ZEUS (JUPITER). The head of this god is almost always bearded and
crowned with laurel or olive (Fig. 1). The youthful head called
Zeus Hellenios, on certain coins of Syracuse, is however
beardless, and but for the inscription which in this case
accompanies it, would be indistinguishable from a head of Apollo.
_Zeus Ammon_ (Fig. 2), frequent on coins of Cyrene, is
distinguished by the ram’s horn behind the ear. This god is
sometimes beardless.
The head of the Zeus of Dodona is represented with a wreath of
oak-leaves (Fig. 3).
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Zeus (Jupiter).]
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Zeus (Ammon).]
[Illustration: Fig. 3. Zeus (Jupiter).]
The entire figure of Zeus appears in various attitudes, of which
the following are of most frequent occurrence:--
Zeus enthroned (Fig. 4), holding in one hand a sceptre, and in
the other an eagle or a victory.
Zeus standing, with eagle or victory.
Zeus advancing, with ægis on his arm and hurling his thunderbolt.
_Zeus Labrandeus_ on coins of Caria stands full draped, with the
double axe (Labrys) over his shoulder and a sceptre in his hand.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Zeus (Jupiter).]
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Apollo.]
HADES (PLUTO), the king of the under world, resembles Zeus in type,
but is usually accompanied by Cerberus.
SERAPIS. The great Egyptian divinity of the Ptolemaic age is also very
like Zeus, but his head is always surmounted by a lofty modius (a
measure for corn), which is often richly ornamented.
APOLLO. The head of this god is more commonly met with on coins than
that of any other divinity. He is represented in full youthful
beauty, generally with flowing hair and almost always crowned
with laurel (Figs. 5, 6, and 7).
His full-length figure is variously delineated, usually naked,
with bow or laurel branch in his hand, either standing or seated,
often on the Delphian omphalos (Fig. 8), or else beside his
sacred tripod. When he wears a long robe reaching to the feet,
and carries a lyre, he is called Apollo Musegetes, the leader of
the Muses.
[Illustration: Fig. 6. Apollo.]
[Illustration: Fig. 7. Apollo.]
[Illustration: Fig. 8. Apollo.]
HELIOS (SOL). The Sun god is known by the rays which encircle his
head (Fig. 9). On coins of the Imperial period he is often seen
driving the chariot of the Sun.
POSEIDON (NEPTUNE). The head of this god much resembles that of Zeus,
but may usually be distinguished from it by the absence of the
laurel wreath, and by the heavy way in which the dank locks of
his hair fall about his neck (Figs. 10 and 11). Poseidon is
sometimes seated on rocks holding a trident and a dolphin or an
aplustre (Fig. 12).
[Illustration: Fig. 9. Helios (Sol).]
[Illustration: Fig. 10. Poseidon (Neptune).]
[Illustration: Fig. 11. Poseidon (Neptune).]
Sometimes he stands resting on his trident, and sometimes he
wields it on high as if about to strike. Occasionally he is
seen on horseback armed with his trident. He is called _Poseidon
Hippios_ (Fig. 13).
[Illustration: Fig. 12. Poseidon (Neptune).]
[Illustration: Fig. 13. Poseidon (Neptune).]
[Illustration: Fig. 14. Dionysos.]
DIONYSOS (BACCHUS). The head of Dionysos is either youthful or
bearded, and is encircled by a wreath of ivy (Figs. 14, 15, and
16). His full-length figure is usually naked, or with merely
a fawn skin hanging from his shoulder. He holds a wine cup
(kantharos), or a bunch of grapes or the Bacchic staff (thyrsus),
surmounted by a pine cone.
Sometimes he has bull’s horns growing from his forehead, and
on coins of Neapolis he appears as a bull with a human head
(_Dionysos Hebon_).
[Illustration: Fig. 15. Dionysos (Bacchus).]
[Illustration: Fig. 16. Dionysos (Bacchus).]
[Illustration: Fig. 17. Hermes (Mercury).]
[Illustration: Fig. 18. Hermes (Mercury).]
