Talos on Phaistian coins
Ν1970, Ν1153
Metal (Bronze, Silver)
Incomplete on disc and use-wear on silver coin, oxidation on bronze coin
Diameters: 2.3 cm., 1.9 cm.
"Pombia", unknown provenance
Late Classical and Hellenistic period:
4th-3rd c. BC:
Gallery:
XXICase:
212Exhibition thematic unit:
Cretan CoinageGods, heroes and daemons on Cretan coinage
Description
According to variants of the literary tradition, when Zeus in the form of a white bull abducted the Phoenician princess Europa and carried her to Crete, he gave her three gifts: the “man of brass” Talos, a golden hound and a quiver of arrows than never missed their mark. Talos, a winged brass giant made by Hephaestus or Daedalus, was inextricably linked to the local mythology of Phaistos: in some versions it was he, rather than Herakles, who was believed to be the father of Phaestus, the oecist (founder) who gave his name to the city, and so he was depicted on its silver and bronze coinage. The iconography of the coins appears to combine the mythological background of the abduction of Europa with Talos, depicting the artificial giant as the sleepless guardian of Crete, accompanied by his hound and ready to drive away strangers by hurling great rocks at them, and also as the forefather of the city’s eponymous founder. 1. Phaistos (stater, 360-330 BC). Obverse: the winged giant Talos, almost facing with legs wide apart, about to hurl the stones in his hands to the right. Between his legs is the “golden” hound. Reverse: bull’s head right. 2. Phaistos (tetrachalkon, 250-200 BC) Obverse: similar to above but with Talos turning to the right. Reverse: hunting dog standing right. Inscription ΦΑΙC – ΤΙΩΝ (Phaistion, “of the Phaistians”).Bibliography:
J. Svoronos, Numismatique de la Crète ancienne, Mâcon 1890, p. 255,6, pl. ΧΧΙΙΙ,3 and p. 264-65, 74, pl. XXIV, 25. G. LeRider, Monnaies Crétoises du Ve au Ier siècle av. J-C, Paris 1966, p. 195. F. Carbone La monetazione in bronzo di Festòs, in S. De Caro, F. Longo, M. Scafuro, A. Serritella (eds), Percorsi. Scritti di Archeologia di e per Angela Pontrandolfo, Vol. 2, Paestum 2017, pp. 149-162, gr. A, ser. 1. F. Carbone, Festòs I. La moneta. Produzione, seriazione e cronologia, Atene, 2022.Author:
K. S.Photographs' metadata