Greek Island of THASOS HUGE Ancient HUGE Silver Greek Coin Nude Hercules i16765

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Greek Island of THASOS HUGE Ancient HUGE Silver Greek Coin Nude Hercules i16765:
$4577.77

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Item: i16765

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Thasos on Island in the Thracian Sea
Silver Tetradrachm 34mm (16.91 grams) Struck circa 148-50 B.C.
Reference: Sear 1759; B.M.C. 3.67-78
Head of young Dionysos right, wreathed with ivy and with band across forehead.
Hercules, naked, standing left, holding club, lion\'s skin over left arm; monogram in field to left.

Following the defeat of Andriscus and the organization of Macedonia into a Roman province, the output of the great silver mines was sent to the Thracian mints of Maroneia and Thasos for conversion to coin.

A rich and fertile island off the southern coast of Thrace, Thasos possessed prolific gold mines and had a controlling interest in many of the silver mines on the mainland.

You are offerding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

Dionysus Bacchus was thegod of the grape harvest,winemaking andwine, of ritual madness andecstasy inGreek mythology. His name inLinear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC byMycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancientMinoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner; in others, fromEthiopia in the South.

He is a god of epiphany, \"the god that comes,\" and his \"foreignness\" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults. He is a major, popular figure ofGreek mythology andreligion, and is included in some lists of thetwelve Olympians. Dionysus was the last god to be accepted into Mt. Olympus. He was the youngest and the only one to have a mortal mother His festivals were the driving force behind the development ofGreek theatre. He is an example of adying god.The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a mature male, bearded and robed. He holds afennel staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth: the literature describes him as womanly or \"man-womanish.\"In its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession (thiasus) is made up of wild female followers (maenads) and beardedsatyrs witherect penises. Some are armed with the thyrsus, some dance or play music. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers, and is sometimes attended by a bearded, drunken Silenus. This procession is presumed to be the cult model for the human followers of hisDionysian Mysteries. In hisThracian mysteries, he wears the bassaris or fox-skin, symbolizing a new life. Dionysus is represented by city religions as the protector of those who do not belong to conventional society and thus symbolizes everything which is chaotic, dangerous and unexpected, everything which escapes human reason and which can only be attributed to the unforeseeable action of the gods.

He was also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by theRomans and the frenzy he induces, bakkheia. His thyrsus is sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey. It is a beneficent wand but also a weapon, and can be used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. He is also the Liberator (Eleutherios), whose wine, music and ecstatic dance frees his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subverts the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake of his mysteries are possessed and empowered by the god himself. His cult is also a \"cult of the souls\"; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.

In Greek mythology, he is presented as a son ofZeus and the mortalSemele, thus semi-divine orheroic: and as son of Zeus andPersephone orDemeter, thus both fully divine, part-chthonic and possibly identical withIacchus of theEleusinian Mysteries. Some scholars believe that Dionysus is asyncretism of a local Greek nature deity and a more powerful god fromThrace orPhrygia such asSabazios orZalmoxis.

NamesEtymology

The dio- element has been associated since antiquity with Zeus (genitiveDios). The earliest attested form of the name isMycenaean Greek di-wo-nu-so, written inLinear B syllabic script,found on two tablets atMycenaeanPylos and dated to the 12th or 13th century BC.

Later variants include Dionūsos and Diōnūsos in Boeotia;Dien(n)ūsos in Thessaly;Deonūsos and Deunūsos in Ionia; and Dinnūsos in Aeolia, besides other variants. A Dio- prefix is found in other names, such as that of theDioscures, and may derive from Dios, the genitive of the name of Zeus.

The second element -nūsos is associated with MountNysa, the birthplace of the god in Greek mythology, where he was nursed by nymphs (theNysiads),but according toPherecydes of Syros, nũsa was an archaic word for \"tree.\"

The cult of Dionysus was closely associated with trees, specifically thefig tree, and some of hisbynames exhibit this, such as Endendros \"he in the tree\" or Dendritēs, \"he of the tree.\" Peters suggests the original meaning as \"he who runs among the trees,\" or that of a \"runner in the woods.\" Janda (2010) accepts the etymology but proposes the more cosmological interpretation of \"he who impels the (world-)tree.\" This interpretation explains how Nysa could have been re-interpreted from a meaning of \"tree\" to the name of a mountain: theaxis mundi ofIndo-European mythology is represented both as aworld-tree and as aworld-mountain.

