It goes without saying that much of Roman mythology was borrowed from the Greeks, and the retelling of the story of Proserpina (Persephone) is no exception. Here is a link to a full article on Proserpina, the goddess of fertility, wine and agriculture, Ceres, her mother and goddess of grain and harvest, their cult during the Roman Republic, and the story of her abduction by Pluto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proserpina One of the poignant aspects of the tale has Pluto, ordered by Jupiter and Mercury to free Proserpina, make her eat six pomegranate seeds, thereby assuring that she would never return the world of the living. She would live six months with Pluto (Winter) and six months with her mother, Ceres (Spring). Thus we have one version of the change of seasons. Here is a famous work by Rossetti (1873-1877), of Proserpina holding the pomegranate from Pluto. Clearly, she in not happy about the consequences of consuming the six seeds, but she really had no choice in the matter. Living year-round, forever, with Pluto, her abductor, was not an attractive alternative to say the least! So, why this thread? Well, I came across a coin that I've had for a while and forgot about, a very common occurrence these days. This is an AE 30, from Henna (Enna), Sicily, minted between 44-36 BC. Henna was the center for the cult of Ceres, with her daughter, the "Mother and Maiden". The grove of Ceres in Henna was known as the umbilicus Siciliae ("The navel of Sicily"). Her temple there was famed for the cult's worship. Here's the coin. Roman Republic, 44-36 BC L. Cestius and L. Munatius (duoviri) Æ30 of Henna, Sicily L MVNATIVS M CESTIVS, veiled head of Ceres left, wearing grain ear wreath; torch behind / Pluto and Proserpina driving quadriga right; MVN HENNAE above. RPC 661; Calciati 12; SNG ANS -. 16.17g, 30mm, 12h. Very Fine. From a private European collection, acquired from Bertolami Fine Arts - ACR Auctions. So, please post any coins on this subject or anything else you please.... Thanks
Cool addition to your collection, @robinjojo! Not an easy one to acquire. Some numismatists (Beckmann) believe Proserpina is portrayed on the reverse of this coin. Faustina I, AD 138-140. Roman orichalcum sestertius, 22.8 g, 31.5 mm, 6 h. Rome, AD 147. Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: AVGVSTA, female figure, veiled, standing left, holding short torch in each hand. Refs: RIC 1120; BMCRE 1516-18; Cohen 91; RCV 4625; Strack 1283.
Wonderful write up and a coin that I've not seen before. Certainly one of the first Greek mythological stories many of us were introduced to Here's one that is identity isn't certain but often gets the billing as Persephone: Lokris Opuntia Hemidrachm around 350 BCE 2.60 g. Head of a nymph/Persephone with reed wreath, simple ear pendants and necklace to the right / Ajax in the Corinthian helmet with drawn short sword storming to the right, holding above the left arm oval shield with a lion as inner jewelry, spear lying on the ground. BMC 26 Very nice I've one from Sicily but today still take some searching...
Great coin and write-up! Before I had any coins portraying Ceres, all I had depicting her or the myth was this illustration by Margaret Evans Price from my childhood copy of A Child's Book of Myths (published in 1924): I now have a couple of coins that depict Ceres: Roman Republic, C. [Gaius] Marius C.f. Capito, AR Serrate Denarius 81 BCE [Harlan: 81/80 BCE], Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Ceres right, wearing earring, head bound with corn wreath, hair falling down neck; CAPIT• upwards behind, with legend followed by control number CI; control symbol (knife [Crawford, Table XXXIII at p. 395 ] or distaff [BMCRR p. 355]) to right of chin* / Rev. Husbandman/plowman left holding goad in right hand and plow in left, with yoke of two oxen plowing left with heads turned to face forward; horizontal test cut and control-number CI above; C•MARI•C•F / S•C [Senatus consulto] on two lines in exergue. Crawford 378/1c; RSC I Maria 9; Sear RCV I 300 (ill.); Sydenham 744b; BMCRR Vol. I 2855-2890 [Control-number CI is no. 2873]; Harlan, Michael, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012) [“RRM I”], Ch. 2 at pp. 8-13. 19 mm., 3.97 g., 10 hr. Purchased Feb. 21, 2021 from Nomos AG, Obolos Auction 18, Lot 468.** [Footnotes omitted.] Roman Republic, C. Memmius C.f., AR Denarius, 56 BCE [Crawford], 57 BCE [Harlan], Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Quirinus right [deified aspect of Romulus and/or Italian deity worshipped on Quirinal Hill; see footnote], hair long, beard in formal ringlets, C•MEMMI•C•F downwards to right, QVIRINVS downwards to left; banker’s mark or test mark to left of Quirinus’s eye, in shape of bird? inside flower or star/ Rev. Ceres seated right, holding torch in left hand and corn ear in right hand; at her feet, snake rearing with head right; MEMMIVS •AED• CERIALIA•PREIMVS•FECIT [translated as “Memmius as aedile first held the games of Ceres” (Harlan RRM II pp. 99-100)] downwards from upper left; old graffiti resembling an “X” to right of Ceres. Crawford 427/2, RSC I Memmia 9 (ill.), Sear RCV I 388 (ill.), BMCRR 3940; Sydenham 921; Harlan RRM II, Ch. 12 at pp. 95-103; RBW Collection 1532; Jones, J.M., A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (1990) [entry for “Quirinus” at p. 264]. 19.5 mm., 3.71 g.* [Footnote omitted.] Diva Faustina I [Senior] (wife of Antoninus Pius), AR Denarius, prob. 150-160 AD [see Dinsdale, infra at p. 216 -- including this type among coins issued upon and after 10th anniversary of Faustina’s deification]. Obv: Draped bust right, DIVA FAVSTINA / Rev: Ceres, veiled, standing left, holding torch in left hand and holding right hand up in greeting, CONSECRATIO. RIC III 382b corr.*, RSC II 165a, Sear RCV II 4593, Dinsdale 020610 [Dinsdale, Paul H, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar AD 138-161: Antonine Coinage (2018) at p. 249; photo at p. 254]. 17 mm., 3.3 g. [Footnote omitted.]