HERMES (MERCURY). The head of Hermes is youthful, and wears a hat
called a _petasus_ (Figs. 17 and 18), close fitting, sometimes
with a broad flapping brim and adorned with two wings.
When his entire figure is represented, he is usually clad in a
short cloak (_chlamys_), and has winged sandals (_pedilia_) on
his feet.
As the messenger of the gods and the conductor of the souls
of the dead, he carries the winged staff (_caduceus_), and
sometimes, as god of trade, a purse. HEPHÆSTUS (VULCAN).
This god is sometimes young and sometimes bearded. He wears
a conical hat (_pilos_), (Fig. 19). On coins of Lipara he is
generally seated naked on a four-legged stool, holding a hammer
in one hand and a cup (_kantharos_) in the other (Fig. 20). The
tongs and the anvil are also emblems of the worship of Hephæstus.
[Illustration: Fig. 19. Hephæstus (Vulcan).]
[Illustration: Fig. 20. Hephæstus (Vulcan).]
[Illustration: Fig. 21. Herakles (Hercules).]
[Illustration: Fig. 22. Herakles (Hercules).]
[Illustration: Fig. 23. Herakles (Hercules).]
[Illustration: Fig. 24. Herakles (Hercules).]
[Illustration: Fig. 25. Pan.]
HERAKLES (HERCULES). The head of Herakles, youthful (Fig. 21), or
bearded (Fig. 22), is usually covered with the skin of the Nemean
Lion. Occasionally, however, he is simply laureate, and sometimes
the club at his shoulder is added as a distinctive symbol. On
reverses of coins, Herakles is represented performing his various
labours, most frequently contending with the Nemean Lion (Fig.
23). Sometimes also he is seen at rest, either standing and
leaning upon his club, or seated (Fig. 24). The infant Herakles
strangling two serpents is a less frequent type.
PAN. The head of Pan (Figs. 25, 26, and 27) has pointed ears, and is
either youthful or bearded. Sometimes also he has goat’s horns.
At his shoulder on many coins appears the shepherd’s crook
(_pedum_).
ARES (MARS). The head of Ares is of rare occurrence on coins. He is
usually bearded and helmeted, but sometimes young and crowned
with laurel like Apollo (Fig. 28), and when thus represented, as
on the Mamertine coin here engraved, his name was added in order
that there might be no mistake as to whose head was intended.
[Illustration: Fig. 26. Pan.]
[Illustration: Fig. 27. Pan.]
[Illustration: Fig. 28. Ares (Mars).]
ASKLEPIOS (ÆSCULAPIUS). Representations of the god of healing belong
to a comparatively late period of art. He is bearded, amply
draped, and leans upon a staff, round which a serpent twines
(Fig. 29).
[Illustration: Fig. 29. Asklepios (Æsculapius).]
[Illustration: Fig. 30. River Gods.]
[Illustration: Fig. 31. River Gods.]
He is sometimes accompanied by his daughter _Hygieia_, the goddess
of health, or by a small figure enveloped in a cloak and hood,
who is called _Telesphorus_, and is supposed to be the genius of
convalescence.
RIVER GODS. Rivers are represented during the earlier and finer
periods of art as rushing bulls or as bulls with human heads
(Fig. 30), or again as young male figures with bull’s horns over
the forehead (Fig. 31).
In the later period the conventional River god is a bearded
reclining figure, generally half-draped, resting upon an
overturned vase from which a stream of water is flowing (Fig.
32). Less frequently the god is shown as actually swimming in the
water.
THE DIOSCURI (CASTOR AND POLLUX) wear conical hats, each surmounted
by a star (Fig. 33 _a_). Sometimes they are seen standing side by
side with palm branches in their hands, but they are more often
represented on horseback (Fig. 33 _b_).
[Illustration: Fig. 32. A River God.]
[Illustration: (_a_) Fig. 33. (_b_) The Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux).]
PERSEUS. The head of the hero Perseus (Fig. 34), the slayer of the
Gorgon Medusa (Fig. 35), wears a winged helmet, while at his
shoulders is sometimes seen the short sword or knife with a hook
at the back of the blade (_harba_).
