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Seleukid Kindom
Antiochos IX Kyzikenos – King:
113-96 B.C. –
Bronze 18mm (5.71 grams) Struck circa 113-96 B.C.
Reference: Sear 7173; SNG Israel 2743; BMC 4.94,27; HGC 9, 1254; SC 2379
Winged bust of Eros right.
Nike advancing left, holding wreath; on right ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ;
on left, ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤOΡΟΣ;
in field
to left, Seleucid date.
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provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Antiochus IX Cyzikenes, ruler of the
Greek
Seleucid kingdom
, was the son of
Antiochus VII Sidetes
and
Cleopatra Thea
. Upon the death of his father in
Parthia
and his uncle
Demetrius II Nicator’s
return to power (129
BC), his mother sent him to
Cyzicus
on the
Bosporus
, thus giving him his nickname. He
returned to Syria
in 116 BC to claim the
Seleucid
throne from half-brother/cousin
Antiochus VIII Grypus
, with whom he eventually
divided Syria. He was killed in battle by the son of Grypus,
Seleucus VI Epiphanes
in 96 BC.
Eros, in
Greek mythology
, was the
primordial god
of sexual love and beauty. He
was also worshipped as a fertility deity. His
Roman
counterpart was
Cupid
(“desire”), also known as Amor (“love”).
In some myths, he was the son of the deities
Aphrodite
and
Ares, but according to Plato’s
Symposium
, he was conceived by Poros (Plenty)
and Penia (Poverty) at Aphrodite’s birthday. Like
Dionysus
, he was sometimes referred to as
Eleutherios, “the liberator”.
Conception
Eros depicted on an
Attic red-figure
bobbin (ca.
470–450 BC)
Throughout Greek thought, there appear to be two sides to the conception of
Eros. In the first, he is a primeval deity who embodies not only the force of
love but also the creative urge of ever-flowing nature, the firstborn Light for
the coming into being and ordering of all things in the cosmos. In
Hesiod’s
Theogony
, the most famous Greek
creation myth
, Eros sprang forth from the
primordial
Chaos
together with
Gaia
, the Earth, and
Tartarus
, the
underworld
; according to
Aristophanes
‘ play
The Birds
(c. 414 BC), he burgeons forth
from an egg laid by Nyx
(Night) conceived with
Erebus
(Darkness). In the
Eleusinian Mysteries
, he was worshiped as
Protogonus
, the first-born.
Worship of Eros was uncommon in early Greece, but eventually became
widespread. He was fervently worshiped by a fertility cult in
Thespiae
, and played an important role in the
Eleusinian Mysteries
. In
Athens
, he shared a very popular cult with
Aphrodite, and the fourth day of every month was sacred to him.
Eros and Psyche
The story of Eros and Psyche has a longstanding tradition as a folktale of
the ancient Greco-Roman world long before it was committed to literature in
Apuleius
‘
Latin
novel,
The Golden Ass
, this is apparent and an
interesting intermingling of character roles. The novel itself is picaresque
Roman style, yet Psyche and Aphrodite retain their Greek parts. It is only Eros
whose role hails from his part in the Roman pantheon.The story is told as a
digression and structural parallel to the main storyline of Apuleius’ novel. It
tells of the struggle for love and trust between Eros and Psyche. Aphrodite is
jealous of the beauty of mortal Psyche, as men are leaving her altars barren to
worship a mere human woman instead, and so commands her son Eros to cause Psyche
to fall in love with the ugliest creature on earth. Eros falls in love with
Psyche himself and spirits her away to his home. Their fragile peace is ruined
by a visit from Psyche’s jealous sisters, who cause Psyche to betray the trust
of her husband. Wounded, Eros leaves his wife and Psyche wanders the Earth,
looking for her lost love.
In Apuleius’s The Golden Ass, Psyche bears Cupid a daughter,
Voluptas
(“Pleasure, Desire”).
A Roman copy of Eros Stringing the Bow from the
Capitoline Museum
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss
in the
Louvre
,
Paris
.
The
Shaftesbury Memorial
in
Piccadilly Circus
, London, is popularly
mistaken for Eros.[4]
In fact it represents
Anteros
.
