and a pair of winged serpents. Triptolemos was to use this flying, snake-drawn chariot to travel across the earth, spreading the knowledge of agriculture and the use of the plough.

 

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I will have to look for one with the abduction scene, but for now, all I have is this Heron II with Persephone obverse


SICILY, SYRACUSE, HIERON II
AE19
OBVERSE: Head of Persephone left, wreathed with corn, wearing earring and necklace
REVERSE: Bull butting left
Struck at Syracuse, Sicily 275-265 BC
4.3g; 17mm
BMC. Sicily, p 219, 624

 

Great coin, Zumbly! Intersting to me is that Hades' chariot is heading "up"! Thoughts? Did the die engraver get it wrong?

 

Just galloping off to make a quick getaway, I think! Either that, or I've orientated the reverse at the wrong angle .

 

Very cool 'Z'----I love the style!!!

 

NICE write-up @zumbly ! Cool coin, and cool Mkedon Tomb scene! Love that!

You helped add further significance to my Persephone coins! THANKS!


SICILY Kentoripai Æ Hexas 16mm 3.0g 344-336 BCE Persephone r grain ear plow w bird two pellets Calciati III BMC Sicily 12ff


Sicily Syracuse Hieron II 275-269 BC AE 22 Persephone Bull LEFT


Sicily Syracuse Hieron II 275-269 BC AE 15 Persephone Bull RIGHT Rare

 

Great coin and great write up Z. That's a really cool painting you posted as well. Too bad more didn't survive from antiquity.

 

+1

 

That is a wonderful coin and writeup. Thanks for illuminating us.

 

IMHO, the best displayed works of art in Rome are found in the Borghese Gallery. Appointments must be made in advance (weeks for spring and summer; days for winter), and a fixed number of persons are allowed in the gallery at one time. This means that you don’t have to elbow your way to the front to see something. Indeed, I think the viewing blocks are something like 3 hours each. Most visitors are done after 1-2 hours. This means that if you take things slow and outlast the rest of the tourists, you can have some of the greatest Renaissance and Baroque art (esp. key Caravaggios) all to yourself for an hour.

Bernini’s Rape of Persephone occupies a central palazzo room. Pluto’s hand seems to melt into Persephone’s marble flesh, as if the latter were soft butter. It’s a yoking of eroticism and violence that is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing. The photo was taken by me in January 2016.

 

I just love mythological scenes! Great catch!

I wonder if there is a reference for mythological scenes? You know, like architecture?

 

A sweet coin and great post.

 

Wonderful coin Zumbly!!! Great story! Looks like I will have to add to my want list

 

Nice pic! And thanks for the tip about the Borghese Gallery. I'll remember that when I get to visit Rome again.

 

Not that I know of, but I can't say I've actually gone looking for one. There's an old but excellent thread on Forvm on the topic of mythological reverses. It's very long, so the index found on the last page of the thread is helpful if you're looking for a specific myth.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=25089.0

 

@zumbly .. While reading your great write-up, I remembered one of my newly-acquired Greek coins. It has Dionysos on obverse and Demeter on reverse. So I scanned it promptly before I shoot it soon. I don't want to miss the immediate intervention in this educational thread. It was struck in Apamea- Syria, and weighs 6.9 g. RPC 4370.

 

These flans of these coins from Sebaste in Samaria are usually too small for the design, which is unfortunate because the design is so interesting. This one shows the horses and Eros, but Hades and Persephone are off the flan.

0
Julia Soaemias, AD 218-222
Roman provincial Æ 21.4 mm, 10.97 g
Samaria, Sebaste, AD 218-222
Obv: SVAMIAS AVGVSTA SEB, bare-headed and draped bust right
Rev: COL L SEBAS-TE, Hades in galloping quadriga right abducting Persephone, Eros above
Refs: Rosenberger 34; BMC 18

 

Great looking coin, and what a cool reverse. Looks like it would be great in hand, some weight to it, nice smooth surfaces, convex obverse and concave reverse (look like?)...all good for touching!

 

The abduction of Persephone by Hades engraved on the bezel of a roman ring!