|
IONIA, Ephesos. Symmachy coinage. Circa 405/4 BC. AR Tridrachm – Double Siglos (21mm, 10.93 g, 11h). The Herakliskos Drakonopnigon: the Infant Herakles crouching right, strangling a serpent coiled around each arm; Σ-Y-N around / Bee with straight wings; E-Φ flanking head, Π-E across field below. Karwiese II, Series 9.1, 170 (O2/R7); Delrieux, Ententes 20–1 (D1/D2); Hecatomnus p. 101, 9 (O2/R7); SNG von Aulock 7821 = SNG Lockett 2808 = Weber 5836 (same obv. die); SNG Kayhan 144. Rough surfaces, horn silver, cleaning marks. VF. Very rare.
From the Hesiod Collection.
At the turn of the fifth to fourth centuries BC, several important cities in western Asia Minor – Byzantium, Knidos, Kyzikos, Ephesos, Iasos, Lampsakos, Rhodes, and Samos – struck an issue of silver coinage bearing on the obverse the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon – the infant Herakles strangling a pair of serpents – along with the Greek letters ΣYN, generally interpreted as syn[machoi] (allies). The significance of the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon, which was the badge of this alliance, has been the subject of significant debate, especially in establishing the chronology of this short-lived alliance.
The figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon was depicted in Greek art from the first half of the 5th century BC and represents an important event in the early life of the Greek hero. The birth of Herakles, son of Zeus and Alkmene, enraged Zeus’ wife Hera, who tried to kill the infant by sending two serpents to strangle the sleeping baby in his crib. The following morning, the nurse discovered Herakles playing with the serpents' lifeless bodies: he had strangled one in each hand. The use of this image as the badge of the alliance is significant. S. Karweise in his article, "Lysander as Herakliskos Drakonopnigon (NC 140 [1980], pp. 1-27) argued that the infant Herakles probably represented the Spartan admiral Lysander, whose defeat of the Athenians at Aigospotamoi in 405 BC effectively ended the Peloponnesian War. Lysander was a member of the Heraklidai – considered to be direct descendents of Herakles – and the use of the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon would have been particularly apt, given that Spartan power was now on the rise, having "strangled" that of Athens. Thus, for Karweise, these coins should have been struck shortly after the end of the war – about 404 BC. This interpretation continues to be offered when the coinage is discussed (see Sitta von Reden, Money in Classical Antiquity [Cambridge, 2010], p. 80).
Dismissing the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon as just a contemporary type in favor of the significance of the Greek letters ΣYN, and beginning with those issues of Rhodes with figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon, but without the Greek letters ΣYN, Delrieux argued that the alliance of these cities occurred in two brief phases – the first circa 395-390 BC, when Rhodes became the base of operations for the Athenian general Konon and his ally, the Persian general, Pharnabazos, against the Spartans. In 394 BC, following the defeat of the Spartan fleet at Knidos, many cities north along the Ionian Coast, including Ephesos and Samos, joined this alliance, which continued through to at least 390 BC when Sparta reasserted control in Asia Minor. The second phase began circa 389-387 BC. At that time, the Athenian general Thrasyboulos, who replaced Konon as commander (he had since been imprisoned by the Persians), began re-establishing Athenian alliances with those Asia Minor cities that had previously been their allies (many of these cities once belonged to the Delian League). The result of this action was Spartan fear over a resurgent Athenian empire, prompting counter-attacks against the cities of the Hellespont and the Propontis. To protect themselves from these attacks, these pro-Athenian cities allied themselves. With the King's Peace in 386 BC, however, this second phase of the alliance was no longer necessary: the alliance broke up and ceased striking this coinage.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 129 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 13-14 May 2025. This lot is in Session One, which will begin 13 May at 9 AM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
|
