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Greek Gods of Power,A Collection of Three Ancient Coins,Apollo,Athena & Poseidon
$ 127.47
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Description
Greek Gods of Power, A Boxed Collection of Three Ancient Coins,Apollo,Athena and Poseidon.This remarkable collection features genuine ancient coins bearing the likenesses of three of the most powerful Greek deities. To the ancient Greeks, gods and goddesses were actively, and often intimately, involved in the affairs of mankind. From the battlefield to the bedroom, there the deities were, having their way with the men and women who competed for their divine favor. A quarrel over a golden apple, legend has it, was the impetus for the Trojan War. The epic poem about that famous conflict, the Iliad, begins with a god sowing plague on the Achaeans. Gods and goddesses figure prominently in Homer’s narrative, as if they, and not the humans, were the cause of all conflict. Athe n a is the daughter of Zeus, the chief of the Greek pantheon, and his first wife, Metis. Fearing that she would bear him a son that would kill him, as he had slain his own father, he swallowed her, and she lived in his head. When she became pregnant, Zeus’s headache became so great that his son Hephestus, god of fire, had to split open his skull—and out came Athena, fully formed. The goddess of wisdom and war, Athena is portrayed as an androgynous figure in a helmet. Her patron city, Athens, is named for her. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister, Artemis, is the chaste goddess of the hunt. Apollo’s responsibilities are far-reaching: he is the god of the sun, music and poetry—he is the father of the nine muses—as well as prophecy. The Delphic oracles were in his charge. He had a dark side, too: it was he who sowed the plague upon the Achaeans in the Iliad. The uncle of Athena and Apollo and the brother of Zeus, Poseidon is the god of the sea. Wielding his trident, he rides on a chariot. He is known as the tamer of horses and also the Earth Shaker, for his habit of causing earthquakes. He is shown as an old man with white hair.
1. Ancient Greece, Thessalian Confederacy Bronze, 2nd BCE Thessaly Issued: 196-146 BCE Material: Bronze Weight: 5-6.7 g Obverse Reverse Denomination: AE 17 Diameter: 15-20 mm Head of Athena in helmet Horse Prancing Right
2. Ancient Greece, Thessalian Confederacy Bronze, 2nd BCE Thessaly Issued: 196-146 BCE Material: Bronze Weight: 5.3-9 g Obverse Reverse Denomination: AE 20 Diameter: 16.5-20.5 mm Laureate head of Apollo Athena w spear & shield
3. Ancient Greece, Syracuse, Bronze, 3rd BCE Syracuse Issued: 275-215 BCE Material: Bronze Weight: 5.8-7.5 g Obverse Reverse Denomination: AE 19 Diameter: 17-21 mm Head of Poseidon Trident & dolphins These images show typical coins, not to scale; grades in the sets may vary somewhat from image.
Data: Image shows typical coins , not to scale
All coins in each set are protected in an archival capsule and beautifully displayed in a mahogany-like box.
The box set is accompanied with a story card and a black gift box.
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