In the Greekpantheon, Dionysus (along withZeus) absorbs the role ofSabazios, aThracian/Phrygian deity. In theRoman pantheon, Sabazius became an alternate name for Bacchus.

MythologyBirth

Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into theOlympian pantheon. His mother was a mortal woman, Semele, the daughter of kingCadmus ofThebes, and his father wasZeus, the king of the gods. Zeus\' wife,Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone (in other stories a nurse), Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele\'s mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood.

Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Therefore he came to her wreathed in bolts of lightning; mortals, however, could not look upon an undisguised god without dying, and she perished in the ensuing blaze. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born on Mount Pramnos in the island ofIkaria, where Zeus went to release the now-fully-grown baby from his thigh. In this version, Dionysus is born by two \"mothers\" (Semele and Zeus) before his birth, hence the epithet dimētōr (of two mothers) associated with his being \"twice-born.\"

In the Cretan version of the same story, whichDiodorus Siculus follows, Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Persephone, the queen of theGreek underworld. Diodorus\' sources equivocally identified the mother as Demeter. A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sendingTitans to rip Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. It is said that he was mocked by the Titans who gave him a thyrsus (a fennel stalk) in place of his rightful sceptre.Zeus turned the Titans into dust with his thunderbolts, but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, byAthena,Rhea, orDemeter. Zeus used the heart to recreate him in his thigh, hence he was again \"the twice-born.\" Other versions claim that Zeus recreated him in the womb of Semele, or gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her.

The rebirth in both versions of the story is the primary reason why Dionysus was worshipped inmystery religions, as his death and rebirth were events of mystical reverence. This narrative was apparently used in several Greek and Roman cults, and variants of it are found inCallimachus andNonnus, who refer to this Dionysus with the title Zagreus, and also in several fragmentary poems attributed to Orpheus.

The myth of the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans, is alluded to byPlato in hisPhaedo (69d) in which Socrates claims that the initiations of the Dionysian Mysteries are similar to those of the philosophic path. Late Neo-Platonists such asDamascius explore the implications of this at length.

Infancy at Mount Nysa Hermes and the Infant Dionysus by Praxiteles, (Archaeological Museum of Olympia).

According to the myth Zeus gave the infant Dionysus into the charge ofHermes. One version of the story is that Hermes took the boy to KingAthamas and his wifeIno, Dionysus\' aunt. Hermes bade the couple raise the boy as a girl, to hide him from Hera\'s wrath.[39] Another version is that Dionysus was taken to the rain-nymphs ofNysa, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care Zeus rewarded them by placing them as theHyades among the stars (seeHyades star cluster). Other versions have Zeus giving him to Rhea, or to Persephone to raise in the Underworld, away from Hera. Alternatively, he was raised byMaro.

Dionysus in Greek mythology is a god of foreign origin, and while Mount Nysa is a mythological location, it is invariably set far away to the east or to the south. TheHomeric hymn to Dionysus places it \"far from Phoenicia, near to the Egyptian stream.\" Others placed it in Anatolia, or inLibya (\'away in the west beside a great ocean\'), in Ethiopia (Herodotus), orArabia (Diodorus Siculus).

According toHerodotus:

As it is, the Greek story has it that no sooner was Dionysus born than Zeus sewed him up in his thigh and carried him away to Nysa in Ethiopia beyond Egypt; and as for Pan, the Greeks do not know what became of him after his birth. It is therefore plain to me that the Greeks learned the names of these two gods later than the names of all the others, and trace the birth of both to the time when they gained the knowledge. —Herodotus, Histories 2.146

The Bibliotheca seems to be following Pherecydes, who relates how the infant Dionysus, god of the grapevine, was nursed by the rain-nymphs, theHyades at Nysa.

Childhood

When Dionysus grew up, he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice; but Hera struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. InPhrygia the goddessCybele, better known to the Greeks as Rhea, cured him and taught him her religious rites, and he set out on a progress through Asia teaching the people the cultivation of the vine. The most famous part of his wanderings is his expedition toIndia, which is said to have lasted several years. Returning in triumph he undertook to introduce his worship into Greece, but was opposed by some princes who dreaded its introduction on account of the disorders and madness it brought with it (e.g.Pentheus orLycurgus).

