THRACE, Anchialus. Commodus. AD 177-192. Æ 25mm (10.42 g, 7h).
AU K L AU KOMODOC, bare-headed and draped bust right / Orpheus seated right on rocks, playing lyre. AMNG II 443 var. (obv. legend); SNG Copenhagen -; Varbanov 580 corr. (obv. legend). VF, olive and brown patina.
Based on the presence of the lyre that the figure on the reverse holds, both Münzer and Varbanov have identified him as Apollo. It is more probable that the figure is that of Orpheus. A native of Thrace, Orpheus was renowned for his music and augural abilities. When his wife, Eurydice, was struck down by a serpent, Orpheus travelled to Hades to win her release. When his attempt ultimately proved unsuccessful, since he forget the gods’ command not to look on his wife’s shade until they had reached the upper world, Orpheus returned to Thrace. According to Ovid (Metamorphoses XI), it was there that he was attacked by a band of Maenads and torn to pieces. Eventually recovered, the burial places of these pieces soon became shrines. From the devotion to Orpheus a cult with mysteries developed. Practitioners followed the Orphikos bios, or way of life, which included celibacy and vegentarianism.
