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Greek city of
Terina
in
Bruttium
Silver 1/6 Stater 11mm (1.08 grams) Struck circa 400-356 B.C.
Reference: SNG Ans 873 Pedigree: Ex Superior Sale May 30 1995, lot 7113 (Lewis
Egnew Collection)
Head of nymph left.
TE, Nike seated left on stool, holding wreath.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
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
.
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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.
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.
Originally a colony of Croton, Terina was founded late in the
6th Century B.C. on a site that has not certainly been identified, but which
likely is beneath the modern city of Sant’Eufemia Vetere on the south-western
coast of the Italian peninsula. It seems to have remained under the influence of
its mother city until 365 B.C., when it came under the dominion of the Lucanians,
who nine years later were replaced by the Bruttians. Except for a brief
intervention by Alexander the Molossian in about 330/325 B.C., Terina remained
under the Bruttian yoke until 203 B.C., when it was razed by the army of
Hannibal. If coinage may be taken as a yardstick for civic pride, the spirit of
this city remained intact despite its history of continual subjugation to
stronger peoples. Its ‘independent’ silver coinage spans more than 150 years,
and with few exceptions its silver coins feature on the obverse a female head,
and on the reverse a female figure (usually winged) standing, seated or taking
flight. The engravers at Terina demonstrated their creativity by creating a
significant variety of styles and sub-types within this comparatively narrow
range of subject matter. This coin was struck from one of the most accomplished
sets of dies from Terina. The portrait clearly is meant to represent a divinity
(most probably the fountain nymph Terina) but in this case the figure on the
reverse is not the usual winged figure (Victory or a syncretic figure), but a
wingless female. A wingless figure occurs only one other time on the silver
coinage of Terina – on the very first issue, on which the figure holds a branch,
is contained within a wreath, and is identified by the inscription as Nike;
Poole and Head specifically identified her as Nike Apteros. There is less
certainty about the figure on this coin, which ultimately Holloway and Jenkins
consider a personification of the city itself, being crowned by a small Victory
which flies toward her from behind. Since the coinage of Terina has strong
agonistic content, we might consider this remarkable composition to celebrate an
athletic victory.
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