EMBLEMS IN ARCHAIC GREECE’ zyx JEFFREY SPIER The study of Archaic and Classical Greek iconography has primarily been concerned with narrative scenes, usually mythological, that are found on painted vases and relief sculpture (the important examples of panel and wall paintings being lost); however, a somewhat neglected body of material is the large number of simple figural motifs that served as personal and civic emblems from the early Archaic period onward. The best evidence for such emblems (perhaps better called ‘devices’ or, in numismatic parlance, ‘types’) are engraved gems, rings, coins, and shield devices - good evidence indeed since they are plentiful and generally of a high artistic quality not dependent on lost prototypes. This paper attempts to explore several interrelated aspects of these emblems, including the emergence of emblematic motifs in early Archaic Greece, their rapid development into a repertoire which was used well into the fifth century and even later, their usage, and their meaning. The following brief survey may serve as an introduction to the varied problems in the interpretation of the non-narrative motifs so common in early Greek art. The ancient words for these devices are oilpa, q p ~ i o vi ,n i q p a , i n i q p o v , and n a p k q p o v , all of which appear to be equivalent, although only the first is found in Homer and Hesiod.? The ultimate meaning is ‘sign’, whether it be a distinguishing mark, a watchword, a token of identity (such as the mark on the lot cast by Ajax to determine who would fight Hektor),3or a divine portent.J The frequent use of the word to signify the device on a seal, coin, or shield is no doubt derived from the simple concept of a sign of identification. Deeper meanings, symbolic or allegorical, need not exist and appear not to be found in Greek linguistic usage, except perhaps in the word’s meaning as a sign from the gods or an omen. The complex meanings of signs in modern semantics, semiotics, and psychology (especialiy Jungian) do not zyxwvutsr zyxwvut zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqponml zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrqpon zyxwvutsr Acknowledgements: For comments and references I am grateful to Sir John Boardman, Alan Johnston (also for the pun), Roy Kotanksy. Jonathan Kagan. and the Classical Archaeology Seminar at the Institute of Classical Studies. Abbreviations: J. Boardman, Al-ckuit. G/.cekGcnis (London, 1968). AGG Art irr Secils J. Boardman. ‘Greek Gem Engravers. Their Subjects and Style’ in E. Porada. ed.. Ancient Al-/ in S d s (Princeton. 1980). I0 I - I 19. J. Boardman, G/.erk Gcnis t r i i d Firi,gcv. Ri/7gs (London, 1970). GGFR B. V. Head in D. G. Hogarth, E . ~ c ~ r ~ ~ t i cit / i oEphesrrs ns (London, 1908).74-93. Head J. Boardman. Islciritl Gcvrs (London. 1963). IGenis Kraay. ACGC C. M. Kraay. A d r t r i i . cirri1 C/ci.ssic~tilG ~ w Coir7.s k (Berkeley, I 976). Lacroix L. Lacroix. ‘Les ‘blasons‘ des villes grecques’, Etirdcs d ’ t r / . ( , ~ i ~ f ~ lc~Itis.sic/rtc ~ j , s i i , 1 ( 1955-56). I 91-1 IS. Trtrit6 E. Babelon. Trtritc; tlcs m m i t r i e s , g r i w ~ r t c ~ets r~onieii~rc.s (Paris. I90 1 ). L. Weidnuer. Pwhlcrrie c/r/~fi.ii/rc/r E/cX/r.o/rlJr.ij,str,lR(Fribourg. 1975). Weidauer Cf. Lacroix. 9 1-93. for literary usages. and 109 for / ~ t r r t r . s ~ ~ n icf. o / r :also Plutarch. c k Pythirrc O/~tttxlisI ? ( M o ~ d i t r 3°F); Lacroix‘s survey of the uses and development of personal and civic blaions in Greece is the most thorough to date but deals more with the Classical period than with the Archaic. ‘ Ililltl 7.IXY. -I As llitrtl 2.353. I07 I OX zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe zyxwvu zyxw zyxwv BlCS 37 ( 1990) appear to have a comparable linguistic usage in Archaic Greece. Greek literature, on the other hand, is familiar with symbolism and will be considered below. Seals, coins, and shields: the origins and use of sernata It is likely that at least the idea of personal devices came to the Greeks from the Near East, where both cylinder and stamp seals were in use for thousands of years as a means of personal and civic (or royal) identification. Already in Bronze Age Greece, from Prepalatial times until the end of the Mycenaean period, Minoan and Mycenaean artists produced an extensive and skilfully made series of engraved gems and rings. It is doubtful, however, that these gems continued to be made after the thirteenth century BC,’ and their influence on later Greek seals was minimaLh Dark Age seals remain unattested, and Geometric seals do not appear to be dependent on Mycenaean types. The fashion for seals was probably reintroduced from the Near East beginning in the late eighth century BC at the time of renewed commercial ties;’ however, Greek attempts at seal engraving, except for some notable exceptions in the Peloponnesos and the Cycladic Islands, did not become widespread until considerably later, not until the mid-sixth century. Especially noteworthy are the many eastern stamp seals of the seventh and sixth centuries (North Syrian, Babylonian, and especially Phoenician) with inscriptions identifying the owner, usually in the genitive or with a prefix equivalent to ‘belonging to’.* They were clearly used as a means of personal identification, primarily for official and legal documents. It is worthwhile summarizing the development of Greek gem usage in order to understand the possible sources of the devices.y After the Dark Ages, a limited number of seals made of soft stone and occasionally ivory were used, primarily in the Peloponnesos, the Cyclades, and Crete;“’ most display a Geometric style roughly paralleling that of vase painting, but they seem to have had minimal influence on later seals and need not concern us. The first major series of seals to emerge following the Geometric period came from Peloponnesian workshops. Seals in the form of discs, scarabs, and animals were cut from ivory, an imported and no doubt very valuable material. They have been found in quantity at Perachora, at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta, and at the Argive Heraion; only a few others have been found elsewhere.’’ The contexts at Sparta indicate that most of the ivories date to the third quarter of the seventh century with a few perhaps earlier but none later.’? The seal cutters favoured single figure devices of animals (lion, bull, various birds, fish, crab, scorpion) and monsters (sphinx (PI. 4a),I7 griffin, siren, centaur), which are already in a lively, fully developed style. The many surviving seals show a considerable repetition of motifs, and only occasionally do more zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvutsr J. G. Younger, Kudmos 26 (1987). 65-66. Cf. /Gems, I 10. For example, the ‘Lyre-Player Group’ of North Syrian seals, G. Buchner and J. Boardman. .Id/ X I (1966). 1-62; GGFR, 110; J. Boardman,AA (1990). 1-17. AGG 20; K. Galling, Zeitschrqt des Deutschen Palastinu-Vereins 64 ( 194 I ), I2 1-202. For the study of Greek gems, A. Furtwangkr, Die antiken Gemmen (Leipzig-Berlin, 1900) is still fundamental; the exhaustive studies by J. Boardman (abbreviations above) discuss the various groups of Archaic and Classical gems and rings; the development and rough chronology of Greek gems and rings as established by Boardinan arc generally followed here. /Gems, 1 10-44. I ’ /Gems 145-53, with bibliography. I z J. Boardman, BSA 58 (1963). 4-5. l 3 Aqive Herueum 11, 351, n.5; /Gems 145. p1.18a; GGFR. p1.214; cf. AGG, 6X.no.123. and 74 n.7. for thc motif o f the double-bodied sphinx, which appears on the Chigi olpe, gems, and coins. ’ ’ zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvut zyxwvut JEFFREY SPIER 109 complex devices appear, such as a lion attacking a bull (PI. 4b) and a scene of fighting warriors. I J The series of Peloponnesian ivories appears to end abruptly around 620, and there are no clear successors in the Peloponnesos. However, a new series of seals had already begun in the Cycladic Islands, the so-called Island Gems made of soft, light green serpentine. A workshop on Melos is most probable in view of the large number of gems found there.I5 They are remarkable for taking their shapes (lentoid and amygdaloid) and occasionally their motifs from Minoan and Mycenaean examples evidently found on the islands.Ih Again the favourite types are single figure scenes, primarily of animals and monsters, including goat, bull, boar, stag, lion (which is especially frequent, PI. 4c),I7 various birds, fish, dolphin, sphinx, winged horse, centaur, and chimaera. There are also a few unusual mythological types, including an unconventional Gorgon,’Xa Herakles wrestling a merman,’” and the suicide of Ajax with a puzzling inscription found at Perachora.?” Boardman has studied these seals in depth and dated them by stylistic comparisons with Cycladic vases (especially the so-called ‘Melian’ vases) from just before the mid-seventh century until the beginning of the sixth, although some may be later.” The chronology is not entirely secure in view of the paucity of evidence; the style is highly individual, and comparisons are difficult to find. The gems could conceivably be brought down slightly in date, but for the time being they are best regarded as products of the second half of the seventh century. As with the Peloponnesian ivory seals, a wide range of devices in a distinctive and original style occur. However, there is little in common stylistically with the Peloponnesian seals, and any influence on other objects, even later gems, appears to be negligible.?? Their distribution is confined almost entirely to the Islands and Crete.’3 The widespread use of seals in Greece did not begin until the middle of the sixth century, when an entirely new type of seal was introduced - the scarab and scaraboid of hard stone (that is, various types of chalcedonies and quartz, mostly cornelian, agate, and rock crystal). The new medium is best understood as a late wave of orientalizing, and Boardman has convincingly shown that the Phoenicians, probably via Cyprus, were the major influence on the Greeks;?Jthe earliest examples are dependent in shape, material, and sometimes iconography on Phoenician scarabs. Cyprus, where Phoenician and Greek populations mixed, seems to have zy zyxw zy IJIGcni.s. 148. p1.17e; cf. a lion attacking a boar (?) from Perachora, J. M. Stubbings in P c w c h u I1 (Oxford. 1962), 417. A3S. ~1.177.the reverse of which shows the fighting warriors. l 5 1GlJnl.s.96- I0 I . I(’ IGcnis, 92-95, IGcw.7 3 1, 37: PI. 4c: IGcnis. no.93. I x IGcnrs. no. 180. “I 1Gcni.s. no. I8 1. ‘‘I 1Gcni.s. no. 178; L. H. Jeffery. Tlic, Locul Sr.ri/?t.s of’ Aidxzic~Gr.cec.c (1961). 322; V. Schmidt. Glotru 53 (1975). 41-2. n.1 I : M. Cristofani, Strtrli Etr.it.scAi47 (1979). 157-9. ? I IGcnis. 89-9 1 . 1, -- For the few successors. cf. .I.Boardman. J H S 88 (1968). 1-3; a distinctive series of late sixth century Scarabs, some bearing the artists’ signatures. are in the same material (green serpentine) and are similarly cut free hand; however. the devices have nothing in common with the significantly earlier Island Gems and are much like other hardstone sixth century gems; the signatures suggest a Euboean origin, cf. AGG, 1 IS-19; IGenis, 78-80: another distinctive group in hardstone of amygdaloid shape utilizes rather crude animal devices and is probably of Island origin and later sixth century date. cf. I. Phi. Mar.hirr,qer. W i r i c ~ ~ i ~ l n i c i , i , i - P / ~ o1975/6. ~ ~ / ~ ~ t1~- i10. ni 1Gc~nl.s.96- I0 I . ” AGG. 23-24. 