The “Play Bow” on Bronze Dog Coins of Epidauros

Created: 12 July 2022, Curtis Jackson-Jacobs
First draft shared on “Numislit Exhibit”: Maleatas Collection, 4 July 2022
Last Updated: 14 July 2022
Note: I will be updating the draft w/ additional notes & references, perhaps toward a short essay to post here or elsewhere. The “change log” is Note 4, below.

The Argolid city of Epidauros – famous site of the Asclepeion and Temple of Apollo Maleatas – is familiar to numismatic circles for its silver and bronze coins portraying Asclepius, a god of medicine and healing. Some of the bronze coins also depict his companion animals on the reverse – snakes and dogs. The latter are what interest me here. (But see Note 1 below re: snake coins.)

There are two bronze coin types with dog reverses from Epidauros in the third century BCE. The obverses are the same (even the same die in most, if not all, examples) and the reverse ethnic and monograms are usually the same. The only difference is the dog’s pose.

Type 1: The first of the two types shows the dog lying in sphynx-like posture, described by Gardner in the 1887 British Museum Catalogs as “dog reclining r.” (HGC 736 = BCD Peloponnesos 1256; BCD Peloponnesos II 2502 [same dies as HGC 736]; Nomos 24, 137.5 = Maleatas Collection 350 [same obv., new rev. die]).

On this type, the still, resting posture is emphasized by a distinct “ground line,” parallel to and immediately under its folded limbs, and above the monogram. Gardner (1887: p. 158, note) suggested that it “seems to be the dog which lay beside the statue of Asklepius,” referring, no doubt, to Pausanias’ (Book 2, Ch. 27) description of the famous sculpture by Thrasymedes of Paros.

Type 2: The second type is the one that interests me at present. In my opinion, it hasn’t received the sufficient attention to properly distinguish it from Type 1, or to recognize its distinctive cultural import and artistic accomplishment.

It has been described only slightly differently (if at all) from Type 1 – usually as “hound seated,” “dog lying,” or similar (HGC 737 = BCD Peloponnesos 1257; BCD Peloponnesos II 2503 [same dies as HGC 737]; Nomos 24, 137.6 = Maleatas Collection 352 [same obv., new rev. die]). On Type 2, the ground line is absent, and the dog is clearly in an active pose. BCD Peloponnesos (LHS 96, cataloged by ASW) adds that the “dog seems to be rushing to right”; BCD Peloponnesos Part II (CNG 81.2, cataloged by BCD) describes it as “Dog running right.”

Type 2, Corr.: I propose a different description: “Dog performing ‘play bow’ right.” ^{(Note 2)} (I adopt the conventional verb used in canid behavior studies: “perform.” What’s important, though, is explicit reference to the “play bow.”)

The Play Bow: All dog owners are familiar with it and most others recognize it when they see it performed. Dogs, wolves, coyotes, and foxes recognize and perform it instinctively as a friendly, nonaggressive invitation to play.

Typical definitions include two elements: the raising of the haunches and the lowering of the forelimbs. One set of academic psychologists described it as “the high-rump crouch position, which occurs when the fore-quarters of an individual are bent, often in a lying down position, while the hindquarters remain elevated” (Byosiere et al. 2016: p. 107). Or, as another author puts it, “the bum goes up and the elbows go down.”

Whether to call the two poses separate “types” or two “variants” of the dog-reverse type may not matter much; perhaps it only matters slightly more if we consider them part of the range of artistic license employed by the engravers across dies. Both dog types share one obverse die on most examples (I believe there is at least one more obverse die, seemingly restricted to Type 1). The Maleatas 350 (Type 1) and 352 (Type 2) examples shown (both now in my collection) add one more die of each reverse type, so there are at least two of each. Their high similarity to the previously known dies suggests intent to portray different poses in two distinct sets of dies.

