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Lot 26
Thrace. Island of Thasos, c. 435-410 BC. AR Stater (8.78 g). Nude satyr to right, in archaic kneeling-running position, holding draped, protesting nymph; dolphin at right. Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square. Gulbenkian 464 var.; SNG Cop. 1017; cf Dewing 1324. Well centered, lightly toned. Superb example, in finest classical style. NGC graded About Uncirculated.
As significant as wine was to Thasos, so too was the wine-associated cult of Dionysus -- not to just the island, but throughout the whole region in particular. Dionysus, known as the god of fertility and wine, was one of the most important gods to the Greeks. Legends concerning him are profuse and contradictory, but his origins are most ancient and his myths preserve some religious traits that can be considered primitive in the extreme. Perhaps a deity of Thracian origin, he was on the one hand (according to Orphic legend) known as Dionysus Zageus, son of Zeus and Persephone. In other legends he was the son of Zeus and Semele. As a child he was raised by nymphs on Mount Nysa, where he would one day invent the art of wine making. When grown to manhood, he wandered through many lands, teaching men the lore of the vine, along with the mysteries of his cult. Accompanying him was an entourage of characters, including maenads, and nymphs. His worship was ecstatic, and women figured prominently in the rites.
On the archaic-style coins up to about 465 BC - the satyrs are aggressively ithyphallic, with animal features, and the female gesticulating in protest over her abduction. By the time of the coin above, their art has been filtered through the civilizing conventions of classical art, best seen on Athens' famed Parthenon. Now the harmonious and balanced composition shows the creature as an older, but fit man (although he does still retain the horse's ear and tail). He now carries the nymph, rather than clutching her tightly. Similarly with the nymph, she appears surprised, but not overly resistant, as in the earlier versions. These changes may not just be artistic reconfigurations, but may well reflect changes in the rites of Dionysus as well. Subsequently, his worship became more formalized, calmer. It was believed that the wine and ecstatic frenzy would not just liberate and unburden man, but that it could prove inspirational -- that it could even endow him directly with "divine creativity."
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000.
Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 7.
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