30. 169-7 I : GGFR. 140; and J. Boardman in V. Tatton-Brown. ed., Cyrit.s und rhc Eusi Mc~t/i/cr.,~ciric~rr~r iri the, I r . o / i (London. I989 ). 44-7. zyxwvutsrqpon zyxw zyxwv ’ I10 zyxwvutsrqpo zyxwvut zyxwvutsr BlCS 37 ( IYYO) been a major centre of production, at least in early stages, and a high proportion of the known gems have been found there: many have Cypriot inscriptions.'' Some of the early devices are Phoenicianizing, with Bes-like gorgons, centaurs, and master of animal types,?6 and several mythological compositions muddle Greek iconography in what appears to be a Cypriot manner.>7 Boardman has argued that the subsequent series of workshops are broadly Ionian in style, although the gems have been found widely all over Greece and Italy.?x It is very difficult to identify on stylistic grounds any workshops in Athens or the Peloponnesos, although they may well have existed.?" The most common devices throughout the second half of the sixth century are animals, especially lions (PI. 4d),"' but also monsters of generally East Greek type (winged boar (PI. 4e)," siren, sphinx, and the like). Mythological and human types include frequent satyrs, winged figures, youths, warriors, occasionally Herakles, seldom gods, and only rarely narrative compositions.'? The Archaic scarabs begin a long tradition of gem usage that continued unbroken through Roman Imperial times. In addition to the scarabs and scaraboids, another important group of Archaic seals was produced, engraved metal rings. These too have been studied by Boardman." Their development broadly parallels that of the scarabs during the sixth century, and the devices are similar: however, they seem not to be the work of the same artists, since the styles are somewhat different. Also notable is that they began somewhat earlier, by 600 BC.'J Nevertheless, the development is similar, with Phoenician rings being the model and Cyprus being the probable source. As with gems, it is in East Greece that the style originates, but identical rings are found all over Greece and in quantity in Etruria, either as imports or perhaps the products of immigrant Ionians. The range of devices is somewhat more limited than that on the gems, primarily animals and monsters (PIS.4m and 5e). Archaic Greek coins provide a body of material comparable to the gems and have the advantage of being more closely datable (in theory, at least) and attributable to specific geographical areas. The date of the earliest coinage in Greece - the electrum issues of Ionia and Lydia - is still controversial,'' but we shall procede on the assumption, which I believe zyxw zy zyxwvuts zyxwvutsrq AGG. I 7 1, and 234 for an index. 110.31-39. ?7 AGG. 47, no.70-72. ?' AGG, I7 1-72, 2y E. Walter-Karydi, Juhrhuch der. Berliner Mrtseen 17 ( 1975). 5-44, proposes Aeginetan, Lakonian. and Attic workshops, but Boardman, in Greek Art: Archaic in/o Clussicul. Cincinnuri Clussicul Strtdies 5 (Leiden. I YXS), 83-95, convincingly refutes her attributions. 3"AGG, 121-41: PI. 4d: AGG, 110.417. 'I AGG, 146-47: PI. 4e: AGG, 110.499. '? Achilles and Penthesileia, AGG. no.255: Europa on the bull. AGG, no.305. j3 J. Boardman, AntK 10 (1967), 3-31. 74 Ihid., 6. A9. 75 A date late in the seventh century has been favoured by most numismatists since studies by R. M. Cook. ./HS 66 ( 194h), YO-9 I , no. 190; and E. S. G. Robinson, JHS 7 I ( 195 1 ), 156-67, and N C 1956. I -X; f o r a recent evaluation, cf. R. R. Holloway, RBN 130 ( 1984). 5 - 18, with further literature: and on the introduction of silver coinage in the second quarter of the sixth century, cf. J. H. Kroll, and N. M. Waggoner, AJA XX (IYX4). 325-40. H . Cahn. S N R 56 (1977), 279-87, and Weidauer, 72-109, argue for a considerably higher date for Archaic coinage in general and electrum coins in particular: cf. also D. Kagan. AJA X6 (1982). 343-60. M. Vickers, N C 19x5. 1-44. and RE(; 99 (1986). 239-70. proposes a radically lower date for all Archaic coinage, which is unconvincing. New Austrian excavations in the Artemision at Ephesos, which have uncovered levels significantly earlier than the so-called 'foundation deposit', make many of the earlier arguments obsolete. cf. A. ,Bammer. 1)tr.s Ilcili,q//rnr tlcr Ar./c,,rris \'on Ephc~sos(Vienna, 19x4). 165-83: Hqihuis/o.s 5-6 ( 1983-X4). 91- I OX; OJh. Hirrtp/h/ar/ SX ( I YXX). 1-23; ;uid ?h AGG, zyx JEFFREY SPIER zyxwvu zyxw Ill will be established eventually, that the earliest coins, as attested by the finds in the Artemision at Ephesos,'" should date to the late seventh century BC, perhaps as early as c. 630 but more likely just before 600. It is clear, however, that the early coins were all struck in Ionia and Lydia and confined to that area for quite a long time. Most numismatists now see no Greek silver coinage before the second quarter of the sixth century BC,37and there is really little evidence to show that any silver coins existed before the middle of the century, with the earliest coinage most likely occuring in Aegina, Corinth, and Athens and then quickly spreading throughout Greece and Macedonia, Southern Italy, and Sicily. The motifs found on the late seventh century Ionian and Lydian electrum coins, which are the main concern here, are best judged from the finds at the Artemision of Ephesos and a few other smaller hoards.IX Animal devices are favoured, often just heads or protomes; lions (which are especially popular), rams, goats, stags, boars, bulls, horses, hares, various birds, fish, seals, dolphins, bees, and beetles all are found. Monsters include winged horses," griffins,") a chimaera?' a gorgoneion (PI. 4l),'?and a winged manJ7 There are a few human heads," but no recognizable gods or narrative scenes. A few inanimate objects, including a thunderboltj5and a fibula,4hoccur on coins which may be a bit later in date and are not found at Ephesos. Other coins have obverses with geometric patterns, simple ~triations,~' or nothing at all.4x A popular theory, proposed by Head in his catalogue of the coins found at Ephesos,+' supported by Robinson in a famous article on the deposit,5'' and followed by Kraay,5' asserts that the coin devices evolved from typeless to non-figural striations and then to recognizable emblems. However, the idea appears to be based on a dubious a prioi-i concept of artistic development and has little to recommend it. Chronological groupings of the various figural devices found at Ephesos cannot be made convincingly on stylistic grounds, and the numismatic evidence strongly suggests that all the coins at Ephesos are closely contemporary. Price has argued for the contemporaneity of the early electrum issues by noting that all types, including die-linked examples, were found mixed throughout the Artemision deposit, and similar - in some cases identical - specimens were present in other mixed hoards of zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqpo zyxwv zyxwvu OJk. Bc~ihlutt5X (19x8). 2-31. Only Weidauer has attempted to begin a proper numismatic study; much more such work needs to be done. 3h Head, 74-93; and for new finds. A. Bammer, OJlr 58 (19x7). 18-2 I . 37 Cf. Kraay. ACGC. 43.58.79-XO: J. H. Kroll. and N. M. Waggoner. AJA 88 ( I 984). 325-40. zx For instance. M. Thompson. 0. Merkholm, C. M. Kraay, eds., AJI Inwnfoiy oj'Grrd Coin Homds (New York, 1973). no.1155 and 1159; the 1946 Kolophon hoard. now in the British Museum. and a 1970 hoard said to be from near Ephesos. are to be published by M. J. Price. '' Weidauer. no. 143-49. 'I Weidauer. no. 179. 'I Troitc; 11. I , p1.5, 14. Weidauer. 110.41-46. " Weidauer. no. 175-77. Weidauer. no. I 7 1-74, 190-94. '' TruitP 11. I . p1.3. 26. W. Greenwell. NC 1x97. 365. no.6. pl.1 I . 25: J. Boardman. Tlic Gr.ec4.Y Oivrxus (London, 19x0). 88. fig. 96; a number of other examples remain unpublished. 47 Weidauer. no.5-9. 4x Weidauer. no. 1-4. 4" Head. XX-Y2. "I E. S. G. Robinson. J H S 7 I ( 1 % I ), 164-65. 'I Kraay. ACGC, 22. zyxwvutsrqpon I13 zyxwvutsrqpon zyxwvut zyxwvutsr BIC'S 37 ( 1990) electrum." The one closed deposit at Ephesos, a pot hoard, demonstrates Price's contention, for it contained a striated piece, a number of specimens with the two 'primitive' figural devices of the goat and confronted cocks (PI. 4k) varieties, and a coin of facing lion's head type, which can by no means be considered 'primitive'.'3 In addition, Weidauer's study suggests that both crude and fine style coins could be products of the same mint, for both can display nearly identical reverse punches." The typeless, striated, or simply crude coins were most likely products of a mint without a trained die cutter or perhaps issues of a mint striking both typeless and fine style coins simultaneously. The medium of coinage was a new one, and the technicalities of engraving dies and striking coins were not immediately mastered; the results were often crude coins with barely legible devices. Yet the motifs on these coins are in most cases sophisticated and of fine style. Evidently, Ionian die cutters could draw upon a full repertoire of devices by the last quarter of the seventh century BC; however, the origin of such a range of motifs, perhaps derived from some other medium, remains unclear. Some of the devices, although somewhat different in style, already appear on the mid-seventh century Peloponnesian ivory seals, and nearly all of the electrum coin types recur on gems and rings of the second half of the sixth and early fifth century. For example, a ram's head, which already appears as a shield device on a Protocorinthian vase,55occurs frequently on early electrum coins (PI. 4f),5hand finds a close parallel on the late sixth century gem (PI. 4g);57similar examples are seen on coins of the early fifth century.'X Another ram in a distinctive pose on the seventh century electrum coin (PI. 4hY" is also found on a stater of Kyzikos at least a hundred years later in date (PI. 4iLh"on a late sixth century gem in Istanbul (PI. 4j),h' as a shield device on a cup by the Amasis Painter,"? and on an actual bronze shield blazon in Karlsruhe.h3 Two cocks (fighting?) appear on a series of electrum coins found at Ephesos (PI. 4k)" and frequently on rings (Pl. 4m),h5but the motif is common on a wide range of objects, including vases and reliefshh zyxwv zyxwvutsrqpo zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvu M. J. Price. in Stirelies in Nirrnismiitic Mrthod Prcwntc~dto Philip Gricwori (Cambridge, 19x3). 1-4. and see 11.37 above. '? Head, 74; striated: Head, no. I=Weidauer, no.6; goats: Head, no. 12- 16=Weidauer, no. 1 0 - 1 4; cocks: Head. no. 19-28. perhaps no.30-3 1 =Weidauer. no. 16-17. 19-2X: and lion head: Head. no.S3=Weidaucr. no. 162. '' The best examples are the crude 'linear' lion's head coins (as Weidauer no. I 16-25) and the exceptionally fine horse's head coins (as Weidauer. no. 141-46): cf. Weidauer. 69-71; the reverse punch pattern is nearly identical. although no die-link has yet been lound. 55 Cf. the Macmillan aryballos, H. G. G. Payne. P,-otoXor.inthisc,he V[isi.nnici/cr.c.i (Berlin. 1933). p1.22, 5 : D. A . Amyx, Corii~thiuiiVu.scJ-Peiintiii~q of'the Archaic, Pci.ioe/ (Berkeley, I9X8), 3 1-32. no. I by the Chigi Painter. 5h Weidauer, no.48, in London. 57 AGG, no.5 19. London; it is a common gem type. 5X Cf. AGG, no. IS I , listing coins of Delphi. Cyprus. Lesbos, and Lycia. iy Weidauer. no.52-S4. "' Truitc; 11, I . p1.7. 32=W. Wroth, British Mitscwni, Cutdogitc~of' the, G r ~ c 4Coiiis of' Mysiti (London. I X92). 