Thasos - Satyr & Nymph - Museum Gallery

March 2023

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Thasos, an island off Thrace, AR drachm, before c. 450 B.C. Not a full blown version but still a pre-classical style ithyphallic Satyr [archaic] advancing forward, carry off a nymph. Reverse shows a quadripartite incuse square resembling a swastika. [3.99g] Dewing 1325. S 1748.
Thasos, an island off the coast of Thracia, was famous for its wine and the associated patron diety, Dionysus. The earliest versions of this most distinctive type [archaic] began around 550 B.C. and developed until 450 B.C. when Athens banned her allies the priviledge of coining. When Thasos revolted in 411 B.C. she revived this type in a classical style which attenuated the base ithyphallic presentation and clothed the nymph. Thasos also adopted the 'Rhodian' coinage standard at that time. The earliest versions depict the satyr with full beard and the nymphs hand raised in protest. Toward the end of the archaic period (450 B.C) the satyr now has a shortened beard and the nymphs hand is around the back of his neck [this coin]. This transition, from the archaic style to the classical one, may be seen to reflect the refining of attitudes toward the myth and its expression on the coinage.