North African Roman mosaic: Panther-Dionysus scatters the pirates, who are changed to dolphins, except for Acoetes, the helmsman. (Bardo National Museum)

Dionysus was exceptionally attractive. One of theHomeric hymns recounts how, while disguised as a mortal sitting beside the seashore, a few sailors spotted him, believing he was a prince. They attempted to kidnap him and sail him far away to sell for ransom or into slavery. They tried to bind him with ropes, but no type of rope could hold him. Dionysus turned into a fierce lion and unleashed a bear on board, killing those he came into contact with. Those who jumped off the ship were mercifully turned into dolphins. The only survivor was the helmsman,Acoetes, who recognized the god and tried to stop his sailors from the start.

In a similar story, Dionysus desired to sail fromIcaria toNaxos. He then hired aTyrrhenian pirate ship. However, when the god was on board, they sailed not to Naxos but to Asia, intending to sell him as a slave. So Dionysus turned the mast and oars into snakes, and filled the vessel with ivy and the sound of flutes so that the sailors went mad and, leaping into the sea, were turned into dolphins.

Other storiesMidas

Once, Dionysus found his old school master and foster father,Silenus, missing. The old man had been drinking, and had wandered away drunk, and was found by some peasants, who carried him to their king (alternatively, he passed out in Midas\' rose garden).Midas recognized him, and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus entertained Midas and his friends with stories and songs. On the eleventh day, he brought Silenus back to Dionysus. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wanted.

Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold. Dionysus consented, though was sorry that he had not made a better choice. Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touched and turned to gold an oak twig and a stone. Overjoyed, as soon as he got home, he ordered the servants to set a feast on the table. Then he found that his bread, meat, daughter and wine turned to gold.

Upset, Midas strove to divest himself of his power (theMidas Touch); he hated the gift he had coveted. He prayed to Dionysus, begging to be delivered from starvation. Dionysus heard and consented; he told Midas to wash in the riverPactolus. He did so, and when he touched the waters the power passed into them, and the river sands changed into gold. This was anetiological myth that explained why the sands of the Pactolus were rich in gold.

Pentheus

Euripides composed a tragedy about the destructive nature of Dionysus in The Bacchae. Since Euripides wrote this play while in the court of KingArchelaus ofMacedon, some scholars believe that the cult of Dionysus was malicious in Macedon but benign inAthens.

In the play, Dionysus returns to his birthplace,Thebes, which is ruled by his cousinPentheus. Dionysus wants to exact revenge on Pentheus and the women of Thebes (his auntsAgave,Ino andAutonoe) for not believing his mother Semele\'s claims of being impregnated by Zeus, and for denying Dionysus\'s divinity (and therefore not worshiping him).

Dionysus slowly drives Pentheus mad, lures him to the woods ofMount Cithaeron, and then convinces him to spy/peek on theMaenads (female worshippers of Dionysus, who often experienced divine ecstasy). The Maenads are in an insane frenzy when Pentheus sees them (earlier in the play they had ripped apart a herd of cattle), and they catch him but mistake him for a wild animal. Pentheus is torn to shreds, and his mother (Agave, one of the Maenads), not recognizing her own son because of her madness, brutally tears his limbs off as he begs for his life.

As a result of their acts the women are banished from Thebes, ensuring Dionysus\'s revenge.

Lycurgus

When KingLycurgus ofThrace heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned all the followers[Maenads] of Dionysus; the god fled, taking refuge with Thetis, and sent a drought which stirred the people into revolt. Dionysus then made King Lycurgus insane, having him slice his own son into pieces with an axe, thinking he was a patch of ivy, a plant holy to Dionysus. Anoracle then claimed that the land would stay dry and barren as long as Lycurgus was alive, so his people had himdrawn and quartered; with Lycurgus dead, Dionysus lifted the curse. This story was told in Homer\'s epic, Iliad 6.136-7. In an alternative version, sometimes shown in art, Lycurgus tried to kill Ambrosia, a follower of Dionysus, who was transformed into a vine that twined around the enraged king and restrained him, eventually killing him.

Prosymnus

A better-known story is that of his descent to Hades to rescue his mother Semele, whom he placed among the stars. Dionysus feared for his mother, whom he had not seen since birth. He bypassed the god of death, known as Thanatos, thus successfully returning Semele to Mount Olympus. Out of the twelve Olympians, he was of the few that could restore the deceased from the underworld back to life. He made the descent from a reputedly bottomless pool on the coast of theArgolid near the prehistoric site ofLerna. He was guided byProsymnus or Polymnus, who requested, as his reward, to be Dionysus\' lover. Prosymnus died before Dionysus could honor his pledge, so in order to satisfy Prosymnus\' shade, Dionysus fashioned aphallus from an olive branch and sat on it at Prosymnus\' tomb.This story survives in full only in Christian sources whose aim was to discredit pagan mythology. It appears to have served as an explanation of the secret objects that were revealed in theDionysian Mysteries.