24. no.48, p1.5. I I . h' AGG. n o 3 17. h2 D. von Bothmer. The. A ~ I [ J . SPoiiircv ~ . S r~iidH i s WorM (Malibu, 1985). 217-20. no.60. h i J. Thimme. Antikc, M C ~ S I P I ~ M iniY Kur/srirhc~.\ ~ I . ~ ~ , Sc~h/o.s.s(Karlsruhe. 19x6). 170-7 I . Weidauer, no. 17, from Ephesos; PI. 4k: electrotype in the British Museum: cl. also Weidauer. no. 15-28, h5 Private collection. said to be from Asia Minor: cf. J. Boardman. AiitK 10 (1967). 19. F12-13. P. Bruneau, BCH XY (1965), 90-121: add a Klazomenian black figure hydria in Moscow, N. A. Sidorowa. Airtiqirc, Piiiiitcd P o t t ~ ~(1985). y 14: and a late sixth century Lydian silver alabastron in New York. D. von Bothmcr. Bit//i,tiri o f t k c Mctiqxdirerri Mir.sc,imi (Summer, 1984). 3 5 , no.45: H. Hoffmann discusses some possible mcanings of the motif, Kri7Ai.e.h 1974. 19.5-220, and H q h i i s t o s 9 (1988). 143-62. 5? zyxwvutsr . JEFFREY SPIER zyxwvut I13 Some unconventional motifs appear only on coins and gems. An unusual double-gorgoneion appears only on an electrum stater (PI. 41)1’7and on an early fifth century green jasper (so-called Graeco-Phoenician) scarab from Sardinia (PI. 40),”’which in turn probably copies a Greek gem of the late sixth century.h” Another unusual motif is the rolling horse found on an early electrum coin (PI. 4n)7”and also depicted frequently on gems in the late sixth century (PI. 5b);7’ it also occurs on a Graeco-Phoenician gold ring from Carthage7?and persists on gems through the Classical period and even into Roman times.77 Even if the origins are obscure, the existence of a repertoire of emblems used on coins and seals is demonstrated by the continued use of the devices in a remarkably unchanging style over a long period of time. That this repertoire should have been shared by coins and gems is understandable in view of their similar shape, size, and similar function - the identification of an owner, a responsible magistrate, a ruler, or a city. New motifs were occasionally added to the stock of devices, but the old types were seldom discarded until the end of the Archaic period. The question remains: if a repertoire of devices was already current and available to the coin die cutters by the late seventh century and was not learned from seal usage, which was rare at that time, where did it come from? It may have come from shield devices, objects that do not survive in large numbers but are well represented in vase painting and mentioned in literature. Homer describes the shields of Achilles7Jand Agamernn~n,~’ and a derivative description of a shield is found in the pseudoHesiodic Shield cf Her-ukles (c. 600 BC); all three descriptions are highly allegorical and do not reflect actual shields. hero do to^^^ says that the Karians invented shield devices (oqp~icr),as well as shield straps and crests for helmets, but they are not described and are of doubtful significance. Early surviving shields in a very Eastern style come from eighth century Crete and a few other sites in Greece,77and they may have been known elsewhere in Greece as well. But what must have brought on the development of shield devices in the more familiar form of single figure emblems is the introduction of the hoplite’s shield at the end of the eighth century.7x The new shields presented a circular field suitable for such decoration at a time of renewed artistic spirit and ability in bronzeworking. zyxw zyxwvutsrq zyxwvuts zyxwvutsrqponmlkj zyxwvu zyxwvuts zyxwv zyxwvuts Weidauer. 110.41-42; PI. 41: Weidauer, no.4 I , in Oxford. hK Cagliari 9457; A. Furtwlngler, Die uritiketi Gernnieri (Leipzig-Berlin, 1900). pl. IS. 7 1; E. Acquaro, Arre e Cltlriitu Pirriitu it1 Sar.decqtiu(Sassari. 1984). 101, fig. 117; and a similar motif with joined Bes heads, J. Boardman in R. D. Barnett and C. Mendleson, 7hor.ro.s(London. 1987). 102, 179, n.14/17, pl. 59a. hy The green jasper Graeco-Phoenician scarabs of the fifth century BC often closely copy Archaic Greek prototypes; cf. B. Buchanan and P. R. S. Moorey. Catalogite of’ Anc,ierit Near. Eastern Seuls in the Asknioleati Mitseum Ill (Oxford, 1988). 70-71, for a current assessment of the group with bibliography. 711Weidauer. no. 135-37: and Numismatic Fine Arts. Los Angeles. Auction 22, 1989, lot 3 I 1. AGG, 147, no.357. 502-505, and 565. 7? M. Tillot. M i l k Atis d’A1.t ti Carthuge (Tunis. 1978). colour pl. 12. ” P. Fossing. The T/ior.i~uld.seriMir.seimi. Crittrlogiie of’ the Aritiqite Etigruiml Genis a t i d Canieos (Copenhagen, 1929). no.306. 74 llitrd 18. 478-608. l5 Ilicrd 1 I . 36-37. 7h I. I7 1. 77 E. Kunze, K r e t i d i c Biwi:ereliefis (Stuttgart. 1 93 I ); J. Boardman. 7lie Giveks 0i.er.seu.s (London. 1980).58-59. 7x For the introduction of hoplite shields and blazons. cf. H. C. Lorimer. BSA 42 ( 1947). 76- 138, esp. 85-9 I , 124-5, 128-30: A. M. Snodgrass. Early GiwX At.nioirr. arid Weapotis (Edinburgh. 1064). 6 1-67; and Arms und Ar.nioitr. of the Greeks (London. 1967).54-55. 67. 96. h7 The earliest evidence for Greek shield devices comes from Late Geometric and Protoattic vases. A Late Geometric vase in the Benaki Museum in Athens (PI. Sa)'" shows warriors holding the new hoplite shields: one is decorated with a horse and another with a representation of a 'Dipylon' shield. while others are ornamented only with geometric patterns. Other early representations of shield devices are on Protoattic pottery, including another horse on an amphoraS" and a winged horse on a votive shield.x' Also, the famous mid-seventh century Aristothonos krater in Rome, from a provincial Italian workshop, shows warriors holding shields decorated with a bull's head and a crab, along with others with simple geometric patterns.x' The Protocorinthian Chigi olpe (PI. SdY' provides a view of an early hoplite army equipped with shields decorated with a variety of familiar types: gorgon head, lion's head, bull's head, boar, and flying birds and eagles. Other Protocorinthian works by the same vase painter, such as the Macmillan and Berlin aryballoi,X4have further types of shield devices, including wheel, cock, swan, owl, hare, griffin's protome, ram's head, ass's head, and a flying, winged lion. Thus a wide range of shield devices already existed by the mid-seventh century, perhaps created in Corinth and the Peloponnesos.x' The earliest extant shield device appears to be a gorgoneion embossed on a shield found at Carchemish,xhwhich was destroyed by the Babylonians around 605 BC; the shield evidently belonged to a Greek mercenary. Other examples of actual shield devices, all of sixth century date, have been found at Olympia,x7and some recently published examples said to be East Greek are in KarIsruhe.XXThey take the form of engraved or embossed bronze plaques, cut out to the shape of the device; the Olympia examples include a cock, a boar, a gorgoneion, Typhon, and others. In Karlsruhe several examples of a ram in a pose seen on gems and coins are found along with the more complex device of Herakles wrestling the Nemean lion. At the Heraion on Samos fragmentary shields with embossed devices were discovered along with a series of miniature votive shields with embossed designs, including gorgoneion,x4flying bird,"" and lion protome."' The surviving shield blazons accord well with representations on vases and are comparable to gem and coin devices. That some coin types consciously copied shield devices is demonstrated by a number of the coins themselves. Some early electrum coins have the device depicted on a raised disc, which in some cases can clearly be seen as a shield. These coins include the early ram staters (PI. 4h),y2and a series of Phokaic weight coins with types that include a lion's head (PI. Sc),"' a zyxwvu zy zyxwvutsrq zyxwvuts zyxwvutsrq '"J. M. Cook. BSA 42 ( 1947). I SO: A. M. Snodgrass. Ear.!\ 11.95. G r d Arniortr rind Wcwpoii.s (Edinburgh. 1964). 62. zyxwvut zyx zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsr I , p1.43-44; Lorimer, lor. (,it.,85-88, D. B. Thompson, Hesper-iu 2 ( 1933).6 10.11.283. x2 Cf. Lorimer (11.78).124-25. x3 Payne. op. <.it.,p1.29; Amyx, op. (,it., 3 1-32. no.3. xJ Cf. above for the Macmillan aryballos; Payne, op. (.it.. p1.22, 4; Amyx. op. (.it.. 3 1-32; no.2. lor Berlin 3773. xs Cf. also the shield devices on the small lead hoplitea from the later sixth century deposits at the temple o f Artemia Orthia, R. M. Dawkins, ed.. The Sunctrrur:v qf'Ar~tcniisOrthiu ut S/IUIYU(London. 1929). 274-76. fig. 128. pl. 197. 18-26; the devices are gorgoneion. standing bird. flying eagle. lion, scorpion. bucranion, cock. and boar. X h E., Kunze, OlBer~ic~lit 5 ( 1956).46-50. fig. 26; J. Boardman. T / J PGrcv4.s Oi~c~r~se~ts (London. 1980). 5 I . fig. 20. " E. Kunze. OIBeridrt 5 (1956), 40-68. xx J. Thimme. Antike M e i s t ~ r ~ in7 ~ ~Korlsr-rrhes rk~ Sdrlo.s.s (Karlsruhe. 1986). 168-72. x') G. Kopcke, A M 83 (1968). 286. no.104. pl.1 IS, I . ')" H. Walter and K. Vierneisel. A M 74 (I9S9). 32, Beil. 74, 3; cf. P. Brize. A M 100 (1985). 67.11.66. ')I W. L. Brown, T h Etrrr,s(m Lio,r (Oxford. 1960).76. p1.27b. x'' C V A Berlin zyxwvu zyxwv zyxwvut JEFFREY SPIER I IS cow,'" some human heads,'Jsa sleeping dog,"" and the thunderbolt and fibula mentioned a b ~ v e . " ~ Devices on shields continued as coin types on occasion throughout the Archaic and Classical periods; examples include the tetradrachms struck by the Samians at Zankle from 494-490 BC,<jX a didrachm of Kamarina of c. 460,"" late fifth century tetradrachms from Chios,'""an early fourth century stater of Elis,"" and a number of coins of Lycia."" Similarly, a group of Archaic rings copy shields; the bezels are shaped like miniature Boeotian shields and are usually engraved with intaglio devices (PI. Se)."I3 zyxwvutsr The semantics of sernata The question of what the devices meant to those who created and used them is especially difficult for the Archaic period, a time for which literary and epigraphic evidence is scant."" In addition, caution must be taken to avoid modern prejudices conditioned by the allegorical meanings characteristic of medieval heraldry and Renaissance emblems. Judging solely from surviving representations on gems, coins, and shields, no pattern to suggest allegorical or symbolic significance emerges, and evidence for the use of allegorical symbols is extremely rare before the late fifth century and not common until the Hellenistic period, when political symbols were often created."" Only on some coins, where civic emblems first appear, are examples of explicable meaning apparent, but in most instances these emblems merely make obvious reference to local cult or utilize punning references, usages which are on a simple semantic level not related to political allegory. The material evidence contrasts with the literary, for the symbolic interpretation of emblems was by no means foreign to fifth century BC writers. Most of the literature, however, is significantly later in date than the artistic zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvuts Cf. above. n.59: Weidauer. 110.52-55. Weidauer. no. 186. H . A. Troxell and N. M. Waggoner. ANSMN 23 (1978). 3-4.110.6. pl. I . 45 Weidauer, no. 19 1-94, 46 W. Greenwell. NC 1897. 265. no.5. pl.1 I . 24. y7 Cf. above 1111.44-45. "x Lion's scalp on shield: Kraay, ACGC. fig. 770: J. P. Barron, 7 h c ~ S i l i w Coi17sc?f'Swno.s(London, 1966).40-45. 'j4 Helmet on shield: Kraay. ACGC. fig. 844. I"1 Sphinx on shield: Kraay ACGC. fig. 890. lol An eagle tears a ram. all on a shield: Kraay, ACGC, fig. 330. lo? For instance. the confronted cocks on ;I stater of the late fifth century dynast Kherei. Kraay. ACGC. fig. 986: also TrtlitP II. I . ~1.95. 