The Rape of Persephone
LYDIA, Mostene. Faustina Junior. Augusta, AD 147-175. Æ 26mm (11.81 g, 12h). FAVCTЄINA CЄBACTH, draped bust right / MOCTHNΩN ΛVΔ Ω N,
The Rape of Persephone: Hades driving quadriga right, head left, holding scepter and grasping the struggling Persephone. SNG München -; SNG von Aulock -; SNG Tübingen -; SNG Copenhagen -; BMC -; RPC Online 7790. VF, earthen green patina. Very rare, only three examples cited in RPC Online.
Hades fell in love with Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, and asked Zeus for permission to marry her. Fearing to offend his eldest brother by a downright refusal but also knowing that Demeter would not forgive him if Persephone were committed to the underworld, Zeus diplomatically answered that he could neither give nor withhold his consent. This act emboldened Hades to abduct Persephone as she was picking flowers in a meadow and carry her away in his horse-drawn chariot to the underworld.