Ampelos

Another myth according toNonnus involvesAmpelos, asatyr, who was loved by Dionysus.Foreseen by Dionysus, the youth was killed in an accident riding a bull maddened by the sting of an Ate\'s gadfly. TheFates granted Ampelos a second life as a vine, from which Dionysus squeezed the first wine.

Chiron

Young Dionysus was also said to have been one of the many famous pupils of the centaurChiron. According to Ptolemy Chennus in the Library of Photius, \"Dionysius was loved by Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations.\"

Secondary myths Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian, at the National Gallery in London.

When Hephaestus boundHera to a magical chair, Dionysus got him drunk and brought him back to Olympus after he passed out.

A third descent by Dionysus to Hades is invented byAristophanes in his comedy The Frogs. Dionysus, as patron of the Athenian dramatic festival, the Dionysia, wants to bring back to life one of the great tragedians. After a competitionAeschylus is chosen in preference toEuripides.

When Theseus abandonedAriadne sleeping on Naxos, Dionysus found and married her. She bore him a son named Oenopion, but he committed suicide or was killed by Perseus. In some variants, he had her crown put into the heavens as the constellation Corona; in others, he descended intoHades to restore her to the gods on Olympus. Another different account claims Dionysus ordered Theseus to abandon Ariadne on the island of Naxos for he had seen her as Theseus carried her onto the ship and had decided to marry her.

Psalacantha, a nymph, failed at winning the love of Dionysus as his main love interest at the moment was Ariadne, and ended up being changed into a plant.

Callirrhoe was aCalydonian woman who scornedCoresus, a priest of Dionysus, who threatened to afflict all the women of Calydon with insanity (seeMaenad). The priest was ordered to sacrifice Callirhoe but he killed himself instead. Callirhoe threw herself into a well which was later named after her.

Acis, aSicilian youth, was sometimes said to be Dionysus\' son.

Hercules and theHydra(ca. 1475) byAntonio del Pollaiuolothe hero wears his characteristic lionskin and wields a club

Herculesis the Roman name for the GreekdivineheroHeracles, who was the son ofZeus(Roman equivalentJupiter) and the mortalAlcmene. Inclassical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.

The Romans adapted the Greek hero\'s iconography and myths for their literature and art under the nameHercules. In laterWestern artand literature and inpopular culture,Herculesis more commonly used thanHeraclesas the name of the hero. Hercules was a multifaceted figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled later artists and writers to pick and choose how to represent him.This article provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in thelater tradition.

Labours Hercules capturing theErymanthian Boar, byJ.M. Félix Magdalena(b. 1941) Main article:Labours of Hercules

Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches of theGreco-Roman world. One cycle of these adventures becamecanonicalas the \"Twelve Labours,\" but the list has variations. One traditional order of the labours is found in theBibliothecaas follows:

1. Slay theNemean Lion.
2. Slay the nine-headedLernaean Hydra.
3. Capture theGolden Hind of Artemis.
4. Capture theErymanthian Boar.
5. Clean theAugeanstables in a single day.
6. Slay theStymphalian Birds.
7. Capture theCretan Bull.
8. Steal theMares of Diomedes.
9. Obtain the girdle ofHippolyta, Queen of theAmazons.
10. Obtain the cattle of the monsterGeryon.
11. Steal the apples of theHesperides.
12. Capture and bring backCerberus.

Side adventures

Hercules had a greater number of \"deeds on the side\"(parerga)that have been popular subjects for art, including:

• Killing a fire-breathingCacus(Sebald Beham, 1545)

• Holding up the world forAtlas(based onHeinrich Aldegrever, 1550)

• Wrestling withAchelous(16th-century plaque)

• Fighting the giantAntaeus(Auguste Couder, 1819)

• RetrievingAlcestisfrom the underworld (Paul Cézanne, 1867)

• FreeingPrometheus(Christian Griepenkerl, 1878)

Roman era Main article:Hercules in ancient Rome

TheLatinnameHerculeswas borrowed throughEtruscan, where it is represented variously asHeracle, Hercle, and other forms. Hercules was a favorite subject forEtruscan art, and appears often onbronze mirrors. The Etruscan formHercelerderives from the GreekHeraclesviasyncope. A mild oath invoking Hercules (Hercule!orMehercle!) was a commoninterjectioninClassical Latin.