2-7. 10: 96, 29: 98. 10. 12-13. 15: 99. 17: 101. 18. J. Boardman. AritK 10 (1967). 22-23. Group J: PI. Se: an unpublished silver ring said to be from Asia Minor in a private collection. For a discussion of the range of devices on Archaic and Classical gems and rings. cf. Art iii Seals. The problem of meaning has most often been discussed in regard to coin types, but most of these studies date from the early part of this century and are now seriously outdated: sensible but dated surveys include: G. Macdonald, Coi,? T ~ / x J .Tlicir s. Or.i,qitr a r i d L ) c ~ w l o / ~ n i(Glasgow. ~wf 1905) and B. V. Head, Historio Nimiorxn7 (Oxford, 191 I). IvIxi: less credible are the following: J. Svoronos. BCH 18 (1894). 1 0 1 (devices as astrological symbols): G. Gerojannis. . / / A N 9 (1906). 5-45 (devices as apotropaic symbols: on shield devices: 'all of them make a mystic impression and could best be explained as talismanic in character', 39): A. Baldwin. AJN 49 (1915). 89-194 (with interesting notes on psychology). For a generally unconvincing study of Greek symbolism. cf. J. M. Macdonald. Tlic Uscs of' S ~ r ~ i h o l i s r ri i~ Gr.ccX i Art (Chicago. 1922). For recent studies of the problems of symbolic and political meaning in Greek iconography. cf. 11.226 below. lor On political symbols in the Hellenistic period. cf. H. R. Baldus. Chirori 8 (1978). 195-99. and Chir.o,i 17 (1987). 395.449: H. Jucker. Cliiro/i 5 (1975). 349-64: Locroix. 103-1 14. discusses the development and use of civic emblems in the Classical and Hellenisiic periods. but evidence before the second half of the fifth century is lacking. ''I u3 "" zyxwv I16 zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvutsrq HIC'S 37 ( I990) representations, and it is highly questionable whether the literary sources understood the original meanings of the devices or the reasons artists continued to employ them. Although the repetition of devices on gems and rings is considerable, the motifs themselves give no indication of significant meaning. The most frequent devices are various animals, and no emblem refers clearly to the owner's ancestry, city, religion, or personal characteristics. Boardman has noted that the repetition of motifs on some groups of gems may indicate they were merely decorative rather than functional (that is. used to seal documents. vessels, etc.).""' However. even when seals were functional, as probably was the case for many sixth century scarabs. they only rarely had a device unique to the owner; even a common device could serve as identification when the sealing was compared to the original seal or accompanied by a signature (as in the Hellenistic period)."" The repetition of seal devices suggests that the gem cutters were merely drawing from a stock, or repertoire, of emblems, which had no specific meaning tailored to the client. The few inscriptions found on gems and rings provide no evidence that the devices had any meaning and again suggest that the function of seals was merely personal identification. Nearly all inscriptions are names, either in the nominative or genitive, and in most cases indicate the owner of the seal; some signatures of gem cutters exist as well."'x Several gems explicitly indicate ownership by adding &{pi to the name."'" An unusually long, four line inscription is found on an agate scarab from Aegina, now in Breslau. It reads: @EPZIOZ / EMICAMA / M E M E A N / OlrE - 'I am the ~ r n i uof Thersis, do not open me' - and is followed by the device of a tiny dolphin (PI. Sf)."" The word .s(wiu in this context cannot refer to the little dolphin device but rather to the physical sealing created from impressing the scarab on clay to seal a document or vessel; the inscription is best understood as saying, 'I am the seal of Thersis, do not break me'. Such a sealing clearly serves to identify the individual and his claim of ownership. Like the Thersis gem, a rock crystal disc in Athens has a four line inscription followed by a small device, this time a lion (PI. 5g)."' The meaning of the inscription is not clear but again seems to be an indication of ownership, beginning with a name and ending with 6Ep1q E G I . " ~ Another notable inscription occurs on an early fifth century Lydian-Achaemenid gem, which reads in Lydian: mitrutalis' eS sadniEs'. 'I am the sadmE.C of Mitratas'; the inscription is written around a 'linear device' of the sort long used in Asia Minor and Persia as a means of personal identification (PI. Si).ll' Boardman has convincingly suggested that sudniPS is the equivalent of zyxwvut zyxwvutsrq zyxw zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqpo zyxwvutsrqpo ~"hIGc~m.s, 161. citing some Late Mycenaean gems as well; Boardman also questions the practical use of gems in thc Classical period. Art i r i S c ~ a / . s . I 10. and GGFR. 235-38. 328-30. 107 For the use of common Hellenistic devices accompanied by signatures on Ptolemnic papyri, cf. 0. Rubcnsohn. Ekphuritirw P u p y i (Berlin. 1907). 9-17, 'Ox AGG, 176-77; Boardman suggests that names in the nominative may indicate the artist and those in the genitive the owner, but the idea is not entirely convincing. I'Y Cf. AGG, no. 175; a cornelian scarab in Cambridge. from Aegina; the device is a winged scarab beetle atid the c w i . ' 1 am (the seal) of Kreontidas'; for coins with the scarab beetle motif. cf. the clectrum inscription K~~eotitidu coins from Ephesos, Head. 87. no.8 1-83; and the Athenian W~rl'/7c'~iniii,i_c,. Traiti I I . I . p1.33. 24=C. T. S e l t m m AthcJn.s: I t s H~.Y/(J/:V atid Coinugc, hcfifi,r.cthe Pcr.sicr,i I t i i u s i o r i (Cambridge, 1924). 157. ~ 1 . 4 other ~ ; gems with cimi: AGG. no.5 16, and 110.42 I , in Cypriot. I AGG, no. 176; 0. Rossbach, AZ 1883, pl. 16, I Y. I I Athens, Karapanos Collection no.673; J. Svoronos. .//AN IS ( 19 13). 110.673: IGcwi.~. 126. F26: A G G no.20. I l 2 IGenis, 126, notes how the end o f the inscription recalls the familiar 011 t/ic~nii.scsti. and perhaps means 'it is not allowed (to break the seal)'; however, the 0 1 4 ending is perhaps better read as the genitive ending o f the previous name. I I J. Boardman, Irwi 8 ( I970), 20-2 1, 39, no. I ; R . Gusmani. N e w c,pic~/ior.i.sc./ic, S t ~ / i ~ . ~ f t ~ c ~ r r g ~ U i iM. sS s cS.t r r t l i s (/YSN-/Y7/) (Cambridge. Massachusetts. 197.5). 4-5. also notes the similarity i n usage to .st~uru. A Cypriot zyxwvu zyxwvutsrq zyx zy zyxwvuts JEFFREY SPIER 1 I7 the Greek seniu and that the Lydian usage probably derives from the Greek. All three seals indicate that their primary function was personal identification and that the devices themselves had little importance. Inscriptions rarely appear on electrum coins, but one example uses the word semu. A famous stater in the British Museum displays the device of a grazing stag with the legend OA[E]NOC EM1 CEMA, ' I am the scmu of Phanes' (PI. 5J). ' I J The words recall those of the Thersis scarab, but unlike the inscription on the seal ('do not open me') the coin legend probably does not claim ownership. Coins were meant to circulate, and, indeed, the Phanes stater is only part of a large issue of coins in a full range of denominations.lIs Rather than serving as a mark of ownership, the device and inscription probably indicate the identity of the issuer of the coin, although for what reason we can only speculate. It could have been a guarantee of quality, or an indication of the individual responsible to his city for the particular issue, or the name of the ruler of the city; all three possibilities have parallels in later Greek coinage. Other explanations have been proposed as well, such as the name of the owner of the gold mine1Ihor the private individual who owned the bullion;"' neither theory, however, explains the need for a full range of denominations. The word seniu in the Phanes inscription does not refer to the device of the grazing stag alone, but rather to both the device and the inscription taken together as a means of identifying the issuer of the coin. In this instance, the word is best translated as 'seal' or 'signature' rather than 'emblem'.''X The use of the word semu is similar to that on the Thersis seal inscription. On the basis of similar reverse punches, Weidauer has associated the Phanes stater with its smaller denominations (with stag protomes) and with two other issues which utilize different obverse types, a double-gorgoneion and a bee;'Iy the distinctive double-gorgoneion coins (PI. 41) have reverse punches very similar to those of the Phanes coin, but the bee coins'?"need not be associated. Bees and stags are the attributes of Ephesian Artemis, and Weidauer, following earlier scholarship,'?' has tentatively suggested Ephesos as the mint; stags and bees do become the civic emblems of Ephesos at a later date. However, stags need not be associated only with zyxwv zy zy inscription on a scarab in Oxford has been read as 'the seniu of Pasitimos'. but the reading is unlikely, cf. J. Boardman and M.-L. Vollenweider, Ashniolcuri Mirscrtm. Cu/ulope of the Eiigr-uwd Genis arid Finger Riyqs. I . Gim,X uiid E t r x s c w i (Oxford, 1978). 110.72. II' Weidauer. no.39. with further literature: also W. Kastner SNR 65 (1986). 5-10: M. Radnoti-A!fiildi. Fe.s/.sc/ir$ P. Nuster I (Louvain, 1982). 1-6. I l 5 Weidauer. no.35-40: no.40 is a third-stater inscribed Pliuneos: no.38 is from the Artemision: smaller denominations also exist. a number of which are in Oxford: the fractional coins are not die linked to the staters. hut their identification as part of a single issue is likely. II'' As recently suggested by A. Furtwingler. SNR 65 ( 1986). 162-65. not for this coin but for the contemporary Lydian electrum issues which bear at least three different personal names in the genitive: the third Lydian name appears on a coin recently discovered at the Artemision, A. Bammer, O./h 58 (1987), 18, fig. 29. 1 1 ' M. J. Price. S t r t r h s Gi.ic~r.so~. 4-10. used as 'bonus payments' by individuals: R. W. Wallace. ./HS 108 (1988), 207. suggests Phanes as the owner of the bullion. but believes that at least one of the Lydian inscriptions refers in some way to the Lydian king. I I x At a later date the word could refer to the actual coin device. as is attested by the early fifth century BC epigram of Simonides ( I 14. Diehl) which mentions the drachmai of Paros with the epi.wniu of a goat - in fact the known coin type for Paros: such a usage is inappropriate on the electrum coin. I I') Weidauer. 68-69. 110.33-46. I?') Weidauer. 110.3.7-34: at least six other specimens sharing two obverse dies are known: all have a peculiar appearance suggesting an exceptionally high silver content. C. Newton. NC 1870. 737-39: Kraay. ACGC. 23. follows P. Gardner. NC 1878. 262-65. in suggesting Halikariiassos as the mint. since Herodotos (3. 4 and 1 1 ) mentions a later sixth century ruler of the same name at the city and because the coin was said to have been found there: however. a mint striking electrum so far south of lonia seems highly unlikely at this date. and most electrum. including the fractional issues with stag protome or head. have been found at o r around Ephesos. zyxwvutsrqp I18 zyxwvutsrqpo zyxwvut BlCS 37 ( 1990) Artemis and often appear in a similar pose on gems.'