Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 123 23-24 May 2023
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LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 160s BC. AR Tetradrachm (35mm, 14.32 g, 1h). Bearded head of Zeus-Ammon right, wearing laurel wreath / Facing xoanon of bearded Dionysos facing, wearing polos; MYTIΛH-NAΩN flanking, monogram to lower right, monogram and club to lower left, Π below; all within wreath of ivy. Cf. EHC 650 and CH VIII, pl. LXIV, 2 (for type); otherwise, unpublished in the standard references. Find patina, fine cleaning scratches in field on obverse. VF. Extremely rare.
The reverse of this extremely rare type of tetradrachm from Mytilene displays a xoanon, or wooden figure, of Dionysos. Dionysos was extremely important on Lesbos where a number of mysteries associated with him took place. The images of Athena and Dionysos first appear on the earliest electrum issues of Mytilene. The terminus, or xoanon, of Dionysos on the prow has also long been associated with the coinage of Mytilene, appearing on its bronze issues. According to Pausanias (10.19.3), an unusual olive-wood "head of unusual features" was caught up in the nets of some Methymnian fishermen off the coast of Lesbos. Although they threw the head back into the sea, they nevertheless picked it up in their nets again and again. Finally, the Methymnians travelled to Delphi to ask the Pythia for assistance on what they should do. She responded, "worship Dionysos Phallen." Subsequently, a cult was established on Lesbos, including a festival in which the object was paraded through the streets of Mytilene. Likewise, the city of Krounoi in Moesia was renamed Dionysopolis in Moesia when a similarly unusually-shaped piece of wood was recovered from the sea near there.
The reverse of this extremely rare type of tetradrachm from Mytilene displays a xoanon, or wooden figure, of Dionysos. Dionysos was extremely important on Lesbos where a number of mysteries associated with him took place. The images of Athena and Dionysos first appear on the earliest electrum issues of Mytilene. The terminus, or xoanon, of Dionysos on the prow has also long been associated with the coinage of Mytilene, appearing on its bronze issues. According to Pausanias (10.19.3), an unusual olive-wood "head of unusual features" was caught up in the nets of some Methymnian fishermen off the coast of Lesbos. Although they threw the head back into the sea, they nevertheless picked it up in their nets again and again. Finally, the Methymnians travelled to Delphi to ask the Pythia for assistance on what they should do. She responded, "worship Dionysos Phallen." Subsequently, a cult was established on Lesbos, including a festival in which the object was paraded through the streets of Mytilene. Likewise, the city of Krounoi in Moesia was renamed Dionysopolis in Moesia when a similarly unusually-shaped piece of wood was recovered from the sea near there.