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   View Categories Home > Catalog > |Greek Coins| > |Geographic - All Periods| > |Thrace & Moesia| > |Apollonia Pontica| > GS91395
Apollonia Pontika, Thrace, c. 480 - 450 B.C.
|Apollonia| |Pontica|, |Apollonia| |Pontika,| |Thrace,| |c.| |480| |-| |450| |B.C.|, 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.
GS91395. Silver drachm, Topalov Apollonia p. 586, 41; SNG BM 153; SNG Cop 454; SGCV I 1655; HGC 3.2 1323, VF, desirable early archaic type, toned, light marks, reverse die wear, typical ragged flan, Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol, Bulgaria) mint, weight 3.201g, maximum diameter 14.2mm, die axis 135o, c. 480/478 - 450 B.C.; obverse anchor flukes up, curved stock, crayfish left, A right; reverse archaic Ionian style gorgoneion (facing head of Medusa), snakes for hair, large open mouth, visible teeth, long protruding tongue; from the Maxwell Hunt Collection; SOLD










REFERENCES

Karoglou, K. Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classical Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v.75, no. 3 (Winter, 2017).

Catalog current as of Friday, March 29, 2024.
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