?? The popularity of stags as a seal device, the variable obverse types of the 'Ephesos' mint (gorgoneion, stag, and perhaps others), and the use of the personal name Phanes, all cast doubt on Ephesos as the mint,'?' although the possibility remains. Although meanings for the motifs on electrum coins are seldom apparent, some emblems were indeed assigned special significance at an early date. The practice of adopting a single device for the coinage of a city, which would often be used as the civic emblem (or one of several civic emblems) and maintained for centuries, became common by the end of the sixth century. A few examples already appear among the earliest electrum coins, although they are the exceptions to the usage of devices at that time. The most notable example is the extensive Lydian royal coinage, most of which shows a lion's head or two confronted lions' heads as the device (PI. 5h),'?' although rare contemporary issues with boars' heads also occur.'?' No doubt lions held a special significance for the Lydians, as is attested by their extreme popularity in Lydian art and legend (which lead George Hanfmann to cite what he called 'leontomania' in Lydia).'2h It is difficult to say what the lion signified, but it may have been a symbol of royal power, as it was in many Eastern kingdoms; the Assyrian kings especially favoured depictions of lions and may have passed their popularity on to contemporary Lydia.'?' Another electrum coin from the Artemision deposit that can be attributed with some likelihood to a specific city in Ionia shows the head of a seal, for the seal (cphq)is a pun on the name of the city of Phokaia (PI. 6a).'2xStaters with a seal as the device appear to belong to this or a similar issue,'?" although it should be noted that the same series appears to utilize other obverse types as Nevertheless, the attribution to Phokaia is probable in view of the city's use of the seal as its civic emblem on an extensive series of electrum coins that began around the middle of the sixth centuryI3l and the weight standard (the so-called Phokaic standard), which is slightly heavier than that of the other Ionian coins. On the late sixth century series of Phokaian hektai a tiny seal always accompanies the main device, which changed frequently (perhaps annually). The wide variety of types recalls the earlier electrum devices as well as contemporary gem devices; they seem to have no symbolic significance and were most likely used only to differentiate between the various issues, probably for administrative reasons."' Other mints, notably Mytilene (which had a monetary alliance with Phokaia) and zyxw zyxwvutsrqpo zyx zyx zy zyxwvutsrqpo no. 132: the motif is especially common on later fifth century gems. GGFR. 202. p1.564-67. Furlwangler, S N R 61 ( 1982). 23-24. objected to the attribution of the Phanes coin to Ephesos in view o f the use of the personal name: G. Macdonald. Coin Types. Their Origin and Di,idopnicvit (Glasgow. 190.5).5 2 , made the same observation. Weidauer, 110.59-1 15. Weidauer, 110.55-56, die-linked to the lion staters no. 57-58; and cf. n.1 15 above for another inscribed coin. I'h G. M. A. Hanfmann and N. Ramage. S(xlpfurc~fiwn Surdis (Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1978). 20-23. I?' The Assyrian royal seal displayed the king subduing a lion: A. J. Sachs. Ira4 15 (1953). 167-70; could the idea for Lydian coins have come from the circular stamp seal? R. W. Wallace (n.1 17). 203-7. acceprs the lion ;IS the royal Lydian seal and interprets the inscription ~ ~ a l asn meaning ~ l 'lion', possibly referring to the king. For Assyrian references to Lydia. cf. J. G. Pedley, Ancicwr L i & w y S o i i ~ e on s Surdis (Cambridge. Massachusctts. 1972). 82-83. Head, 87, no. 86-87. I?' Weidauer, no. 188-89, and F. Bodenstedt. Die Elc.k/,.otiniii,i_i,ti wn Phokoiri wid Mytiliwi~(Mainz. I98 I ). E 1.2. p1.42. I''' All are characterized by the similar pairs of incuse stamps on the reverses: types include: chimaera. 7'ruiri; II. 1. p1.5, 14; bull on a shield, see above, 11.94;and a lioness, Hunt Collection, Wcolth o f ' / h c , Ancient World (Beverly Hills, 1983). 157, 110.56. Bodenstedt, op. (.it.,Group I . I??AGG. ' I 3 A. zyxwvut JEFFREY SPIER I19 Kyzikos,"' also employed a great number of frequently changing types from the late sixth until well into the fourth century. Kyzikos took the tuna fish as its civic emblem in the same way the Phokaians used the seal, while Mytilene had no constant device. With the beginning of silver coinage around the mid-sixth century, most cities in Greece adopted a single, unchanging coin type."3 The device is not always explicable in terms of having a meaning significant to its city, but in a number of cases the reference is clear. As at Phokaia, the emblem is often a pun on the name of the city, other examples being the celery leaf (oEh~vov)for Selinos in Sicily and the apple (pihov) for the island of Melos.'" Sometimes symbols that allude to a characteristic or product of the city, such as Dionysiac symbols for wine exporting cities (for example, the two Naxos's in the Cyclades and Sicily)'3hand the silphium plant for Cyrene,"' were chosen. The most common meaning for civic symbols (but one which cannot be recognized with confidence before the late sixth century) is an allusion to the cult or legend of the city. To name a few examples, Corinth, drawing on its mythological history, adopted the symbol of Pegasos and later, just before 500 BC,'3Xadded the head of their patron goddess Athena to the reverse; coins of Kaulonia and Poseidonia in Italy bore respectively images of Apollo and Poseidon;I3' at Samos the lion scalp and ox, attributes of Samian Hera, were used;lJoand at Knidos the coins depicted the patron goddess Aphrodite on the reverse and the popular but often inexplicable lion on the obverse, in this case probably an allusion to the important Doric cult of Triopion Apol10.'~' The notable exception to the pattern of adopting a single coin device was Athens. The earliest coins there are the so-called Wuppenmunzen, which used a series of changing obverse devices, very likely inspired by Ionian electrum issues.I4' Seltman in his study of Athenian coinage believed in the existence of medieval-style coats of arms (Wuppen) in Archaic Greece.'13 He associated the symbols on the coins with the alleged coats of arms of the prominent pre-Peisistratid families of Athens, and for good measure cited shield devices depicted on Attic black figure vases as supporting evidence. Seltman's evidence is unconvincing, as several reviewers of his day, notably Robinson"4 and van Bucken,lJ5noted. zyxwvut zy zyxwv zyx zyxwvutsr For the function of changing types and how they were chosen cf. A. Furtwlngler, SNR 61 (1982). 19-24; J . H. Kroll. ANSMN 26 (1981). 2-10; and J. H. Kroll and N. M. Waggoner. AJA 88 (1984). 331. with further literature. I " H. von Fritze, Nomisniu 7 ( 19 12). I lJ Cf. Kraay, ACGC, 3-4. ' I 5 For a late and unclear reference to the pcrr'uscmori of Selinos, cf. Plutarch. de f y t k i a e 01m~uIis. 12 ( M o r d i a 399F). For speculations on the punning name of Himera, cf. Kraay. ACGC, 208. I'" Kraay. ACGC. 3. 206-07. I '? Ihitl.. 3. 296. Ihitl.. 80; cf. C. Arnold-Biucchi. L. Beer-Tobey. and N. M. Waggoner. A N S M N 33 (1988). 24-26. for the latest assessment of the chronology of early Corinthian coinage. ' "' Kraay. ACGC 168-69. I"' J. P. Barron. Tlic S i l i ~ vCoirrs . c!f'Sunio.s(London. 1966), 1-5. I J I H. A. Cahn. Kriidos (Berlin. 1970). 196-99. Lions are among the most popular devices on Archaic gems. shields, and coins. yet there is no clear meaning: on coins. where they are especially frequent in Asia Minor, they cannot always be explained ;IS a reference to a cult of Apollo: Eastern cult or solar imagery is sometimes cited but with little evidence. cf. H. A. Cahn. Mir.sHcli7 7 (1950). 185-99: G. Macdonald. op. (.if., 22. wryly noted in 1904 that 'with the help of the sun i t became possible to read a religious significance into types that had defied all previous attempts at explanation'. [-I?Kraay. ACGC. 56-60. "' C. T. Scltman. Atlrc~rrs: I t s his tor;^ t r ~ r dCoi/rrr,qc,htlfim tlic fcr.sicru I//i*u.sio/i(Cambridge, 1924). 19. 2 1-22. 24: for earlier literature on coats of arms i n Greece. cf. Lacroix. 9X n. 1. I" E. S . G. Robinson. C'K 39 (1925). 124-2.5: and NC 1924. 330-31. I-(' H. J. H. van Bucken. C'K 40 ( 1926). 1 X 1-83, I'? zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsr HIC'S 37 ( I 990) 1'0 Seltman's chronology for coinage has since been considerably revised and down-dated, / i ; / /the ~ ~context ~// in which he wished to place them; there is no removing the W ~ i i ~ / ~ c / / t ?from valid literary evidence for hereditary emblems;"" and identical shield devices on Attic vases vary considerably in date, as will be discussed below. and certainly tell nothing about the prePeisistratid families.'" What the symbols on the coins signified, if anything, remains unknown. By the end of the sixth century, Athens too had adopted unchanging coin types, the familiar Athena head and owl, which clearly refer to the patron goddess of the city and her attribute. However, early in the Athena/owl series of tetradrachms, probably in 5 10/09 BC, a brief issue of fractional coinage occurs: these drachms, hemidrachms and quarter-drachms all have the head of Athena on the obverse but highly unusual devices on the reverse. Although not entirely explicable, the three reverse devices may represent some of the earliest examples of political symbolism. The reverse of the drachm shows an owl standing on a branch and raising its right wing (PI. 6b); the device apparently indicates an auspicious event, and Kroll has proposed the expulsion of Hippias as the relevant occasion, suggesting that the branch on which the owl stands alludes to the myrtle branch in which Harmodios and Aristogeiton hid their swords. IJx The motif is indeed without parallel, which strengthens the suggestion that it did have special significance. If Kroll's interpretation is correct, the device may be the earliest known example of a symbol newly created as a political allegory. Another possible political allusion occurs on the reverse of the hemidrachm. which depicts the head of a black (PI. 6c). Kroll, following earlier suggestions that the head represents Delphos, the eponymous founder of Delphi, proposes that the device was placed on the Athenian coin in recognition of Delphic assistance in the expulsion of the Peisistratids; a similar head does appear on slightly later coins of Delphi.'j' The quarter-drachms of the issue, however, present a problematic device - two conjoined female heads."" Simon believes that the janiform head represents the combined heads of Aphrodite Pandemos and Peitho, who shared a sanctuary in Athens,"' but has little supporting evidence for the identification. Kroll is uncertain about the meaning but suggests it may represent a 'temporal signpost', indicating the beginning of a new era for the new democracy; such a meaning, however, is perhaps too complex for the period. Conjoined heads appear on coins and gems elsewhere, but their significance is unknown."? Further political symbolism has been seen in the small changes that occur on Athenian tetradrachms after 480 BC; olive leaves are added to the crown of the helmet of Athena on the obverse, and a crescent moon appears by the owl on the reverse. Both have been seen as zyxw zyxwvuts IJh R. J. Hopper, CQ 10 (1960~242-47. zyxw zyxwvut zyxwvuts 98-102, discusses in some detail the question of family emblems and refutes Seltman. J. H. Kroll, ANSMN 26 (1981).26-28. 