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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Themes & Provenance| ▸ |Animals| ▸ |Lizard||View Options:   | | | |
A Gorgoneion was a horror-creating apotropaic Gorgon head pendant. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." The Gorgons were three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying face that turned those who saw it to stone. Stheno and Euryale were immortal, but their sister Medusa was not, and was slain by Perseus. Zeus, Athena, Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors wore Gorgoneion for protection. Images of the Gorgons were also put upon objects and buildings for protection. A Gorgon image is at the center of the pediment of the temple at Corfu, the oldest stone pediment in Greece from about 600 B.C.
SH95223. Bronze tetras, Westermark-Jenkins, type E, 194; Calciati III p. 55, 20; SNG ANS 1226; HGC 2 547 (S); BMC Sicily -; SNG Cop -; SNG Munchen -, EF, well centered on a tight flan, dark brown patina, weight 2.673 g, maximum diameter 14.1 mm, die axis 180o, Kamarina (near Scoglitti, Sicily, Italy) mint, 420 - 405 B.C.; obverse facing head of Medusa (gorgoneion) with radiating locks, fierce expression, knitted eyebrows, no hairband, chubby cheeks; reverse KAMA (downward on right), owl standing left on left leg, head facing, grasping lizard with head down in right talon, three pellets (mark of value) in exergue; ex Forum (2018); scarce; Eion, Macedonia, c. 460 - 400 B.C.
Eion was only about three miles from Amphipolis and from the late 5th century onwards served merely as a seaport of its much larger neighbor. The denomination is variously described as a diobol or trihemiobol. The significance of the obverse type is not clear, but presumably makes reference to the characteristic fauna of the region at that time.GA85755. Silver trihemiobol, SNG ANS 281, SNG Berry 29, Klein 151, BMC Macedonia p. 75, 21, SNG Cop 180 corr. (says H below, none on plate); HGC 3.1 521, VF, well centered on a broad flan, etched and porous surfaces, edge cracks, weight 0.882 g, maximum diameter 12.1 mm, die axis 0o, Eion mint, c. 460 - 400 B.C.; obverse goose standing right, looking back, lizard above, no control letter; reverse quadripartite incuse square; SOLD
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