Agora Auctions, LLC
Numismatic Auction 40 8 September 2015
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Troas, Gergis. 4th century B.C. AE 17 (16.9 mm, 3.62 g, 10 h). Laureate head of the sibyl Herophile facing slightly right / ΓEP, Sphinx seated right. SNG Cop 338; SNG von Aulock 1515. aVF, minor pitting.
Sergey Nechayev: ï¾The Sibyl played an important role in antiquity. The first recorded use of the name Sibyl was in the fifth century BC. Originally Sibyl was the name given to a single prophetic woman. However the name became generic, and Sibyl was used to identify a woman who couldï¾ prophesize. The Sibyls were most commonly associated with Apollo, who provided them with divine insight into the future.They were highly revered, and there work was accumulated in a corpus called the Sibyline books. This collection was housed in the Capitoline Temple of Jupiter., where they could only be consulted by the senate. The interest in sibyls throughout the Mediterranean world most likely stemmed from their close connection with Rome and the Sibyline corpus. The Sibyle Herophile was one of the ten Sibyls commonly known. She was a daughter of a nymph and a mortal. Herophile was meant to have been born near Gergis, at Marpessus, and her tomb was in the temple of Apollo at Gergis. Gergis was one of the three cities known to commemorate Sibyls on their coins. Her appearance on cois from Gergis would be a way of paying tribute to Herophile as well as indicating the important location of Gergis in terms of its proximity to the resting place of divine Sibyl. Herophile was said to have predicted the fall of Troy. She gave her prophecies in verse, and she delivered them standing on a stone which she always carried with her.ï¾
Sergey Nechayev: ï¾The Sibyl played an important role in antiquity. The first recorded use of the name Sibyl was in the fifth century BC. Originally Sibyl was the name given to a single prophetic woman. However the name became generic, and Sibyl was used to identify a woman who couldï¾ prophesize. The Sibyls were most commonly associated with Apollo, who provided them with divine insight into the future.They were highly revered, and there work was accumulated in a corpus called the Sibyline books. This collection was housed in the Capitoline Temple of Jupiter., where they could only be consulted by the senate. The interest in sibyls throughout the Mediterranean world most likely stemmed from their close connection with Rome and the Sibyline corpus. The Sibyle Herophile was one of the ten Sibyls commonly known. She was a daughter of a nymph and a mortal. Herophile was meant to have been born near Gergis, at Marpessus, and her tomb was in the temple of Apollo at Gergis. Gergis was one of the three cities known to commemorate Sibyls on their coins. Her appearance on cois from Gergis would be a way of paying tribute to Herophile as well as indicating the important location of Gergis in terms of its proximity to the resting place of divine Sibyl. Herophile was said to have predicted the fall of Troy. She gave her prophecies in verse, and she delivered them standing on a stone which she always carried with her.ï¾