14') Kroll, ihid., 25-26; cf. also F. M. Snowden, Jr., Blacks in Antiquity (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970). IS1 and n.46; for coins from Delphi: TraitP 11, I , p1.42, 22-23: Kroll, loc. tit., 30-31, argues against E. Simon, SNR 49 (1970), 5-19, who identifies the head on the Athenian coins as an Ethiopian attendant of Aphrodite Pandemos: other heads of a black, with no apparent significance, are found on early fifth century coins of Mytilene. Truitc; 11. I , pl. IS,6; and as a subsidiary symbol on an octadrachm of Abdera, cf. S. Fried in I. Carradice. ed.. Coinugc untl Administrution in the Atheniun und Persian Empires. BAR Internationul Series 343 (Oxford, I9X7), 3. pl. I . 7. 1511Kroll (n.148), 28-29. I 5 l Cf. Simon, loc. cit. at n. 149 above. I 5 ? A G G ,70, no.149, male and female heads, and 8 5 , no.228-29, satyr and maenad: early fifth century coins of Tenedos, with male and female heads: TruitP 11, I , p1.16, 2-9; cf. Kraay, A C C C , 39. for a doubtful explanation of the type; and Lampsakos with female heads: Truitc; I I , I , p1.16, 18-21; cf. also p1.16, I . which is prohably Macedonian. IJ7Lacroix, IJx JEFFREY SPIER zyxwvu 121 allusions to victories over the Persians, but the references are by no means clear. As Starr has noted, the additions may be no more than decorative embellishments."' Puns and references to various characteristics of a city explain the choices of a number of coin devices, but most civic emblems, although remaining constant, have no clear allusion. Why do we find a cow with calf at Corcyra, a lion attacking a bull at Akanthos, a griffin at Teos, a sphinx at Chios, a fig leaf at Kameiros, and a lion at Lindos,!?' Lydia, and Karia, to name just a few? Were they symbolic choices at all? The repetition of types suggests that often no clear symbolic meaning can be assigned to the motifs. For example, a winged boar forepart (PI. 6d) was the emblem of Klazomenai at the time of the lonian Revolt in 499 BCI5' and remained so until the Hellenistic period. The emblem might reflect a local legend that spoke of a winged boar ravaging the countryside around Klazomenai,'5hbut Samos (PI. 6e)'" Ialysos (Pl. 6f),lSxMytilene (Pl. 6h),I5' and Kyzikos (PI. 6i)l"' all used the device at roughly the same date. Barron has suggested that on Samos the type may allude to the death of the island's first king Ankaios, who was killed by a boar, perhaps winged as is frequent in East Greece.lhl But why was it a constant type at Ialysos, and why did it briefly occur at Mytilene and Kyzikos? Significantly, the type is also very common on contemporary gems of which at least five are known (Pl. 4e),lh2 including, perhaps not coincidentally, one found at Ialysos and another at Mytilene. As Boardman notes, the device also occurs on shields depicted on vases of East Greeks working in Etruria, once on a Campana dinos and again on the Ricci hydria."I3 One might well wonder if the popularity of the device came first and its interpretation later. The popular and long-lived motif of a lion attacking a bull presents special problems of interpretation. It is known from a very early date in Near Eastern and Bronze Age Greek art,"' including on Minoan and Mycenaean gems. The motif reappears on the Peloponnesian ivory seals of the mid-seventh century (PI. 4b) and is one of the most popular gem types of the second half of the sixth century (Pl. ,,).Ih5 On coins it is most notable as the emblem of the city of Akanthos in Macedonia from the end of the sixth until well into the fourth century BC zyxwv zy zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvutsr zyx zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrq C. G. Starr. Ailiiviicrr~Cairroge 480-449 BC (Oxford. 1970). I 1-12; also C. M. Kraay. NC 1956. 56-58; R. R. Holloway, ANSMN 10 (1962), 2-5. proposes that the ivy wreath added to the kantharos on coins of Naxos commemorates a victory over the Persian5 c.500 BC. but the argument is unconvincing. '51 The patron goddess of Lindos was Athena; cf. H. Cahn, 'Die archaischen Silberstatere von Lindos' in Char-itcis. Stitdicri xr-A / t c ~ , - ~ i t n ~ s ~ ~ i . s . s e /Festschr(ft ~ . ~ ~ ~ h u f iE. . Lrrri,q/otz (Bonn, 1957), 25-26, who notes the problem, also cf. n.141 above and 165 below on lions. 15? TroitP 11, I. p1.12, 10-12; Krday, ACGC, 39: J. A. Dengate. AJA 72 (1968). 164, notes die links between silver drachms and Ionian Revolt electrum staters. Aelian, de Nu/.Ariim. X11.38. Barron. op. d . ,Groups A and B: T r ~ i t P11, I . PI. 150. 4-6. Tr.airk 11. I , p1.20. 12-14. ~5"T~critP11.2.p1.1S9. 17. lf,IlW. Wr0th. Britisk Mirscirm. Cartrlope ofG/.eeX Coiris o f M ~ . s i a(London. 1892), 24, no.52, p1.5. IS. 15' Barron. op. c.ir.. 5-6. I('? AGG. 146-47. no.498-501. 558, 559. I"' Cf. AGG. 147. 158. no.9. which also cites a cup by Euphronios (ARV2 16, 17; in Munich), which shows the shield device of the whole figure of a winged boar. an unusual motif in Attic art. Louvre dinos: F. Villard. Mori. Pior 43 (194%. 48. fig. 18; Ricci hydria: G. Ricci. Atiriirorio 24-26 (1946-48). 47-57. p1.6, I . I(1J Cf. Lacroix. 93-94. for the possible significance in the Mycenaean period. I('' Especially important is AGG. I2 1-24. for the various schemes. 122 zyxwvutsrqpon zyxwvut BlCS 37 ( 1990) (PI. Sj).'" In addition, the motif appears on a large number of objects in a variety of media,Ih7 including limestone and marble sculpture from the pediments of two sixth century temples on the Athenian Acropolis;IhXhowever, the many usages of the motif give no indication of its specific meaning to the Greeks. In the late sixth century the emblem appears to be especially significant in the Persian Empire where it is found as a recurring motif at Persepolis and Susa. Recently Vickers has assigned a symbolic meaning to it - the domination of the Persians over their adversaries;'" Root, however, prefers to see the symbol as one of Achaemenid dynastic aspirations, perhaps even 'the personal seal device of the Achaemenid king'.17" But is there a symbolic meaning at Akanthos? Perhaps, but surely not the same meaning as in Persia or even another Greek city. The coinage of Akanthos also serves as an example of another frequent Greek practice, the abbreviation of devices.171The fractional coinage includes tetrobols with, instead of the lion and bull, only the protome of either the lion or bull; smaller coins display only the head of a bull or lion.I7? The same practice is seen even on the earliest coins, for the Lydians used a lion's paw rather than a lion's head for their smallest denomination^.'^^ Similar dismemberment of devices on Greek coins is very common and shows that the Greeks treated their emblems rather harshly, suggesting that any meaning assigned to the emblem was secondary in importance to it being merely a sign of identification. A second exceptional motif - the gorgon head - also warrants special attention. The gorgoneion is one of the earliest, most popular, and long lived of all devices. Its origin in Greek art in the early Archaic period is complex and its meaning controversial. A number of scholars believe that the motif was originally a mask, which, as a symbol of the primitive fear of animals and death, served an apotropaic the gorgon's role in the Perseus myth is viewed as a secondary development. However, artistic representations of the gorgon head are not demonstrably earlier than those of the entire Perseus and Medusa composition and may rather be dependent on the myth.175 In any event, a Greek of the seventh or sixth century is likely to have associated the representation of the gorgon head with the myth and interpret it either as a symbol of terror (perhaps for use against an enemy as in the Perseus myth) or as an attribute of Athena. Both connotations appear already in Homer, who describes the gorgoneion on the aegis worn by AthenaI7' and places the device on the shield of A g a m e m n ~ n . ' The ~~ zyx zy zyxwvutsr zy J. Desneux, RBN 95 (1949). 5ff. Cf. the extensive list, AGG, 137-38, nn.9-14; Art in Seals, 103-, doubts any special significance for the device; cf. also, F. Holscher, Die Bedeutung urc~haischerTierkampfiilder (Wurzburg, 1972). who sees multiple meanings. I h X J. Boardman, Greek Sculpture (London, 1978), 154-55, fig. 190-92; H. Schrader, Dic~ ~ r c . / ~ t r i s c . / ~ c ~ r Marmorbildnwke der Akropolis (Frankfurt am Main, 1939), 377-87; E. Buschor, A M 47 (1922). 92- 105. Ihy M. Vickers, NC 1985, 6; and in C. Berard, C. Bron, and A. Pomari. eds.. 1map.v 1'1 Soc,ic;tP C I I Grc:c~, Atrc,ic~t~c (Lausanne, I Y87), 20- I . 17" M. C. Root, NC 1988, 7; and in a forthcoming study of Achaemenid iconography; also cf. P. R. S. Moorey. It.trrl 16 (1978), 152, n. 112; and W. Hartner, JNES 24 (1965) 1-16,who argues for astrological significance. 1 7 1 Kraay ACGC,4, n.1. Lion and bull protomes: TiuitP 11, I , p1.54, IS and 19; heads: p1.54, I8 and 20. 173 Head, 84-85, no.54-70. 17' W. Burkert, Greek Religion (Oxford, 198.5). 104. 173; T. P. Howe. AJA 58 (1954). 209-221; A. A. Barb../WC'I I6 (1953). 208-12. 17? AGG 38-39; the gorgon may also serve as potilia therot?. cf. AGG, 28-29. Against the apotropaic interpret:ition of the motif on pedimental sculpture, cf. J. L. Benson in Gestalt irnd Gcwhic,hte. Festschr$t Karl S h f i ) l t / (Basel, I965), 48-5 I . 1 7 h Iliad 5. 738-742. 1 7 7 Iliad I I . 36-37; the description, however, is allegorical and not dependent on artistic representations; similar allegorical treatments of shield types are in the descriptions of the shield of Achilles and the Hesiodic shield of Ihh lh7 zyxwv zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvut JEFFREY SPIER 123 Greeks of the Archaic period would have been familiar with the Homeric passages, and it is possible that the Homeric reference to the motif on Agamemnon's shield inspired its use on actual shields. Even if the Homeric passage explains why the gorgoneion was the single most popular shield device in the Archaic period, it does not account for the popularity of the motif on gems,I7' rings,"" and coins.IX" The gorgoneion is also a popular subsidiary decorative element on a range of minor arts, making any symbolic interpretation (other than merely apotropaic) unclear. It may serve as an example of how a true, meaningful symbol (the primitive fear of animals?) is transformed into mere decoration; indeed, most semufu, even if they originally had a symbolic significance, rapidly became little more than suitable decorative patterns. As on most gems and coins, rhe emblems on shields appear to have symbolic content only very rarely. The earliest examples, the horse and 'Dipylon' shield on the late eighth century vase in the Benaki Museum (PI. 5a) appear to be exceptional. The two motifs occur frequently on Late Geometric vases, and the horse in particular is a popular type of votive statuette in both bronze and terracotta. The horse and shield may well be significant symbols in the Late Geometric period, perhaps conventional signs of wealth and prestige; however, they have no apparent iconographical function on the vase. Already on the mid-seventh century Protocorinthian Chigi olpe (PI. 5d) a hoplite army displays a wide variety of shield devices, but considerable duplication is seen, suggesting that the devices did not have a specific meaning for each individual. The hundreds, if not thousands, of representations of shield devices on Attic black and red figure vases, which are the primary source for our knowledge of such blazons, present no meaningful pattern to the simple, recurring types; animals again are the most frequent motif. The only careful survey of shield devices to date is a 1902 article by Chase,Ix' which in addition to reviewing the literary evidence, collected representations of nearly three hundred different shield devices, primarily from vase painting. Although the great number of vases compiled by Beazley and his successors adds substantially to the body of material and deserves further study, it is doubtful that Chase's conclusion that the devices were nearly always decorative and without symbolic significance should be challenged. He could find no pattern of meaning and only occasionally a device appropriate to the shield bearer, whose identity is often clear and in a good iconographical context. For example, Athena on Attic vases bears shields with sixty-two different devices, only two of which seem appropriate, the gorgoneion and the owl.'