The pair of dogs, restful and playful, is reminiscent of a somewhat earlier (by one century) Greek series from Thessaly in the north: the silver and bronze horses of Larissa. The horses are shown in various ordinary horse activities — some with a playful spirit, such as the horses “preparing to roll over” (the only Larissa horse in my herd, BCD Thess. II 218, is a less-exciting-but-more-content “horse grazing”). The ancient sense of humor may not be the first thing to come to mind when considering coins; eventually, though, paying close attention is rewarded with glimpses of the playful spirit of Greek antiquity.

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BCD Peoloponnesos 1250, as illustrated in CNG 108 (16 May 2018), Lot 153

Note 1: Eight examples (six illustrated, one twice) of the Dichalkoi with coiled-snake reverses are indexed on ACSearch, including two from BCD Peloponnesos: (1) LHS 96, 129 = HGC 5, 734 = CNG 108, 153; and, (2) LHS 96, 1250, illustrated on ACSearch by the first coin (all three ill. in print catalog, incl. 1250.2 = HGC 5, 735, head l. on obv.); BCD Peloponnesos II included just one, Lot 2498. Of those eight specimens, all but two are ex-BCD Collection: one sold by Savoca in 2021, and the distinguished specimen ex-Collections of Osman Nouri Bey (early 20th, Constantinople [Stolba 2005]), S-J. Pozzi (1846-1918; his bio in my Reddit writeup), and the family Morcom — viz., Lt. Col. Reginal Keble Morcom (1877-1961) & his grandson Christopher (cousin to John Morcom of SNG Morcom [UK vol. X], Coll. of Western Greek Bronzes, 952 ill. on SNG Online; also, nephew of Christopher Collan Morcom [1911-1930], remembered by most for his relationship w/ Alan Turing).

The examples cited appear to be struck from at least three reverse dies (possibly a fourth). At first glance, on some examples the snake looks a bit like its mouth is open as if to bite. However, rather than an open jaw, what’s depicted is the snake’s “beard” — a normal part of the serpent morphology on Greek coins from at least by mid-4th century through the Roman period. BCD Thessaly 1064 gives an especially clear illustration of the bizarre anatomy of Greco-Roman snakes, including beard and crest, on a Tetrachalkon from Homolion:

Nomos 4, Lot 1064

In that case, however, the snake may not be a healer (like Asclepius’ snakes and dogs) but the attacker of Odysseus’ companion Philoktetes. (Philoktetes was, however, ultimately healed by the sons of Asclepius, per the lot description linked above.)

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Note 2: The main rival hypothesis — for now I’ll just mention it — would be that the dog is not playing, but exactly the opposite, performing its mythical guard duties for Asclepius.

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* Note 3, Methodological/Representation Addendum:

Since the manner of the dog’s posture is the main issue here, it’s important to discuss the orientation of the coin’s image. This involves the intentions of the artist (and to a lesser extent the perspectives of coin users), which we cannot directly assess after 2200-2300 years. But we can indirectly judge how the coin was meant to be oriented by comparing it to the Type 1 reverse.

It is very fortunate that Type 1 includes a ground line (presumably intended to be seen horizontally) as well as a second element that is present on both Type 1 and Type 2 — the ethnic. I assume the ethnic should be oriented similarly on both types — the “E” on my Type 1 specimen is angled slightly upward relative to the ground line — which requires rotating the Nomos photo 12-degrees clockwise. On other Type 1 specimens, though, the ethnic is virtually horizontal (i.e., parallel to the ground line). To achieve this orientation with my Type 2 reverse required an 18-degree rotation.

All three orientations of my Type 2 reverse are shown above, including the original Nomos photo. I don’t know if they fundamentally change the interpretation, but subtle changes in posture can indicate meaningful differences in behavior (the further it’s rotated clockwise, the higher the hindquarters and the more it looks like a play bow to me), so I present all three out of methodological due diligence.

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Note 4, Change Log: 12 July 2022: Post created, followed by numerous minor copyediting changes/corrections. 14 July 2022: Note 1 added re: snakes (the others renumbered), including CNG image; Note 4, “Change Log” added. A few inconsequential little edits.