[Illustration: Fig. 34. Perseus.]
[Illustration: Fig. 35. Gorgon-Head.]
[Illustration: Fig. 36. Hera (Juno).]
§ THE GODDESSES AS REPRESENTED ON THE
COINAGE.
HERA (JUNO). The head of Hera on coins usually wears a lofty circular
crown (_stephanos_) adorned with floral or other patterns (Figs.
36, 37). She also wears sometimes a crescent-shaped crown and a
veil, and has often a sceptre at her shoulder.
PALLAS ATHENE (MINERVA). The head of this goddess is helmeted.
Sometimes the helmet is of the Corinthian pattern (Fig. 38) and
sometimes of the Athenian (Fig. 39), often richly ornamented.
[Illustration: Fig. 37. Hera (Juno).]
[Illustration: Fig. 38. Pallas Athene.]
[Illustration: Fig. 39. Pallas Athene.]
She is often seen in a fighting attitude, as _Pallas Promachos_
(Fig. 40), wielding a spear and holding before her a shield or
ægis. She is also very frequently seated with a victory in her
hand and her shield beside her. The shield of Pallas is usually
distinguished by the Gorgon’s head in the centre. The attributes
of this goddess are the owl and the olive.
[Illustration: Fig. 40. Pallas Athene.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. Demeter.]
[Illustration: Fig. 42. Persephone (Proserpine).]
DEMETER (CERES) AND PERSEPHONE (PROSERPINE). These two goddesses are
known by the corn wreath which they both wear. Demeter, the
mother (Fig. 41), is generally veiled; the daughter, Persephone,
seldom (Figs. 42, 43). The beautiful head on the well-known
Syracusan medallions (see _Frontispiece_), crowned with corn
leaves, is that of Persephone. This goddess often has a poppy
either in her hair or at her breast. The torch is a frequent
emblem, especially of Demeter.
[Illustration: Fig. 43. Persephone (Proserpine).]
[Illustration: Fig. 44. Artemis (Diana).]
[Illustration: Fig. 45. Artemis (Diana).]
ARTEMIS (DIANA). As the goddess of Nature in her wilder aspects,
Artemis carries a bow, and at her shoulder a quiver of arrows
(Figs. 44, 45). She is often accompanied by a dog or a stag. As
the Moon goddess, _Selene_, the crescent is her symbol. On late
coins of Ephesus she appears under a totally different aspect,
viz., as the embodiment of the nourishing, life-giving forces of
nature, symbolised by her many breasts.
[Illustration: (_a_) Fig. 46. (_b_) Aphrodite (Venus).]
APHRODITE (VENUS). On the coins of Eryx, in Sicily, the goddess of
love is seated fully draped, with Eros (Cupid) as a youth
(not a child, as in Roman art) standing before her, and with a
dove in her hand. On Imperial coins of Cnidu, the famous naked
Aphrodite by Praxiteles was represented. As the goddess of heaven
(_Aphrodite Urania_), she sits upon the globe (Fig. 46 _a_), her
head surmounted by the morning star, and holding in her hand a
sceptre. On the reverse of the same coin (Fig. 46 _b_) are seen
the sun, the moon, and the five planets.
CYBELE. “The mother of the gods” wears a turreted crown. Sometimes
she rides upon a lion, at other times she is seated on a throne
between two lions. The rabbit is also symbolical of her worship,
as an earth goddess.
ISIS. This Egyptian goddess is recognised by her peculiar head-dress,
consisting of a globe or disc flanked by two cow’s horns and
surmounted by two ostrich feathers. In her hand she often holds
the sistrum (a musical instrument). As Isis Pharia (a sea
goddess) she holds a sail.
[Illustration: Fig. 47. Nike (Victory).]
[Illustration: Fig. 48. Nike (Victory).]
NIKE (VICTORY). (Figs. 47, 48). This divinity is almost always winged,
and often flying (_see Frontispiece_). She usually carries a
wreath; and on coins of Alexander the Great a sort of mast with
a cross-yard (the stand for a trophy of arms). Sometimes she is
nailing armour to a trophy (Fig. 48).
