Fine Coins Showcase
Antiquities Showcase
Show Empty Categories
Shop Search
Shopping Cart
My FORVM
Contact Us
About Forum
Shopping at Forum
Our Guarantee
Payment Options
Shipping Options & Fees
Privacy & Security
Forum Staff
Selling Your Coins
Identifying Your Coin
FAQs
zoom.asp
Apollonia Pontika, Thrace, 450 - 425 B.C.
| Homer wrote about the Gorgon on four occasions, but only about the head, as if the creature had no body. Up to the 5th century B.C., the head depicted was very ugly, with her tongue sticking out, boar tusks, puffy cheeks, her eyeballs staring straight ahead and the snakes twisting all around her. The direct frontal stare was highly unusual in ancient Greek art. In some cases a beard, (probably representing streaks of blood) was added to her chin, making her appear as a wild. Gorgoneia painted on the shields of warriors on mid-5th century Greek vases, however, are not as ugly, strange or frightening. By that time, the Gorgon had lost her tusks and the snakes were rather stylized. The Hellenistic marble known as the Medusa Rondanini shows how the Gorgon changed over time into a beautiful woman.. |  |
GS91770. Silver drachm, Topalov Apollonia II p. 588, 44; SNG BM 159; HGC 3.2 1324; SNG Stancomb -, SNG Cop -, VF, off center, grainy, porous, Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol, Bulgaria) mint, weight 3.226g, maximum diameter 13.6mm, die axis 180o, 450 - 425 B.C.; obverse gorgoneion (facing head of Medusa), round face, protruding tongue, straight human hair, wearing taenia, with snakes around, in shallow round incuse; reverse inverted anchor, large flukes, A left, crayfish right, round slight incuse; SOLD
REFERENCES
Page created in 0.969 seconds.
