POSEIDON / TRIDENT / HIERON II. Syracuse, Sicily ÆCoin 275-215 BC.+ COA GGcoins

Description

Syracuse, Sicily.-- King Hieron II.
Poseidon, Trident w/ dolphins
Ancient Greek Coinage
275-215 BC
Size: 18.5mm  / Weight: 5
.5gm
Obverse:
Head of
Poseidon
facing left  no legend...
Reverse:  Trident,
between two dolphins
Greek
monogram
IEΡΩNOΣ
below trident
...
Ref:
SNG ANS 987
Personalized COA included
The Coin:
Nice
Greek coin struck under the rule of
King Hieron II.
an excellent bronze BC coin struck
well before Christ...!
it saw some use before it found a safe place
to wait out the centuries.
Always Authentic,  I have never knowingly sold a copy or reproduction!
As grading
is subjective please Judge the coin photos to determine this for yourself.
_________________________________________________________________
History: of coin images
Poseidon
is the violent and ill-tempered god of the sea. One of the
Twelve Olympians
,
he was also feared as the provoker of earthquakes and worshipped as the creator of the horse.
A hot-blooded deity,
Poseidon
had many disputes with both gods and men, most famously with
Athena and Odysseus
.
God of the sea and rivers, creator of storms and floods, and the bringer of earthquakes and destruction,
Poseidon
was perhaps the most disruptive of all the ancient Greek gods, not only for mortals but also to
Zeus’
peaceful reign on Mount Olympus. Despite the above, the trident-bearing god was not always a
negative force, and he did have a role as a protector, particularly to mariners, and as the patron of horses
and horse breeding. To the Romans, he was known as
Neptunus or Neptune
.
Cults to Poseidon
date as far back as the late Bronze Age and the Mycenaean civilization (at its peak from
the 15th to 12th century BCE), as attested by Linear B inscriptions found at Pylos in the Peloponnese and
Knossos on Crete. Indeed, the god seems to have been one of the most important Mycenaean deities,
perhaps no surprise given the culture’s obvious seafaring skills. It may be that Poseidon was a mix of an
indigenous but pre-Greek god with Potis, an Indo-European deity. Pylos, we know, had
Poseidon
as its
main god with a priestess as the head of his cult.
Poseidon
was the father of the hero
Theseus
, the hunter
Orion
& the winged-horse
Pegasus
.
In later Greek mythology,
Poseidon
was the son of
Kronos and Rhea
, and brother of
Zeus and Hades
.
He was a key figure in the battles for control of the universe between the Titans, the Giants, and the
Olympians. On their victory, the three brothers drew lots to decide which domain they would reign over,
and
Poseidon
gained the seas. The god dwelled in magnificent golden mansions beneath the sea,
beautifully adorned with coral and sea flowers. Traditionally, this undersea palace, which included the
god’s stables of fine white horses, was located near Aegae in Euboea. Seemingly not content with the
seas alone,
Poseidon
often interfered in the plans of
Zeus,
and once even attempted to overthrow
his brother with the aid of
Hera and Athena
. It was as punishment for this treachery that
Poseidon
was made to build the magnificent walls of Troy
Disputes with Other Gods and Men
Poseidon Challenges Zeus:
Poseidon
had a very violent character, Impulsive and hot-blooded, he couldn’t put up with
Zeus’
arrogant behavior as a ruler. So, he teamed up with
Hera and Athena
to teach him a lesson.
However, with the help of
Thetis
and
Briareus, Zeus
overpowered his challengers.
Poseidon, Laomedon, and the Trojan
s
As punishment, he sent
Poseidon
and
Apollo
to serve the Trojan king
Laomedon
, for whom they built the vast,
beautiful walls surrounding Troy. However, when the time came,
Laomedon
refused to pay them. As a result,
Poseidon
– even against the advice of
Zeus
– fought on the Greek side during the Trojan war, sending a sea
monster named Cetus to torment the Trojans.
Poseidon, the Greeks, and Odysseus
Even so, the narcissist that he was,
Poseidon
destroyed the fortifications built by the Greeks, firmly believing
that his walls are the only buildings of the type worthy to remain. And, mad at him for blinding his son
Polyphemus
, he had a decade-long feud with one of the greatest Greek heroes,
Odysseus
.
Poseidon and Athena
The god of the sea was also greedy – especially when it came to earthly kingdoms. Once, he even wanted to
obtain Athens from
Athena
, claiming that the city would have much more benefit from him than her.
o prove this, he struck his trident into a rock, creating a seawater stream which welled up in the Temple of
Erechtheion on the north side of the Acropolis.
Athena,
in turn, planted an olive tree.
Cecrops,
the first king
of Athens, decided that
Athena’
s gift was more useful since it gave fruit, wood, and oil.
Athena
kept Athens,
and ever since then, the olive branch is a universal symbol of peace.
Poseidon’s Women and Children
Just like
Zeus, Poseidon
had a weak spot for women. And, much like him, he was not exactly loved back by
them. However, what he couldn’t acquire with romance and gentleness, he did with violence and craftiness.
Caeneus and Medusa
For example, he took by force both Caeneus and Medusa, who was afterward transformed into a beast by
Athena as a punishment for allowing this. After Perseus beheaded the pregnant monster, Medusa gave birth
to Poseidon’s children, Chrysaor and Pegasus.
Poseidon's Symbol of Power
After the Titanomachy, the gods (who now called themselves the Olympians) chose Mount Olympus as their
official residence, and
Zeus
as their King, while
Poseidon
replaced
Oceanus
as the Lord of the Seas. Hence,
while the
Trident
remained
Poseidon's
personal weapon in times of need, it also became his Symbol of Power,
along with the horse, the bull, and the dolphin. He wielded the
Trident
on multiple occasions, most notably while
fighting sea monsters, or sinking the ships of mortals who had angered him.
In Greek myth,
Poseidon's trident
was forged by the
cyclopes
...
Poseidon
wields his trident on a number of occasions.
Poseidon
used his trident to strike a rock upon the hill of
the Acropolis, producing a well of seawater, in what developed into a contest between him and
Athena
over
possession of Attica.  There is further myth that
Poseidon (Neptune)
produced a horse by striking the earth with the
trident
, in order to bolster his claim, but there is no attestation for
this among Greek writers. The alleged
trident
print on a rock and the sea well within the Erechtheion were
witnessed by the geographer Pausanias while visiting Athens.
In another myth,
Poseidon
creates a spring or springs with the strike of his
trident
to reward
Amymone
for her
encounter with him. In a version of another myth
Poseidon
wields his
trident
to scare off a satyr who tries to rape
Amymone
after she mistakenly hits him with a hunting spear.
There is also a myth where
Poseidon
touches the island of Delos with his
trident
, affixing it firmly to the sea floor.
Another myth tells how
Poseidon,
enraged by sacrilegious behavior of Ajax the Lesser, splits with
trident
the rock
to which Ajax was clinging.
The oldest coins of Poseidonia from the 6th century BC depict
trident
wielded by
Poseidon
in his right hand,
similar to
Zeus's
thunderbolt. An Attic red figure kylix from c. 475 BC depicts
Poseidon
killing the Giant
Polybotes with his
trident.
_________________________________________________________________
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