G.D. Falksen's Blog, page 939
January 6, 2014
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, 1932, photo by Lotte Jacobi
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, 1932, photo by Lotte Jacobi
January 5, 2014
An incredibly rare coin from the land of the Golden Fleece
This...
An incredibly rare coin from the land of the Golden Fleece
This didrachm from Kolchis (Colchis), Black Sea region, c. late 5th - early 4th century BC, shows the head of Artemis Dali facing to the right, her hair flowing down her neck. On the reverse, two female heads facing inwards towards each other, each within an incuse square. Fantastic archaic style, incredibly rare and historically important.
Ancient Colchis was located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea at the foot of the Caucasus mountains. In mythology, it was the destination of Jason and the Argonauts’ quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Aeëtes, the king of Colchis, promised to let Jason have the fleece if he could first perform three tasks.
While he was carrying out his tasks, Aphrodite had caused Medea, the daughter of king Aeëtes, to fall in love with Jason, and she helped him to succeed in his quest. The first task was to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen, in which Medea aided Jason by providing him with ointment to protect him from the flames. The second task was to sow the teeth of a dragon that sprouted into an army of warriors which Jason had to overcome. Again Medea helped him by advising him to throw a rock into the crowd of warriors that caused them to attack each other rather than Jason. His last task was to defeat the sleepless dragon which guarded the golden fleece, and Medea caused the dragon to sleep while Jason retrieved the fleece.
After his tasks were completed, Jason and Medea then fled to Corinth, where they lived together until Jason became engaged to Kreusa, the daughter of Kreon. Medea was so angered by this betrayal that she took her revenge by killing the two sons she bore to Jason, as well as his new bride.
It would be almost overwhelmingly tempting to associate the two archaic heads on the reverse of this coin with those of Jason and Medea. However, they do appear both to be female in appearance and, in the absence of any evidence, their identity remains unknown.