Baby Hercules strangling asnakesent to kill him in hiscradle(Roman marble, 2nd century CE)

Hercules had a number ofmythsthat were distinctly Roman. One of these is Hercules\' defeat ofCacus, who was terrorizing the countryside of Rome. The hero was associated with theAventine Hillthrough his sonAventinus.Mark Antonyconsidered him a personal patron god, as did the emperorCommodus. Hercules received various forms ofreligious veneration, including as adeity concerned with children and childbirth, in part because of myths about his precocious infancy, and in part because he fathered countless children. Roman brides wore a special belt tied with the \"knot of Hercules\", which was supposed to be hard to untie.The comic playwrightPlautuspresents the myth of Hercules\' conception as a sex comedy in his playAmphitryon;Senecawrote the tragedyHercules Furensabout his bout with madness. During theRoman Imperial era, Hercules was worshipped locally fromHispaniathroughGaul.

Germanic association

Tacitusrecords a special affinity of theGermanic peoplesfor Hercules. In chapter 3 of hisGermania, Tacitus states:

... they say that Hercules, too, once visited them; and when going into battle, they sang of him first of all heroes. They have also those songs of theirs, by the recital of thisbarditusas they call it, they rouse their courage, while from the note they augur the result of the approaching conflict. For, as their line shouts, they inspire or feel alarm.

In the Roman eraHercules\' Clubamulets appear from the 2nd to 3rd century, distributed over the empire (includingRoman Britain, c.f. Cool 1986), mostly made of gold, shaped like wooden clubs. A specimen found inKöln-Nippesbears the inscription\"DEO HER[culi]\", confirming the association with Hercules.

In the 5th to 7th centuries, during theMigration Period, the amulet is theorized to have rapidly spread from theElbe Germanicarea across Europe. These Germanic \"Donar\'s Clubs\" were made from deer antler, bone or wood, more rarely also from bronze or precious metals.They are found exclusively in female graves, apparently worn either as a belt pendant, or as an ear pendant. The amulet type is replaced by theViking AgeThor\'s hammerpendants in the course of theChristianization of Scandinaviafrom the 8th to 9th century.

Medieval mythography Hercules and theNemean lionin the 15th-centuryHistoires de Troyes

After the Roman Empire becameChristianized, mythological narratives were often reinterpreted asallegory, influenced by the philosophy oflate antiquity. In the 4th century,Serviushad described Hercules\' return from the underworld as representing his ability to overcome earthly desires and vices, or the earth itself as a consumer of bodies.In medieval mythography, Hercules was one of the heroes seen as a strong role model who demonstrated both valor and wisdom, with the monsters he battles as moral obstacles.Oneglossatornoted that whenHercules became a constellation, he showed that strength was necessary to gain entrance to Heaven.

Medieval mythography was written almost entirely in Latin, and original Greek texts were little used as sources for Hercules\' myths.

Renaissance mythography

TheRenaissanceand the invention of theprinting pressbrought a renewed interest in and publication of Greek literature. Renaissance mythography drew more extensively on the Greek tradition of Heracles, typically under the Romanized name Hercules, or the alternate nameAlcides. In a chapter of his bookMythologiae(1567), the influential mythographerNatale Conticollected and summarized an extensive range of myths concerning the birth, adventures, and death of the hero under his Roman name Hercules. Conti begins his lengthy chapter on Hercules with an overview description that continues the moralizing impulse of the Middle Ages:

Hercules, who subdued and destroyed monsters, bandits, and criminals, was justly famous and renowned for his great courage. His great and glorious reputation was worldwide, and so firmly entrenched that he\'ll always be remembered. In fact the ancients honored him with his own temples, altars, ceremonies, and priests. But it was his wisdom and great soul that earned those honors; noble blood, physical strength, and political power just aren\'t good enough.

In art

In Roman works of art and in Renaissance and post-Renaissance art, Hercules can be identified by his attributes, thelion skinand the gnarledclub(his favorite weapon); inmosaiche is shown tanned bronze, a virile aspect.