*' Only rarely does the device have any apparent meaning, as on a black figure cup depicting Kyknos carrying a shield with the zyxwvu zyxwvu zyxwvutsrqp zyxwvutsrqp zyxwv zyxwvutsrq zyxw Herakles (Shirld of Hc~r~uklrs 144). which describes the central device as Fear (Phohos) accompanied by Strife, Pursuit, Flight, Tumult. Panic, Slaughter, Strife, Uproar, and Fate: Pausanias (5.19.4-5) describes the shield of Agamemnon on the chest of Kypselos as having as its device the lion-headed image of Phobos along with the inscription: 'This is the Fear of mortals: he who holds him is Agamemnon.' 17' IGenis, 110.357; AGG nos.66-69. 1 19. 596, 599, 600; J. Boardman, Intuglios arid Riri<g.s (London. 197S), no.3 and 8 , now in Malibu; Art iri ScuIs, 103. finds the significance difficult to explain. I"' J. Boardman. 1ritc1,glio.s riritl R i y s (London, 197.5). no.62, with further examples; also PI. Se. above. In') Cf. J. H. Croon. JHS 75 ( 1955). I I - 12. who unconvincingly equates the gorgon head with an underworld demon associated with underground springs; he cites twenty-nine cities with the coin type, eleven of which are known to have had underground springs. I x I For the horse as a symbol in the Geometric period, cf. J.-L. Zimmermann. Les c ~ h e ~ u ide r . ~hr.ori:e dnus l'trr.t ,gc,o,,iP/r.ic/irc' ,?re('(Mainr.. 1989). 3 19-335. I X 1 G. H. Chase. H a r ~ i ~ r i rS~trilr r l i ~ siri Clri.~sic~c~/ Philology 13 ( 1902). 6 I - 127. I X 3 ll7itf.. 82-83. I24 zyxwvutsrqpo zyxwvu B/CS 37 ( 1990) blazon of a swan (I&KVO<),~” an example of the punning device that we have seen as the basis for many civic emblems on coins.1x’ Only on some Panathenaic vases is there a pattern to Athena’s shield devices, for some vase painters used a single device on many of their works. I X o The use of specific devices on Panathenaic vases appears to have been for administrative reasons, enabling the responsible magistrate to identify different batches of vases.IX7 Such usage reinforces the assertion that no iconographical significance should be assigned to the devices. zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsr Semata and symbolism in Greek literature Contrary to the evidence presented by surviving coin, gem, and shield devices, Greek literature of the fifth century BC suggests that the Greeks were fully aware of the symbolic potential of semata. Although references to seals and coins are rare, shield devices are often assigned meaning. As noted above,IXXHomer and the pseudo-Hesiodic Shicdd deploy complex allegorical imagery for the shields of Achilles, Agamemnon, and Herakles, but actual shields of these types did not exist. A fragmentary passage by the early sixth century poet Stesichoros provides the earliest reference to a familiar emblem; it states that the dolphin emblazoned on the shield and seal of Odysseus referred to the saving of the drowning Telemachos by a dolphin.IXy The explanation appears contrived in view of the common device and the minor importance of the event, and the poetic value of the imagery is unclear. It is not impossible that Stesichorus was drawing on an early pictorial representation of Odysseus. A tradition that could conceivably go back to the late sixth century relates that the famous ring made by the artist Theodoros of Samos for the tyrant Polykrates”” was set with an emerald engraved with the device of a lyre. Although Herodotos does not mention the device, Clement of Alexandria, writing in the second century AD, cites the tradition but offers no explanation of the emblem’s significance.”’ Such a device does in fact appear on a late sixth century scarab, but no clear meaning for the device can be established.”? The concept of a seal device having a meaning was not neglected by the humorists. Aristophanes makes good use of the imagery in the Kni$m,1‘’3his parody of Kleon (the slave Paphlagon) and his pandering to the Athenian public (the old householder Demos). When Paphlagon is displaced in favour of a sausage seller, who has bested him in a contest of I X 4/hid., 90; zyxw zyxwvu zy the cup is by the Nikosthenos Painter and is now in Tarquinia. ABV 126. 23. similar use is seen on the north frieze of the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi. where the giant Kantharos wears ;I helmet with a crest holder in the shape of a kantharos cup; cf. J. Boardman. GtvcJkScirlptitr.c) (London, 1978). fig. 212. I ; a similar crest holder appears as a shield device carried by Athena on a black figure amphora in the Louvre (ABV, 406, 3). cf. F. Lissarrague in C. BCrard, C. Bron, and A. Pomari. eds.. /niu,qe~sc’t SociPrP (’/I GrZw A / i c i o i / i c (Lausanne, 1987), 114, fig. 8. I X h For example, the Kleophrades Painter uses a flying Pegasos; J. D. Beazley, Thc~Dcwhpmcrit of’ Arric, BIucX Figure (Berkeley, 195 I ), 94-97; cf. K. Peters, Srudien :u den punuthenoischcw P rcisumphor.cvi (Cologne. 1947). 124, for a list of devices. IX7Cf. J. Boardman, Athenion Black Figirre V o w s (London, 1974). 168. IxxCf. 1111.73-74 and 176 above. IxyFrag. 70 (Bergk); preserved in Plutarch, de sollcv~tia anirnaliitm 36 (Moruliu OXSB): the tradition. prohahly dependent on Stesichorus. is also preserved in Lycophron, Alera/idr-u 658; cf. Lacroix. 95. l q ) Herodotos 3.40-42. I y l Clement of Alexandria, P o d . 3, I I . /Gems, no.346; A G G , 1 18; in Cambridge. It is also found on the early fifth century coinage of Delos, where i t i s clearly meant as the attribute of Apollo; conceivably. Polykrates’ seal could associate him with his activities ;it Delos, but the literature makes no such connection. IY3 II. 947-958. Ix5 A zyxwvut JEFFREY SPIER 125 promises to the old householder, Demos asks the slave for his seal-ring back. On seeing it Demos says:'This ring can't be mine, it's not the same device (or@ov), or can't I see?' The sausage seller: 'What is your device'?' Demos: 'A roasted leaf stuffed with beef fat.'"4 The sausage seller: 'No, that's not here.' Demos: 'Not the leaf, what then'?' The sausage seller: 'A gull standing on rocks with its mouth open haranguing the public.""' Demos: 'Pheugh! ... Throw it away! He doesn't have mine but Kleonymos' ring.'"' Aristophanes employs implausible seal devices, combined with puns and allusions, for good comic effect. Literary sources of the fifth century and later relate that some shield devices signified their city of origin. We are told that in some cases all the soldiers of a city bore the same device, often the initial letter of the city: for example, signiu signified Sikyon,lCJ7 lunzdu Lakedaimon.'"x and niii Messenia.'"' That such shields were actually used in the fifth century need not be doubted,""' but such a usage is hardly symbolic and rather a simple form of identification. In other examples, the entire army may have borne shields decorated with an emblem of the city. Xenophon says a club was used as the shield device of the Thebans, whose ancestor was Herakles,?"' and Bakchylides?"? relates that the Mantinaeans used the device of a trident, alluding to their patron god Poseidon. The civic emblems on the shields compare well with coin types,?"' although it should be noted that the constant civic device on coins of Thebes was the Boeotian shield and not the club of Herakles, suggesting that there could be several civic emblems in use at the same time. The most common meaning assigned to shield devices by fifth century and later literary sources is the allusion to ancestry.?"4 For example, Euripides suggests that the golden eagle on the shield of Telamon alludes to his descent from Zeus.?"' Euripides also alludes to ancestry in his description of the ship blazons of the Greek fleet.?"' The ships of Achilles show the emblem of the Nereids: those of Nestor use Alpheos as a bull; the Boeotians have Kadmos and the dragon; the Athenians display Pallas. Several times Pausanias explains shield devices, sometimes in terms of family descent and once as an allusion to a significant 'historical' event; he no doubt followed traditional accounts. He sees a bronze group of warriors at Olympia and explains the cock on the shield of Ideomeneus as an allusion to his descent from H e l i ~ s . " ' ~A serpent on the shield over the tomb of Epanimondas at Thebes 'signifies that he was by descent zyxwvutsr zyxwvu zyxwvutsrqp I"' I"' zyxwvutsrqpon zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe zyxwvutsrqp 6 q p 6 poeiov 19piou 6Cw~rqpEvov- a pun d m o i / . fat. lor Demos: 1. 953. h&pOS K E X q V h 5 6 K i lt&TpU.S 6qpllyOphV: I. 956. A noted glutton. cf. II. 1200-99. Xen. H i , / / .4.4.10. Eupolis. fr. 359. I" Paus. 4.28.5. ?'"I Chase. lot. c , i / . . 77: Lacroix. 104. X I 1 Xen. til~ll. 7.5.20. lo' Frog. 2 I . x'Cf. Lacroix. 104-05. ?IuCI: Chase. lot. cir,. 74-75: Liicroix. 95-96. 205 Frng. 530 (Nauck). from Mdctrgcv'. m' /p/ri,qc/ri(/irr Arrlis II.239-276: Lacroix. S3. 2117 Pnus. 5.L5.9. I'Jx zyxwvut zyx zyxw zyxw zyx zyxwvutsrq of the race of the Spartoi' - those who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by Kadmos;?"Xbut another serpent on the shield of Menelaos, in a painting by Polygnotos at Delphi, is explained by the appearance of a serpent at the sacrifice at Aulis.?'" Eagles, cocks, and serpents are all common blazons on shields, as attested by vase painting, and the meanings assigned to them by Euripides and Pausanias appear to be either traditional or literary inventions made postfuc.ro. A distinctive literary technique of the Attic playwrights makes full use of the symbolic content of semutcr. In an extended passage of Aeschylus' S e w n Aguinsf Thehes, a Theban scout returns to Eteokles and describes the shield device of each of the seven heroes confronting the city; Eteokles then interprets them ironically.?"' The hero Tydeus has on his shield a representation of the night sky, with blazing moon and stars. Eteokles says that the trappings of the man do not frighten him, nor do semafa wound;?" he states that night - death - will fall on Tydeus' eyes. Kapaneus' device is a man with torches accompanied by the legend 'I shall bum the city'; to which Eteokles replies, 'Zeus' fire will come to him.' Eteoklos displays the device of a hoplite mounting a ladder against the battlements. Hippomedon has the blazon of Typhon, against which Eteokles sends his own hero Hyperbios with a blazon of Zeus on his shield, for Zeus must overcome Typhon. Parthenopaios has the device of a sphinx bearing a man beneath her. Amphiaros has no blazon, for, he says, he does not want to brag but to achieve. Polyneikes has the device of Justice leading him back to his city. At the end of the passage, Eteokles says 'we shall know to what end the blazons will come', as if they were ambiguous omens, rather than emblems with fixed meanings.?" The complexity of symbols is made explicit; they represent bravado, power, death, and justice, yet all are in the end ambiguous. Aeschylus demonstrates that semata could have been viewed with rich connotations. But does the literary use of semata depend at all on actual shield devices or the visual arts? Aeschylus' choice of semafa appears somewhat inconsistent. Most of the shield devices are purely literary in conception (the night sky, the hoplite scaling the city wall, the torch bearer, Justice leading Polyneikes, Amphiaraos's lack of a device),?I3but the other two emblems are plausible as actual shield devices. The device of Typhon occurs on a shield blazon found at Olympia,?'Jand the sphinx bearing a youth, although especially appropriate for Thebes, is a very common motif on late sixth century gems (PI. 6k)"' and could certainly have served as a shield blazon. The traditional shield devices familiar from vase painting were probably obsolete by the mid-fifth century?Ihand may have been invoked by Aeschylus as deliberate archaisms alluding to the heroic past. zyxwvuts zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqp Paus. 8 . I 1.8. Paus. 10.26.3; cf. also the elaborate explanation of the serpent shield device of Alkmeon in the scholia lor Pindar. Pyth. 8.45; Lacroix, 94-95. ? I 0 II. 387-676; cf.Vidal-Naquet in J.