Citations
from classical sources
[Hera addresses Athene :] We must have a word with Aphrodite. Let us go
together and ask her to persuade her boy [Eros], if that is possible, to loose
an arrow at Aeetes’ daughter, Medea of the many spells, and make her fall in
love with Iason . . . (Apollonius
of Rhodes,
Argonautica
3. 25 ff a Greek epic of
the 3rd century B.C.)
“He [Eros] smites maids breasts with unknown heat, and bids the very gods
leave heaven and dwell on earth in borrowed forms.” (Seneca,
Phaedra
290 ff)
“Once, when Venus son [Cupid, aka Eros] was kissing her, his quiver dangling
down, a jutting arrow, unbeknown, had grazed her breast. She pushed the boy
away. In face the wound was deeper than it seemed, though unperceived at first.
[And she became] enraptured by the beauty of a man [Adonis].” (Ovid,
Metamorphoses
10. 525 ff)
“Eros drove Dionysos mad for the girl [Aura] with the delicious wound of his
arrow, then curving his wings flew lightly to Olympos. And the god roamed over
the hills scourged with a greater fire. (Nonnus,
Dionysiaca
48. 470 ff a Greek epic of
the 5th century AD)
In
Greek mythology
,
Nike
was a
goddess
who personified
victory
, also known as the Winged Goddess of
Victory. The Roman equivalent was
Victoria
. Depending upon the time of various
myths, she was described as the daughter of
Pallas
(Titan) and
Styx (Water) and the sister of
Kratos
(Strength),
Bia
(Force), and
Zelus
(Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close
companions of Zeus
, the dominant deity of the
Greek pantheon
. According to classical (later)
myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the
Titan War
against the older deities. Nike
assumed the role of the divine
charioteer
, a role in which she often is
portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the
victors with glory and fame.
Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged
deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is
the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance
of Athena
, and is thought to have stood in
Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.
Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.
Names stemming from Nike include amongst others:
Nicholas
, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas,
Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.
Antiochos
IX Kyzikenos, ruler of the
Greek
Seleucid kingdom
, was the son of
Antiochus VII Sidetes
and
Cleopatra Thea
. Upon the death of his father in
Parthia
and his uncle
Demetrius II Nicator’s
return to power (129
BC), his mother sent him to
Cyzicus
on the
Bosporus
, thus giving him his nickname. He
returned to the Seleukid Kingdom in 116 BC to claim the
Seleucid
throne from half-brother/cousin
Antiochus VIII Grypus
, with whom he eventually
divided the kingdom. He was killed in battle by the son of Grypus,
Seleucus VI Epiphanes
in 96 BC.
Seleucid
Empire
Σελεύκεια
Seleúkeia |
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312 BC–63 BC |
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The Seleucid Empire in 301 BC.
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The Seleucid Empire
was a
Hellenistic
state ruled by the Seleucid dynasty
founded by
Seleucus I Nicator
following the division of
the empire created by
Alexander the Great
. Seleucus received
Babylonia
and, from there, expanded his
dominions to include much of Alexander’s
near eastern
territories. At the height of its
power, it included central
Anatolia
, the
Levant
,
Mesopotamia
,
Kuwait
,
Persia
,
Afghanistan
,
Turkmenistan
, and northwest parts of
India
.
The Seleucid Empire was a major center of
Hellenistic
culture that maintained the
preeminence of
Greek
customs where a Greek-Macedonian
political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population of
the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by emigration from
Greece
. Seleucid expansion into
Anatolia
and Greece was abruptly halted after
decisive defeats
at the hands of the
Roman army
. Their attempts to defeat their old
enemy
Ptolemaic Egypt
were frustrated by Roman
demands. Much of the eastern part of the empire was conquered by the
Parthians
under
Mithridates I of Parthia
in the mid-2nd century
BC, yet the Seleucid kings continued to rule a
rump state
from
the Seleukid Kingdom
until the invasion by
Armenian
king
Tigranes the Great
and their ultimate overthrow
by the Roman
general
Pompey
.
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