Roman era

• Hercules of the Forum Boarium(Hellenistic, 2nd century BCE)

• Hercules andIolaus(1st century CE mosaic from the Anzio Nymphaeum, Rome)

• Hercules (Hatra, Iraq,Parthian period, 1st-2nd century CE)

• Hercules bronze statuette, 2nd century CE (museum ofAlanya,Turkey)

• Hercules and theNemean Lion(detail),silverplate, 6th century (Cabinet des Médailles,Paris)

Modern era

• The Giant Hercules(1589) byHendrik Goltzius

• The Drunken Hercules(1612-1614) byRubens

• Hercules in theAugean stable(1842,Honoré Daumier)

• Comic bookcover (c.1958)

• Hercules,Deianiraand the Centaur Nessus, byBartholomäus Spranger, 1580 - 1582

• Henry IV of France, as Hercules vanquishing theLernaean Hydra(i.e. theCatholic League), byToussaint Dubreuil, circa 1600.Louvre Museum

In numismatics

Hercules was among the earliest figures on ancient Roman coinage, and has been the main motif of many collector coins and medals since. One example is the20 euro Baroque Silver coinissued on September 11, 2002. The obverse side of the coin shows the Grand Staircase in the town palace ofPrince Eugene of SavoyinVienna, currently the Austrian Ministry of Finance. Gods anddemi-godshold its flights, while Hercules stands at the turn of the stairs.

• Juno, with Hercules fighting aCentauron reverse (Roman, 215–15 BCE)

• Club over his shoulder on a Romandenarius(ca. 100 BCE)

• Maximinus IIand Hercules with club and lionskin (Roman, 313 CE)

• Commemorative5-francpiece (1996), Hercules in center

Other cultural references

• Pillars of Hercules, representing theStrait of Gibraltar(19th-century conjecture of theTabula Peutingeriana)

• The Cudgel of Hercules, a talllimestonerock formation, withPieskowa Skała Castlein the background

• Hercules asheraldic supportersin theroyal armsofGreece, in use 1863–1973. The phrase \"Ηρακλείς του στέμματος\" (\"Defenders of the Crown\") has pejorative connotations (\"chief henchmen\") in Greek.

In films For a list of films featuring Hercules, seeHercules in popular culture#Filmography.

A series of nineteen Italian Hercules movies were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The actors who played Hercules in these films wereSteve Reeves,Gordon Scott, Kirk Morris,Mickey Hargitay, Mark Forest, Alan Steel,Dan Vadis,Brad Harris,Reg Park,Peter Lupus(billed asRock Stevens) and Michael Lane. A number of English-dubbed Italian films that featured the name of Hercules in their title were not intended to be movies about Hercules.

HERCULES - This celebrated of mythological romance was at first called Alcides, but received the name of Hercules, or Heracles, from the Pythia of Delphos. Feigned by the poets of antiquity to have been a son of \"the Thunderer,\" but born of an earthly mother, he was exposed, through Juno\'s implacable hatred to him as the offspring of Alemena, to a course of perils, which commenced whilst he was yet in his cradle, and under each of which he seemed to perish, but as constantly proved victorious.At length finishing his allotted career with native valor and generosity, though too frequently the submissive agent of the meanness and injustice of others, he perished self-devotedly on the funeral pile, which was lighted on Mount Oeta. Jupiter raised his heroic progeny to the skies; and Hercules was honored by the pagan world, as the most illustrious of deified mortals. The extraordinary enterprises cruelly imposed upon, but gloriously achieved, by this famous demigod, are to be found depicted, not only on Greek coins, but also on the Roman series both consular and imperial. The first, and one of the most dangerous, of undertakings, well-known under the name of the twelve labors of Hercules, was that of killing the huge lion of Nemea; on which account the intrepid warrior is represented, clothes in the skin of that forest monarch; he also bears uniformly a massive club, sometimes without any other arms, but at others with a bow and quiver of arrows. On a denarius of the Antia gens he is represented walking with trophy and club.When his head alone is typified, as in Mucia gens, it is covered with the lion\'s spoils, in which distinctive decoration he was imitated by many princes, and especially by those who claimed descent from him - as for example, the kings of Macedonia, and the successors of Alexander the Great. Among the Roman emperors Trajan is the first whose coins exhibit the figure and attributes of Hercules.

Thasos or Thassos (Greek: Θάσος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. And it is where Clive Cussler novel \"The Mediterranean Caper\" takes place.

History Prehistory

Lying close to the coast of Eastern Macedonia, Thasos was inhabited from the Palaeolithic period onwards, but the earliest settlement to have been explored in detail is that at Limenaria where Middle and Late Neolithic remains have been found which relate closely to those of the Drama Plain. In contrast, the remains of the Early Bronze Age on the island align it with the culture which developed in the Cylcades and Sporades to the south in the Aegean. At Skala Sotiros for example, a small settlement was encircled by a strongly built defensive wall. Even earlier activity is demonstrated by the presence of large pieces of \'megalithic\' anthropomorphic stelai built into these walls which, so far, have no parallels in the Aegean area.