-P. Vernant and P. Vidal-Naquet, Myth und T r u p ~ ( y in A/icioir Grwc,c (New York, 1988), 283-300. and notes; who provides some earlier bibliography and a good literary explication of the passage. ? ' I II. 397-98. ?I' 1. 659; cf. a similar usage in 1. 406, where the blazons are equated with prophesies. ? I 3 Vidal-Naquet, op. (,it., 285. has difficulty in relating the literary explication to artistic representations. and his association of the images with pictorial types is unconvincing; ihid., 480, n.42. implies that Aeschylus' scwitritr are not closely related to actual shield devices. ?IJ E. Kunze, OIBericht, 59-60. ?"AGG. 68, no.122, 126, 155-60. 251; Boardman also cites other objects decorated with the motif. including ;I shield band and Attic black figure vases of the second half of the sixth century. ? I h Cf. J. D. Beazley, Attic Vusc Pnintin,gs iti the Musc,itm of'Fir7c Arts. B o s t o n 11 (London, 1954). 7Y. 2''x ''FJ JEFFREY SPIER zyxwv I27 We may wonder, however, if the symbolic interpretation of shield blazons is a literary tradition that predates Aeschylus. The familiarity with actual semuta demonstrated by the use of the Typhon and sphinx with youth devices suggests such a tradition. In addition, the interpretation of shield blazons is not confined to Aeschylus, for the theme reappears in Euripides in his treatment of the Seven against Thebes in The Phoenician mu id en^.^" In Euripides, however, the poetic intentions are less clear.?lXThe symbolic content is lacking, and most devices are merely conventional references to the hero’s ancestry. Parthenopaios has the device of Atalanta slaying the boar, because he was the son of Atalanta;?” Hippomedon has the blazon of many-eyed Argos, referring to his homeland. In other cases, Tydeus (rather than Kapaneus as in Aeschylus) bears the man with the torch, here identified as Prometheus; Polyneikes has racing steeds; Kapaneus has a giant bearing a city on his shoulders; and Adrastos bears the Hydra. Perhaps following a tradition, Euripides depicts Amphiaraos as again refusing to bear any device. The similarity between the passages of Aeschylus and Euripides suggests that an earlier version may have existed. Aristophanes also was familiar with the tradition, for he alludes to it in the FI.o~.s.?”’He has Euripides chide Aeschylus for invoking the images of long forgotten blazons in a manner ‘not easy to understand’.??’ Dionysos, who is listening to the shades of the two playwrights, agrees; he says that he has been kept up nights wondering what kind of creature a ‘hippalektryon’ is. In fact, the horse-cock is a common Archaic motif, frequently found on gems and Attic black figure vases.??’ Dionysos asks, ‘What kind of bird is it?’ Aeschylus replies, ‘It was an emblem ( o q p ~ i o vengraved ) on a ship, stupid.”?’ zyxw zyxwvu Observations on the meaning of semata Many questions remain about the meaning of emblems in the Archaic period. Even if one accepts some of the assertions made here, such as the existence of a repertoire of devices designed originally for shields and probably originating in seventh century Peloponnesian workshops, the reasons for the choice of devices remains obscure. Conscious symbolic significance is seldom apparent, judging from both the literary sources and the substantial number of surviving representations of semata. Symbols in other cultures are often interpreted by modem students of phychology and religion as an equivalent of primitive myth or ritual, either products of what Burkert called ‘the unconscious dynamics of the psyche, which are situated somewhere between biology and language’??‘ or a part of Jung’s broad concept of archetypes.225Psychological or ritual origins may be sought for the origins of Greek sematu, but the evidence will be difficult to find. The beginnings of sc’mutu are rooted in late eighth and early seventh century Greece, a highly unusual and complex milieu where intense artistic development followed a period of virtually non-figural art (the so-called Dark Ages and Geometric period) and was influenced by a rich zy zyxwvut zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg 1107-1 140. B. E. Goff. GRRS 39 (1988). 135.52: Vidal-Naquet. O J ~ c.it.. . 299. sees 1. 751. which says ‘it is ;I waste of time to give evcry name’ (of the heroes). as ;I dclihcrate jibe at Aeschylus. II. 1107-09. 22‘1 II. 923-940. ??II. 930. --- A(;(;. 70. no. 153. 583-84: cf. 76. no.3 I for other examples: also D. von Bothmer, Brrllctiir of’tlrc Mctropolitcrri Mrr.sc~ro,rI I ( 1957-53). 132-36. 2 ? 3 I . 933. ?I7II. ?Ix 77, 224 125 zyxwvuts zyxwvu W. Burkert. S t r x t ~ t w otrrrtl his tor:^ irr GrwX M ~ / i o / o grrritl y Kitrctrl (Berkeley, 1979). 17. Cl. the discussion. J. Camphell, Tlrc MtrsXs c!f’Goc/: Pr.iriritii.c, Myt/rolo,yy (New York. 1969, reprint 1987). 30-49. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb zyxwvutsrqpon zyxwvu zyxw I 2x zyxwvuts zyxwvu HIC‘S 37 (1990) religious and mythological tradition. a revival of literature, and a series of cultural contacts with the East. The complexity of influences must not be underestimated. A major obstacle confronting the explication of Archaic Greek symbols is the absence of iconographical context. Most sc’ntoto are common, single figure motifs. usually animals, which are neither part of a narrative composition nor abbreviations of a more complex scene. There is no key to decode their meaning. nor do the few literary sources help: scniutu tend to defy iconographical investigation.”” The possibility that the motifs had little or no symbolic content should not be discounted.?!’ In literature we are dealing with constantly changing poetic interpretations of already existing motifs, whose original meanings may have been already lost. The artistic tradition, however, appears to have developed largely on its own and tended to reduce symbols, whatever their original meanings, to mere decorative devices. It is perhaps due only to self-perpetuating Greek artistic practices and tastes that the repertoire of devices survived for such a long period of time, admitting new examples and allowing for stylistic variations but generally remaining unchanged throughout the Archaic period. It appears that sentutu merely supplied a demand for decorative devices appropriate to their function as identifying signs. ILLUSTRATIONS PI. 4a PI. 4b P1.4c PI. 4d PI. 4e P1.4f PI. 4g PI. 4h P1.4i PI. 4j PI. 4k PI. 41 PI. 4m P1.4n PI. 40 Ivory seal from the Argive Heraeum, Athens National Museum; Islund Gents, pl. 18a. Ivory seal from Perachora, Athens National Museum; lslund Gems, pl. 17e. Serpentine seal, British Museum GR 1936.7-2 1.7; Island Gents, no.39. Comelian scarab, British Museum 914; AGG, no.380. Comelian scarab in ring, from a mid-sixth century tomb at Ialysos; C1ur.u Rhodos 8 , 112, fig. 99. Ionian electrum coin, British Museum. Comelian scarab, British Museum 506; AGG, no.5 19. Ionian electrum coin, Oxford. Kyzikos, electrum stater, British Museum. Chalcedony scarab, Istanbul 60 15; AGG, no.5 17. Electrotype (in the British Museum) of an electrum coin from the Artemision at Ephesos. Ionian electrum coin, Oxford. Silver ring, private collection. Ionian electrum coin, British Museum. Green jasper scarab, Museo Nazionale di Cagliari, after Acquaro, fig. I 17. zyxwvuts zyxwvuts ’” Symbolic significance in Greek art, even of iconographically clear narrative scenes, is seldom apparent and only ”’ occasionally investigated by scholars, usually with mixed results, as, for example, H. Hoffmann, H q d i t r i s / o s 9 (1988), 143-60, who can only note that iconographical types have a variety of meanings depending o n context. Influential articles by Boardman (RolAi.ch 1972, 57-72; .IHS 9.5 (1975). 1-12: Re\.Arrh 1978, 227-34: ./HS 109 (1989) 158-9; and in D. C. Kurtz and B. Sparkes, ed., T h e Eye of’ G i ~ w c(Cambridge. 1982). 1-28) and subsequent articles by others call attention to possible political allusions o r even propoganda in mythological scenes in late sixth century Attic art: they are not entirely convincing, cf. J. Bazant. Eircwc. I 8 ( 19x2). 2 1-33: R . M. Cook, JHS 107 (1987). 167-69. In none of these cases are the problems o f s m i c r t n considered. Cf. the warning against assigning meaning to designs, E. Gombrich. 7/11, S o i . s c ~ of’ Ortlcr. A S / I C C in /~ tb~, Pswho/o,qy ofl)wor.otii*e Arr (London. 1984). 2 17-225. zyxwv zyxwvu zyxw zyxwvuts zyxwvutsr zyxw zyxw JEFFREY SPIER PI. s a PI. Sb PI. sc PI. Sd PI. Se PI. Sf PI. sg PI. Sh PI. Si PI. Sj PI. 6a PI. 6b PI. 6c PI. 6d PI. 6e PI. 6f PI. 6g PI. 6h Pi. 6i PI. 6j PI. 6k 129 Late Geometric vase, Benaki Museum, Athens. Cornelian scarab, British Museum 486; AGG, no.502. Ionian electrum coin, British Museum. Chigi olpe, Villa Giulia, Rome; after Payne, Pi.orokor.infhi.sc~hcVusenmulerei,p1.29. Silver ring, private collection. Agate scarab, once Breslau (after AZ 1883, pl. 16, 19). Rock crystal seal, Numismatic Museum, Athens, Karapanos Collection 673. Lydian electrum coin, Arthur S . Dewing Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. Lydian seal, British Museum; Boardman, I r u n 8 ( 1970) 39, no. 1. Ionian electrum coin, British Museum. Electrotype (in the British Museum) of a Phokaian electrum coin from the Artemision at Ephesos. Athens, silver drachm, reverse; once Pozzi collection (from a cast in the British Museum). Athens, silver hemidrachm, reverse; in Berlin (from a cast in the British Museum). Klazomenai, electrum stater; once Locker Lampson Collection (from a cast in the British Museum). Samos, silver drachm, British Museum. Ialysos, silver drachm, British Museum. Green jasper scarab, British Museum 483; AGG, no.39 1 . Mytilene, electrum hekte, once Zurich market. Kyzikos, electrum stater, British Museum. Akanthos, silver tetradrachm, British Museum. Cornelian scarab, Paris, Cabinet des MCdailles 18 12bis, AGG, no. 155. zyxwvu L. a b d h i m zyxwv zyx zy n 0 PLATE 4 b a zyxwvu zy zyxwvu C e d - f x h 1 zyxwvutsrq PLATE 5 a b e d zyxwv zyxwv zy C f h 1 k PLATE 6