Oikon theatre west end2/24/2023 ![]() These limitations, however, cause some interpretive difficulties, such as those involving identification of the Iranian tiara. Smith brushes these problems marginally, which is understandable given her choice of subject mat¬ter. This is a valid perspective, but in a comprehensive treatment of the problem, it is necessary to scrutinize more closely questions involved in the role played by monetary issues with the king’s portraits in propaganda and in the concept of his rule. If no monetary portrait of his had existed under Alexander, how could this similarity be accounted for? Smith concentrates on simi-larities between the king’s sculpted portraits with his monetary depictions. Coins of the Diadochs showing a deified Alexander replicate the iconography of a portrait known from the king’s coinage. In Kommagene (1st century BC) there is a relief depicting Zeus-Oromazdes/Ahuramazda – a clear example of cross-identification83. For the Iranians, the associations tend-ed to be with Ahuramazda. The figure of Zeus, too, was perceived by the Asians as their local deities: in the Levant and Babylonia, it was true especially of Baal82. The similarity is seen in the posture of the seated figure and in the depiction of the throne which faithfully imitates the Achaemenid prototype. The figure of Zeus enthroned is a modification of Baaltarz, a motif known well enough from the Achaemenid mint at Tarsus in the 4th century. It is no accident that coin iconography changed on Alex-ander’s coinage compared to that of his father’s issues. While under Philip II the basic repertory of coin iconography included the head of Herakles and of Zeus, a new element was added under Alexander: Zeus seated on a throne and holding an eagle. The second was the time when Alexander had become Herakles, the living son of Zeus or Amon. The first had Herakles as a prototype of Alexander and a bearer of a pan-Hellenic message. ![]() ![]() Thus the Herakles coin iconography and its corollary pro-paganda content is divided into two stages. This might betray an attempt at his deification. IN ENGLISH At some point in his reign, Alexander had coins issued in which Herakles’ face was indeed incorporated in the king’s portrait. ![]()
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