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ancient classic artifacts coins numismatic roman greek

                                 Lot: 18

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            [Image]              CRETE: Gortyna. Ca. 350–330 BC. AR stater.
    (i.e. Keywords, Catalog
           ID, etc.)             CRETE. Gortyna. Ca. 350–330 BC. AR stater (11.56 gm). Europa
                                 seated left in pensive pose in plane tree / [TSM]VPOS
                                 (retrograde), bull reclining left, head reverted. Svoronos
      Mail Bid Home Page         27, pl. xiii, 2 (same reverse die). Le Rider pl. xxvii, 7.
                                 Rare. Weak as is usual, otherwise nearly very fine

                                 The coin types of Gortyna illustrate the myth of Europa, who
                                 was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull. The coins supply
                                 details that do not survive in literary sources, but must
                                 reflect a local version of the myth: that the bull carried
                                 Europa across the sea to Crete, then transformed himself
                                 into an eagle and consummated a “sacred marriage” with her
                                 in a plane tree. This sacred tree was an object of
                                 veneration at Gortyna in historical times and was said to be
                                 nourished by a magical source so that it never lost its
                                 leaves. Similar types were employed on the staters of
                                 Phaestus, and the coinages of the two cities can only be
                                 distinguished by their legends. The inscription on the
                                 present coin was read as the name of a third city, Tisyrus,
                                 by J.N. Svoronos in RBN 1894, pp. 125 and 132, but this
                                 interpretation has not been endorsed in subsequent
                                 scholarship.

                                 Estimated Value: $ 3,750

 ... Lot was unsold.
 


From the Freeman & Sear Mail Bid Sale 13, Closed August 25th, 2006.

Re-used by permission of Freeman & Sear, www.freemanandsear.com.