There is then a gap in the archaeological record until the end of the Bronze Age c 1100 BC, when the first burials took place at the large cemetery of Kastri in the interior of the island. Here built tombs covered with small mound of earth were typical until the end of the Iron Age. In the earliest tombs were a small number of locally imitated Mycenaean pottery vessels, but the majority of the hand-made pottery with incised decoration reflects connections eastwards with Thrace and beyond.

Antiquity

The island was colonized at an early date by Phoenicians, attracted probably by its gold mines; they founded a temple to the god Melqart, whom the Greeks identified as \"Tyrian Heracles\", and whose cult was merged with Heracles in the course of the island\'s Hellenization. The temple still existed in the time of Herodotus. An eponymous Thasos, son of Phoenix (or of Agenor, as Pausanias reported) was said to have been the leader of the Phoenicians, and to have given his name to the island.

In either 720 or 708 BC, Thasos received a Greek colony from Paros. It was in a war which the Parian colonists waged with the Saians, a Thracian tribe, that the poet Archilochus threw away his shield. The Greeks extended their power to the mainland, where they owned gold mines which were even more valuable than those on the island. From these sources the Thasians drew great wealth, their annual revenues amounting to 200 or even 300 talents. Herodotus, who visited Thasos, says that the best mines on the island were those which had been opened by the Phoenicians on the east side of the island facing Samothrace.

Thasos was important during the Ionian Revolt against Persia. After the capture of Miletus (494 BC) Histiaeus, the Ionian leader, laid siege. The attack failed, but, warned by the danger, the Thasians employed their revenues to build war ships and strengthen their fortifications. This excited the suspicions of the Persians, and Darius compelled them to surrender their ships and pull down their walls. After the defeat of Xerxes the Thasians joined the Delian confederacy; but afterwards, on account of a difference about the mines and marts on the mainland, they revolted.

The Athenians defeated them by sea, and, after a siege that lasted more than two years, took the capital, Thasos, probably in 463 BC, and compelled the Thasians to destroy their walls, surrender their ships, pay an indemnity and an annual contribution (in 449 BC this was 21 talents, from 445 BC about 30 talents), and resign their possessions on the mainland. In 411 BC, at the time of the oligarchical revolution at Athens, Thasos again revolted from Athens and received a Lacedaemonian governor; but in 407 BC the partisans of Lacedaemon were expelled, and the Athenians under Thrasybulus were admitted.

Roman Era Further information: Roman Greece

After the Battle of Aegospotami (405 BC), Thasos again fell into the hands of the Lacedaemonians under Lysander who formed a decarchy there; but the Athenians must have recovered it, for it formed one of the subjects of dispute between them and Philip II of Macedonia. In the embroilment between Philip III of Macedonia and the Romans, Thasos submitted to Philip, but received its freedom at the hands of the Romans after the battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC), and it was still a \"free\" state in the time of Pliny.

It is related, that Byzantine Greek Saint Joannicius the Great in one of his miracles freed the island of Thasos from a multitude of snakes (Venerable Joannicius lived through 8-9 centuries).

Ottoman Era Further information: Byzantine GreeceandOttoman Greece

Thasos was part of the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as Byzantine Empire. It was captured by the Turks in 1462. Under the Turks the island was known as Ottoman Turkish: طاشوز Taşöz. A brief revolt against Ottoman rule in 1821, led by Hajiyorgis Metaxas, failed. The island was given by the Sultan Mahmud II to Muhammad Ali of Egypt of as a personal fiefdom in the late 1820s, as a reward for Egyptian intervention in the War of Greek Independence (which failed to prevent the creation of the modern Greek state). Egyptian rule was relatively benign (by some accounts Muhammad Ali had either been born or spent his infancy on Thasos) and the island became prosperous, until 1908, when the New Turk regime asserted Turkish control. It had the status of a sanjak in the vilayet of Salonici until the Balkan Wars. On October 20, 1912 during the First Balkan War, a Greek naval detachment claimed Thasos as part of Greece, which it has remained since.

World War II Further information: Axis occupation of Greece during World War II

During Axis occupation (1941-1944) Thasos, along with the rest of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, was under Bulgarian control. The Bulgarians planned to annex the territory under their control and closed down schools as a first step towards forced Bulgarization. Under Bulgarian rule the island was called Bulgarian: Та�о�. Mountainous terrain facilitated small-scale resistance activity. The Greek Civil War affected the island in the form of skirmishes and Communist guerilla attacks until 1950, almost a year after the main hostilities were over on the mainland.