That’s a great coin @robinjojo, love those mythological types. Here is an earlier bronze from Sicily with Persephone (Kore): Sicily, Syracuse, circa 275-269 BC, (AE 20mm., 5.45g.), Wreathed head of Persephone (Kore) left,; uncertain symbol behind neck./ Rev. Bull butting l.; above, club above T; IE in exergue. Calciati 191.
So, who was Prosperina? Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia link: "Just as Persephone was thought to be a daughter of Demeter, Romans made Proserpina a daughter of Demeter's Roman equivalent, Ceres. Like Persephone, Proserpina is associated with the underworld realm and its ruler; and along with her mother Ceres, with the springtime growth of crops and the cycle of life, death and rebirth or renewal. Her name is a Latinisation of "Persephone", perhaps influenced by the Latin proserpere ("to emerge, to creep forth"), with reference to the growing of grain." Now we go to Pluto/Ploutos: Here are depictions of youthful Pluto/Ploutos: Commodus. 177-192 AD. Marcianopolis, Moesia Inferior, Æ 21; 5.9 gm; 6h. Obv: ΑΥ Κ Λ ΑΥΡ ΚΟΜΟΔΟC; His laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΕΤΩΝ; Tyche/Demeter/ Euposia standing facing, head left, wearing kalathos, holding rudder and cornucopia, with infant Ploutos - Pluto seated in the curve of the cornucopia, raising his left hand toward an ear of corn hanging from the cornucopia or to Euposia. This coin is listed in several sources, none of which describe Plutos' presence, such as RPC IV online (Temp) #4320. Varbanov__. References to Varbanov 709 are incorrect. That coin does not include Ploutos/Pluto. A fine larger depiction of Ploutos/Pluto on the cornucopia is at the coin below Phrygia, Laodikea/Laodicea ad Lycum. Pseudo-autonomous. Time of Antoninus Pius; 138-161 AD. Struck c. 139-147 AD. Æ17 mm; 2.75 gm; 6h. Aelius Dionysius Sabinianus, [Αιλιοσ Διονυσιοσ Cαβινιανοσ] Magistrate. Obv: Bust of Helios r., radiate, wearing chlamys; border of dots. Rev: ΛΑΟΔΙ ΔΙΟΝΥ. Cornucopiae containing corn and fruit, on the bend of the horn sits infant Ploutos, his r. hand raised toward a hanging ear of corn; border of dots. BMC 98 [M.J. Borrell 1845]. Pl. XXXV 8. SNG Cop. 535; F. Imhoof-Blumer, MG 403, no. 116, pl. G, no. 27 And now we come to another question: Who is Euposia as mentioned under the first coin above? Our resident, true expert on mythology,Jochen, addressed this at the CoinTalk link below: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/eubosia.329222/ Jochen equates her to Demeter. Your heads must be spinning by now, trying to keep track of who is who. Mine is
Thank you all for your wonderful coins and comments. On a somewhat different track, I have just started reading Graves' The White Goddess. a lengthy series of essays on the role of the goddess in cultures from ancient times, through the middle ages and beyond. This is not an easy book to read, but it does provide insights on how human civilization evolved from Neolithic times through the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, in which patriarchy supplants matriarchy in religion, and how this is reflected in literature and poetry. Here's a short excerpt. "Skelton [a British poet, ca. 1495] in his Garland of Laurell thus describes the Triple Goddess in her three characters as Goddess of the Sky, Earth and Underworld: Diana in the leaves of green, Luna that so bright doth sheen, Persephone in Hell. As Goddess of the Underworld she was concerned with Birth, Procreation and Death. As Goddess of the Earth she was concerned with the three seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter: she animated trees and plants and ruled all living creatures. As Goddess of the Sky she was the Moon, in her three phases of New Moon, Full Moon and Waning Moon. This explains why from a triad she was so often enlarged to an ennead."
Nice coins, Andres2. I especially like the obverse of Persephone, on the first Syracusan coin. The bull on the second Syracusan coin's reverse is done in a very dynamic style! He almost seems as if he is trying to butt his way out of the coin.
Great thread and interesting coin, @robinjojo. One of my favorite Roman provincials features Persephone's abduction by Hades. PHRYGIA, Hierapolis. Pseudo-autonomous civic issue AE29. 12.36g, 29.1mm. PHRYGIA, Hierapolis, 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. The depiction is similar to a mural found in a royal Macedonian tomb, which some believe painted by Nicomachus of Thebes between 360-330 BC.
That's a very nice coin, one that I have seen before and is on my want list. The reverse, in particular, is really nice. Also, that Macedonian mural from the fourth century BC is fascinating, and in good preservation for over two millennia.
