ATHENA THIS OCTOBER -
Our #OCTOBER #2020 theme is #Athena
This Athenian coin is thought to be based on the face of Phidias' sculpture of the goddess.
I have actually enlarged the image to show every possible detail.
Showing posts with label coin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coin. Show all posts
Monday, 12 October 2020
Wednesday, 1 August 2018
Helios the Sun God
#Helios #sungod #greekmythology
People tend to think of Apollo as the Sun god but he actual Charioteer of the Solar Chariot was Helios son of Hyperion. Apollo seems to have taken over his role or been (con)fused with him in the Hellenistic era as people shared stories and encountered other solar cults and tried to make some sense of whether there was one sun god or several, Apollo, Helios, Shams, Horus, Ra, Mithras and others like Lugh of the Gauls and Sol Invictus.
If you see an image in Greek or Roman art wearing the radiate crown without a bow and with or without a chariot it may well be Helios rather than Apollo.
I have picked images from 4 different media ceramics, relief sculpture, mosaic , and a bronze to show its a consistent motif and theme.
People tend to think of Apollo as the Sun god but he actual Charioteer of the Solar Chariot was Helios son of Hyperion. Apollo seems to have taken over his role or been (con)fused with him in the Hellenistic era as people shared stories and encountered other solar cults and tried to make some sense of whether there was one sun god or several, Apollo, Helios, Shams, Horus, Ra, Mithras and others like Lugh of the Gauls and Sol Invictus.
If you see an image in Greek or Roman art wearing the radiate crown without a bow and with or without a chariot it may well be Helios rather than Apollo.
I have picked images from 4 different media ceramics, relief sculpture, mosaic , and a bronze to show its a consistent motif and theme.
To finish a coin of Emperor Probus who supported solar cults.
Note also the four horse RACING chariot !
Next time since its Summer for some of you Apollo.
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
Another Eagle Coin
I'm still working on the Swallow Song notes and translation so here's another #eagle #coin
This one is Hellenistic and was issued by one of the Ptolemies. Note the lettering and that the eagle is holding Zeus' thunderbolts. The Greeks excelled at Sculpture on a small scale as well as large!
Wednesday, 8 March 2017
Sicilian Eagle Coin
#greekcoinage #greekcoins #eagle
In keeping with our #bird theme here is a particularly beautiful #Sicilian #coin depicting two eagles from one of the Greek Colonies on that island . I have no why a grasshopper is in the background! Note that the prey is an HARE not a rabbit!
In keeping with our #bird theme here is a particularly beautiful #Sicilian #coin depicting two eagles from one of the Greek Colonies on that island . I have no why a grasshopper is in the background! Note that the prey is an HARE not a rabbit!
Friday, 4 December 2015
The oldest coins?
The oldest #coins in the Hellenic / Aegean cultural area were probably these lion designs on coins from #Lydia used to pay Greek mercenaries.
The irregular shape is probably due to users shaving bits of gold off the coin later and that practice was the origin of the term defacing the coin.
The idea of a standard weight shape and shape and alloy standard rapidly spread to Ionia to the mainland but before there were Athenian silver owls and other currencies the lion roared first!
The idea of a standard weight shape and shape and alloy standard rapidly spread to Ionia to the mainland but before there were Athenian silver owls and other currencies the lion roared first!
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Pegasus
#yearofthehorse2014
For the year of the Horse I thought it an idea to share some images of Pegasus.
For the year of the Horse I thought it an idea to share some images of Pegasus.
the first two show Pegasus and Bellerophon slaying the monstrous Chimera and the third is Pegasus in flight.
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