Title: Ancient Silver Coin Sicily Artemis-Arethusa Head & Charioteer
Shipping: $29.00
Artist: N/A
Period: Antiquity
History: N/A
Origin: Southern Europe > Italy
Condition: Museum Quality
Item Date: 415-410 BC
Item ID: 5988
UNSIGNED DIES BY EUAINETOS: SICILY, SYRACUSE, 415-410 BC. AR Hemidrachm, 1.77 gm. McClean 2724/25. Artemis-Arethusa hd. l., dolphins either side./Triga of horses galloping r., Nike flying toward charioteer abv. VF. Dies engraved by Euainetos as his signature is readable on the exergual line on some specimens. Of the finest style and very rare. ANCIENT GREEK COIN OF SICILY (Naxos-Tyrrhenoi) Arethusa occasionally appeared on coins as a young girl with a net in her hair and dolphins around her head. These coins were common around Ortygia, the location in which she ends up after fleeing from Alpheus. *All of the art is edited and chosen by us for its high quality and workmanship before posting. We are committed to enhancing our customer’s lives by discovering creating, and pointing out only the best art we can find in the world today. We Are Taste-Makers, Art Advisers, Consultants & Publishers Of Spectacular Art Stories. Our job is to be intermediaries between buyers and sellers. We are vetting for high end art patrons. We are determined to catalog the world's most exceptional art and share it with everyone.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arethusa_(mythology)
Arethusa, means "the waterer". In Greek mythology, she was a nymph and daughter of Nereus (making her a Nereid), and later became a fountain on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily.
The myth of her transformation begins when she came across a clear stream and began bathing, not knowing it was the river god Alpheus. He fell in love during their encounter, but she fled after discovering his presence and intentions, as she wished to remain a chaste attendant of Artemis. After a long chase, she prayed to her goddess to ask for protection. Artemis hid her in a cloud, but Alpheus was persistent. She began to perspire profusely from fear, and soon transformed into a stream. Artemis then broke the ground allowing Arethusa another attempt to flee. Her stream traveled under the earth to the island of Ortygia, but Alpheus flowed through the sea to reach her and mingle with her waters.
During Demeter's search for her daughter Persephone, Arethusa entreated Demeter to discontinue her punishment of Sicily for her daughter's disappearance. She told the goddess that while traveling in her stream below the earth, she saw her daughter looking sad as the queen of Hades.
