Thread by @DocCrom

Ancient Coin of the Day: A really lovely silver decadrachm, from Syracuse, ca. 475 BC. The Obverse shows a slow moving quadriga with a flying Nike above; the Reverse has a portrait of the nymph Arethusa. #ACOTD #Sicily

Image: ANS 1953.116.1

The portrait of the nymph Arethusa was a popular feature of Syracusan coinage, particularly under the Deinomenids (Gelon I and his successors, Hieron I and Thrasybulos), at the time when the decadrachm was introduced to the coinage.

The design of the decadrachm continued to be refined, so that on later examples, such as this one signed by Euainetos (ca. 400-380 BC), the portrait has moved away from the more severe earlier design.

Image: ANS 1941.153.922

The myth of Arethusa's flight fro Alpheus to Ortygia became a key myth for the Greek colonists of Syracuse to establish their own coinage, expressed through the numismatic designs and the marine imagery.

Image: 'Alpheus and Arethusa', Battista di Domenico Lorenzi (1568–70)

It may also be noted that the portrait heads of Arethusa, even on coins of roughly contemporaneous date, have a great variety of coiffure and ornamentation, highlighhting the variety of artists at work.

Image: Reverses of ANS 1964.79.21 and 1997.9.52 - decadrachms of ca. 405 BC

For more, see:

Motta, Rosa Maria. “Myths, Coins, and Semiotics: Arethusa and Persephone on the Coins of Syracuse.” Philosopher Kings and Tragic Heroes: Essays on Images and Ideas from Western Greece, edited by Heather L. Reid and Davide Tanasi, vol. 1, 2016: 371–386.

#ACOTD