Ariadne at Naxos

Triton XIX, Lot: 358. Estimate $7500. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Pergamum. Septimius Severus, with Julia Domna. AD 193-211. Æ Medallion (43mm, 44.21 g, 6h). Claudianus Terpander, strategos. • AVT • KAI • Λ • CЄΠ CЄOVHPO-C • ΠЄP/ IOV ΔOMNA/ CЄBACTH, confronted busts of Severus right, laureate, draped, and cuirassed, and Domna left, draped; c/m: laureate head of Caracalla right within circular incuse / ЄΠI CTPA KΛAVΔIANOV TЄPΠANΔP/OV/ ΠЄPΓAMHNΩN/ B NЄOKOPΩN, Ariadne reclining left in the grotto of Naxos, in gesture of sleep, being discovered by a maenad, holding thyrsus and crown, and a satyr, holding lagobolon. SNG France 2210 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen –; for c/m: Howgego 70. Good VF, dark green-brown patina. Wonderful mythological type. Very rare.

Ex Gemini II (10 January 2006), lot 495.

Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete, fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and helped him defeat the Minotaur and free the Athenian captives from the Labyrinth. She then fled with him from Crete. Upon stopping at Naxos, Theseus abandoned Ariadne while she was sleeping and returned to Athens alone. Ariadne was discovered by Dionysus, who made her his wife. Most versions of the tale paint Theseus as a cad, but according to one version Dionysus forced Theseus to desert her because they had profaned his sacred grotto at Naxos. In any case, Ariadne joined the ranks of the divine, bearing many children by Dionysus, and her wedding diadem became the Corona Borealis. Pergamum, with its strong links to Dionysiac cult, celebrates the god's human consort on this impressive medallion.