Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Bithynia, Herakleia Pontika Æ35. Circa 3rd century AD. Diademed bust of Herakles to left, wearing lion skin over left shoulder, club over right shoulder / [HPAKΛHAC MATPOC AΠOIKΩN ΠOYIΩN, Herakles seated to left on a rock, right hand outstretched towards an Eros attempting to lift Herakles' cub; before, a tree in which another Eros is perched, drawing his bow. Waddington, Recueil général, 78 (same dies); SNG BM Black Sea -; SNG Stancomb -. 21.82g, 35mm, 6h.
Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The reverse of this coin presents a question: is the Eros at Herakles' feet assisting the great hero, who beckons with his right hand, or has this Eros been caught in the act of theft? Many artworks depicting Eros feature the diminutive deity with the attributes of Herakles, wearing his lion skin headdress and sometimes carrying his club. It is an iconographical type that was developed and elaborated in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, that somewhat tongue-in-cheekily suggest that love is as mighty as the all-conquering hero. S. Wood (Herakles' attributes and their appropriation by Eros, 1989) notes "Eros was not, in fact, the first to appropriate for himself the attributes of Herakles. From an early period popular imagination realised that even the mighty Herakles would occasionally be placed in a situation that lesser creatures could take advantage of. Before the Hellenistic period Kerkopes, satyrs and goat-legged Pans made use of whatever opportunities there were to steal Herakles' attributes; thereafter these subhuman thieves appear to have been replaced by a group of Erotes or a single Eros."
Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The reverse of this coin presents a question: is the Eros at Herakles' feet assisting the great hero, who beckons with his right hand, or has this Eros been caught in the act of theft? Many artworks depicting Eros feature the diminutive deity with the attributes of Herakles, wearing his lion skin headdress and sometimes carrying his club. It is an iconographical type that was developed and elaborated in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, that somewhat tongue-in-cheekily suggest that love is as mighty as the all-conquering hero. S. Wood (Herakles' attributes and their appropriation by Eros, 1989) notes "Eros was not, in fact, the first to appropriate for himself the attributes of Herakles. From an early period popular imagination realised that even the mighty Herakles would occasionally be placed in a situation that lesser creatures could take advantage of. Before the Hellenistic period Kerkopes, satyrs and goat-legged Pans made use of whatever opportunities there were to steal Herakles' attributes; thereafter these subhuman thieves appear to have been replaced by a group of Erotes or a single Eros."