Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XI 7 April 2016
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Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Chimaera to left, tunny fish below / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 55; BMFA -; SNG France -. 16.09g, 22mm.
Near Mint State. Extremely Rare.
The feared Chimaera was a monster of which a brief description in Homer's Iliad is the earliest surviving literary reference. He depicts it as "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire". It was the offspring of Typhon (last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, and most fearsome of all the monsters of Greek mythology) and Echidna (a half-woman, half-snake, who with her mate Typhon was the origin of many monsters) and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
According to Greek myth, the Chimaera lived in Lycia, ravaging the land. It was eventually slain by Corinth's most famous son Bellerophon, with the help of Pegasos, at the command of King Iobates of Lycia. Since the Chimaera was impervious to Bellerophon's attacks even when mounted on Pegasos, an inventive weapon was required – thus, mounting a block of lead on the end of his spear, Bellerophon lodged the lead in the Chimaera's mouth so that when it breathed fire the lead melted and blocked its airway, suffocating it.
The Chimaera first appears at an early stage in the repertory of the proto-Corinthian pottery-painters, providing some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes that may be recognized in Greek art. The Corinthian type has been fixed, after some early hesitation, in the 670s BC. In Etruria too, the Chimaera appears in the Orientalizing period of the seventh cenury BC that precedes Etruscan Archaic art, where it found considerable popularity both as a myth and as a motif. The Chimaera appears in Etruscan wall-paintings of the fourth century BC, was one of the principal types employed on the coinage of Populonia, and is the subject of one of the most important surviving Etruscan bronze statues (see Chimera of Arezzo).
It is well known that Kyzikos frequently took inspiration for its coin types from the art of other Greek city-states' coins and wares, however the present type does not quite conform to the Chimaera seen on either the coinage of Populonia or Sikyon. The former's coins were not widely distributed and on those of the latter the goat always (and the serpent tail usually) faces front. On this occasion therefore it is probable that this depiction copies the design of a vase or other vessel which found its way to Kyzikos - see for example Louvre A478 for a c.560-550 Attic black figure cup with a similarly formatted chimaera.
Near Mint State. Extremely Rare.
The feared Chimaera was a monster of which a brief description in Homer's Iliad is the earliest surviving literary reference. He depicts it as "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire". It was the offspring of Typhon (last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, and most fearsome of all the monsters of Greek mythology) and Echidna (a half-woman, half-snake, who with her mate Typhon was the origin of many monsters) and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
According to Greek myth, the Chimaera lived in Lycia, ravaging the land. It was eventually slain by Corinth's most famous son Bellerophon, with the help of Pegasos, at the command of King Iobates of Lycia. Since the Chimaera was impervious to Bellerophon's attacks even when mounted on Pegasos, an inventive weapon was required – thus, mounting a block of lead on the end of his spear, Bellerophon lodged the lead in the Chimaera's mouth so that when it breathed fire the lead melted and blocked its airway, suffocating it.
The Chimaera first appears at an early stage in the repertory of the proto-Corinthian pottery-painters, providing some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes that may be recognized in Greek art. The Corinthian type has been fixed, after some early hesitation, in the 670s BC. In Etruria too, the Chimaera appears in the Orientalizing period of the seventh cenury BC that precedes Etruscan Archaic art, where it found considerable popularity both as a myth and as a motif. The Chimaera appears in Etruscan wall-paintings of the fourth century BC, was one of the principal types employed on the coinage of Populonia, and is the subject of one of the most important surviving Etruscan bronze statues (see Chimera of Arezzo).
It is well known that Kyzikos frequently took inspiration for its coin types from the art of other Greek city-states' coins and wares, however the present type does not quite conform to the Chimaera seen on either the coinage of Populonia or Sikyon. The former's coins were not widely distributed and on those of the latter the goat always (and the serpent tail usually) faces front. On this occasion therefore it is probable that this depiction copies the design of a vase or other vessel which found its way to Kyzikos - see for example Louvre A478 for a c.560-550 Attic black figure cup with a similarly formatted chimaera.