§ SYMBOLS.
In addition to the principal type, whether of the obverse or of the
reverse, there is generally to be seen on the coins of Greek states a
subordinate adjunct device, which occupies some vacant space in the
field of the coin. These additions to the main type are of two kinds:--
(1) Symbols connected more or less directly with the main type: such as
the sacred olive branch on the coins of Athens, and the club and bow on
Fig. 24. (2) Symbols having no connection whatever with the principal
type; such as the small animal on Fig. 7.
The symbols of the 1st class are naturally limited in number and more
or less constant accompaniments of the main type, to which they were
intended to give greater precision and definiteness of meaning. Those
of the 2nd class, on the other hand, might be varied very frequently
on coins of one and the same series. There can be no doubt that
such symbols were the distinctive badges or signets of one of the
magistrates or moneyers under whose authority the coinage was issued.
The frequency with which these personal symbols were varied corresponds
with the duration of the term of office of the magistrate in question,
whether annual or other.
On the regal coinages from the time of Philip of Macedon onwards, in
cases where a uniform coinage was issued at many mints, an adjunct
symbol was very generally placed in the field of the coin as a
mint-mark designating the place of issue (_e.g._ the Trident on Fig.
4). It is frequently impossible to distinguish such local mint-marks
from the personal signets of the officer entrusted by the king with the
supervision of the currency.
§ INSCRIPTIONS.
The inscriptions on Greek coins may be divided into the following
principal classes:--
(i.) The name of the people or state.
(ii.) The name of the chief of the state, whether tyrant or king.
(iii.) The name of a magistrate.
(iv.) The name of the engraver of the die.
(v.) A legend referring to the type.
The above are written sometimes at full length and sometimes in an
abbreviated form, or in the form of a more or less complicated monogram.
Those of class i., when written in full, are usually in the genitive
plural, _e.g._ ΣΤΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ (Frontispiece).
Those of class ii. are also in the genitive, _e.g._, ΒΑΣΙΛΑΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ
(Fig. 8).
Those of class iii. are either in the nominative (as ΠΟΛΥΚΡΑΤΗΣ, Fig.
45) or the genitive; in the latter case frequently preceded by ΕΗΙ
(Fig. 12), and often also accompanied by the title of the office as ἑφι
Λυσιστῥατου ἁρχοντος, ἑφι στραθηγου Διονυσἱου.
Among the magistrates most frequently mentioned on Greek Imperial coins
are the following:-- The Archon, the Strategos (Prætor), the Grammateus
(Secretary), the Prytanis, the Tamias (Treasurer), the Archiereus and
Hiereus (High Priest and Priest), the Asiarch, the Hypatos (Consul),
and the Anthypatos (Proconsul), etc., etc.
Those of class iv. are in the genitive, except when accompanied by the
verb (_e.g._ ΘΕΟΔΟΤΟΣ ΕΠΟΕΙ, for ἑποἱει). This class of inscriptions is
usually in very minute characters.
Those of class v. are in the nominative, as ΖΕΥΣ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΟΣ (Fig. 1),
or genitive, as ΑΡΕΟΣ (Fig. 28).
The names of kings, even when unaccompanied by the title ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ,
hold so conspicuous a position on the reverse of the coins, that it
is easy to distinguish them from the names of less important monetary
magistrates.
The names of eponymous magistrates, such as archons, etc., also occupy
a very prominent place on the money of certain cities; such as Ephesus,
for example.
The names of less important functionaries are written in an abbreviated
form or even in monogram (Fig. 40), in which latter case it is almost
always impossible to say what name was intended.
On coins of the later and especially of the Imperial period, the
inscriptions are much more lengthy than on those of an earlier date.
§ OF THE METHOD OF DATING COINS.
Dates are not found on Greek coins before the age of Alexander the
Great, and even after his time they are of rare occurrence, except on
certain Asiatic series and on the money of Egypt. They are usually
placed either in the field or the exergue of the coin.
Units. A. B. Γ. Δ. E. ς. Ζ. H. Θ.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.