Modern Era Thasos in 1950\'s Church in Thasos

Thasos, the capital (now informally known as Limenas, or \"the port\"), stood on the north side of the island, and had two harbors. Archilochus described Thasos as \"an ass\'s backbone crowned with wild wood,\" and the description still suits the mountainous island with its forests of fir and pine. Besides its gold mines, the wine, nuts and marble of Thasos were well known in antiquity. Thasian wine (a light bodied wine with a characteristic apple scent) was, in particular, quite famous; to the point where all Thasian coins carried the head of the wine god Dionysos on one side and bunches of grape of the other.

Today, Thasos is a part of the Kavala prefecture and is the southernmost and the Easternmost points in the prefecture. Under local government reform in the late 1990s, the entire island became a single municipality. Thasos is served ferry routes to and from Kavala and Keramoti. The latter is a port at the Eastern portion of the prefecture, close to Kavala International Airport, and has the shortest possible crossing to the island.

Geography Thasos from space, April 1993

Thasos has generally round shape, without deep bays and significant peninsulas. The highest peak, Ypsario or Ipsario, is 1,205 m (3428 ft) high and lies in the Eastern half of the island, which is steeper and mostly covered in pine forest. The western half has gentler slopes. While generally mountainous, the terrain is not particularly rugged, as it rises gradually from the coast towards the island center.

Most villages were placed inland, as the population was chiefly engaged in agriculture and stockbreeding. Those villages had their harbors at nearest points on the shore, often connected with stairways (\"Skalas\") and the population gradually migrated there, as tourism began to emerge as an important source of income. Thus, there are several pairs of villages such as Marion–Skala Maries, where the former is inland and the latter on the coast.

Geology Geological and Metallogenic map of Thasos Island.

Thasos island is located in the northern Aegean sea approximately 7km from the mainland and 20km south-east of Kavala. The Island is formed mainly by gneisses, schists and marbles of the Rhodope Massif. Marble sequences, corresponding to the Falacron Marbles intercalated by schists and gneisses, are up to 500m thick and are separated from the underlying gneisses by a transition zone about 300 m thick termed the T-zone consisting of alternances of dolomitic and calcitic marbles intercalated by schists and gneisses.

The rocks have undergone several periods of regional metamorphism, to at least upper amphibolite facies, and there was a subsequent phase of retrograde metamorphism. At least three periods of regional deformation have been identified, the most important being large scale isoclinal folding with axes aligned north-west. The T-zone is deformed and is interpreted by some authors as a regional thrust of pre-major folding age. There are two major high angle fault systems aligned north-west and north-east respectively. A large low-angle thrust cuts the gneiss, schist and marble sequence at the south-west corner of the island, probably indicating an overthrusting of the Serbomacedonian Massif onto the Rodope Massif.

The Late Miocene oil-producing Nestos-Prinos basin is located between Thassos island and the mainland. The floor of the basin is around 1,500 m deep off the Thassos coast(South Kavala ridge; Proedrou, 1988) and up to 4.000-5.000 m in the axial sector between Thassos and the mainland. The basin is filled with Late Miocene-Pliocene sediments, including ubiquitously repeated evaporite layers of rock salt and anhydrite-dolomite which alternate with sandstones, conglomerates, black shales, and uraniferous coal measures (Proedrou, 1979, 1988; Taupitz, 1985). Stratigraphically equivalent rocks on the mainland are clastic sediments with coal beds, marine to brackish fluvial units and travertines.

Mining history

Mining activities for base and precious metals started in the 7th century B.C. with the Phoenicians, followed in the 4th century by the Greeks and then the Romans. The mining was both open - pit and underground, and concentrated on the numerous karst hosted calamine deposits for lead and silver although there was also minor exploitation of gold and copper. Worth mentioning is the discovery of a paleolithic addit located at Tzines iron mine, whose age has being estimated at approximately 15.000 years old, (Kovkouli et al. 1988) for the exploitation of limonitic ochre.

Economy

The main agricultural production on the island are honey and olive oil as well as wine, sheep, goat herding and fishing. Other industries includes lumber and tourism. Mining industry includes lead, zinc and marble, especially in the Panagia area where one of the mountains near the Thracian Sea has a large marble quarry. Now abandoned marble quarry in the south (in the area of Aliki) has been mined during the ancient times. By far the most important economic activity is tourism.

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Greek Island of THASOS HUGE Ancient HUGE Silver Greek Coin Nude Hercules i16765:
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