|
Greek city of
Phalanna in
Thessaly
Bronze 17mm (4.06 grams) Struck circa 350-325 B.C.
Reference: HGC 4, 175; Sear 2180; BCD Thessaly I, lot 1255; BCD Thessaly II,
lots 578-580 and 591 3-8
Head of Ares right.
ΦΑΛΑΝΝΑΙΩΝ, Head of
nymph Phalanna right, hair in sakkos.
On the Peneios, a few miles upstream from Larissa
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Ares
is the
Greek god
of war
. He is one of the
Twelve Olympians
, and the son of
Zeus and Hera
. In
Greek literature
, he often represents the
physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored
Athena
, whose functions as a
goddess of intelligence
include
military strategy
and
generalship
.
The Greeks were
ambivalent
toward Ares: although he embodied
the physical valor necessary for success in war, he was a dangerous force,
“overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering.” Fear
(Phobos)
and Terror (Deimos)
were yoked to his battle
chariot
. In the
Iliad
his father Zeus tells him that he is
the god most hateful to him. An association with Ares endows places and objects
with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality. His value as a war god is even
placed in doubt: during the
Trojan War
, Ares was on the losing side, while
Athena, often depicted in
Greek art
as holding
Nike (Victory)
in her hand, favored the
triumphant Greeks.
Ares plays a relatively limited role in
Greek mythology
as represented in literary
narratives, though his numerous love affairs and abundant offspring are often
alluded
to. When Ares does appear in myths, he
typically faces humiliation. He is well known as the lover of
Aphrodite
, the goddess of love who was married
to Hephaestus
, god of craftsmanship, but the most
famous story involving the couple shows them exposed to ridicule through the
wronged husband’s clever device.
The counterpart of Ares among the
Roman gods
is
Mars
, who as a father of the Roman people held
a more important and dignified place in
ancient Roman religion
for his agricultural and
tutelary
functions. During the
Hellenization
of
Latin literature
, the myths of Ares were
reinterpreted
by Roman writers under the name
of Mars. Greek writers under
Roman rule
also recorded
cult practices
and beliefs pertaining to Mars
under the name of Ares. Thus in the
classical tradition
of later
Western art and literature
, the mythology of
the two figures becomes virtually indistinguishable.
In this 1896 painting by
John William Waterhouse
,
Hylas
is abducted by the
Naiads
, i.e. fresh water nymphs
Echo,
an Oread
(mountain nymph) watches
Narcissus
in this 1903 painting by
John William Waterhouse
.
|
A
nymph (Greek:
νύμφη, nymphē) in
Greek mythology
and in
Latin mythology
is a minor female nature deity
typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from
goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature,
and are usually depicted as beautiful, young
nubile
maidens who love to dance and sing;
their amorous freedom sets them apart from the restricted and chaste wives and
daughters of the Greek
polis
. They are believed to dwell in
mountains and
groves
, by springs and rivers, and also in
trees and in valleys and cool
grottoes
. Although they would never die of old
age nor illness, and could give birth to fully immortal children if mated to a
god, they themselves were not necessarily immortal, and could be beholden to
death in various forms.
Charybdis
and
Scylla
were once nymphs.
Other nymphs, always in the shape of young maidens, were part of the
retinue
of a god, such as
Dionysus
,
Hermes
, or
Pan
, or a goddess, generally the huntress
Artemis
. Nymphs were the frequent target of
satyrs
.
Etymology
Nymphs are personifications of the creative and fostering activities of
nature, most often identified with the life-giving outflow of springs: as
Walter Burkert
(Burkert 1985:III.3.3) remarks,
“The idea that rivers are gods and springs divine nymphs is deeply rooted not
only in poetry but in belief and ritual; the worship of these deities is limited
only by the fact that they are inseparably identified with a specific locality.”
The
Greek
word
νύμφη has “bride” and “veiled” among its meanings: hence a marriageable
young woman. Other readers refer the word (and also
Latin
nubere and
German
Knospe) to a root expressing the
idea of “swelling” (according to
Hesychius
, one of the meanings of
νύμφη is “rose-bud”).
Adaptations
The Greek nymphs were spirits invariably bound to places, not unlike the
Latin genius loci
, and the difficulty of
transferring their cult may be seen in the complicated myth that brought
Arethusa
to Sicily. In the works of the
Greek-educated
Latin poets
, the nymphs gradually absorbed into
their ranks the indigenous Italian divinities of springs and streams (Juturna,
Egeria
,
Carmentis
,
Fontus
), while the
Lymphae
(originally Lumpae), Italian
water-goddesses, owing to the accidental similarity of their names, could be
identified with the Greek Nymphae. The mythologies of classicizing Roman poets
were unlikely to have affected the rites and cult of individual nymphs venerated
by country people in the springs and clefts of
Latium
. Among the
Roman
literate class, their sphere of influence
was restricted, and they appear almost exclusively as divinities of the watery
element. Nymphs are also portrayed as selfish and as attention seekers who walk
around naked in the middle of forests.
Thessaly was home to an extensive
Neolithic
culture around
2500 BC
.
Mycenaean
settlements have also been discovered, for example at the sites of
Iolcos
,
Dimini
and
Sesklo
(near
Volos
). Later, in
ancient Greek
times, the lowlands of Thessaly became the home of baronial
families, such as the
Aleuadae
of
Larissa
or
the Scopads of Crannon. These baronial families organized a federation across
the Thessaly region, later went on to control the
Amphictyonic League
in northern Greece. The
Thessalians
were renowned for their cavalry.
In the summer of
480 BC
, the
Persians invaded Thessaly. The Greek army that guarded the
Vale
of Tempe
, evacuated the road before the enemy arrived. Not much later,
Thessaly surrendered. The Thessalian family of
Aleuadae
joined the Persians. In the
Peloponnesian War
the Thessalians tended to side with Athens and usually
prevented Spartan troops from crossing through their territory with the
exception of the army of Brasidas.
Jason of Pherae
briefly transformed the country into a significant military
power, though he was assassinated before any lasting achievements were made. In
the 4th century BC
Thessaly became dependent on
Macedon
and many served as vassals. In
148 BC
the
Romans formally incorporated Thessaly into the province of
Macedonia
, though in 300 AD Thessaly was made a separate province with its
capital at Larissa
.
It was part of the Byzantine Empire and suffered many
invasions. In 977 it was occupied by the Bulgarians, who remained there until
1014. In 1204 he was assigned to
Boniface of Montferrat
and in 1225 to
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
, despot of
Epirus
. From
1271 to 1318 he was an independent despotate that extended to
Acarnania
and Aetolia
,
run by John III Angelos Komneno. In 1309 settled there the
Almogavars
or
Catalan Company
of the East (Societas Catalanorum Magna), which in 1310,
after lifting the siege of Thessalonica, withdrew as mercenaries in the pay of
the sebastocrátor
John II, and took over the country organized in a democracy.
From there went to the
Duchy of Athens
called by the duke Walter I. In 1318, with the extinction of
the dynasty of Angelos, the Almogavars occupied Siderocastron and southern
Thessaly (1319) and formed the
duchy of Neopatria
.
Later it was occupied by the
Serbs
until 1393,
after being dominated by the
Ottomans
. In 1821 participated in the
Greek War of Independence
, but was not recognized as part of
Greece
until
1881.
|
