460 BC - 400 BC
Mysia
KyzikosΜυσία Κύζικος
| Stater / Στατήρ EL 18 |
SHH 283 |
 |
| Weight Obverse Reverse Notes Reference |
16.00 g 16-19 mm VF Gaia rising out of the ground, bearing the infant Erichthonios; tunny below. Quadripartite incuse square of mill sail pattern. ? BMC Mysia 65 (450-400 BC); Boston MPA 1500; Copenhagen ---; Dewing ---; von Fritze I 157; Greenwell 31; Gulbenkian ---; Sear Greek --- |
Gaia and Erichthonios
The myth of
Erichthonios places him at the beginning of the line of Athenian kings.
Born of Gaia through Hephaestus, the infant was entrusted to Athena,
who gave him to the daughters of Kekrops of Athens in a sealed casket.
When they opened the casket, the sight of the anguipedic
(serpent-footed) Erichthonios drove the women to madness, and they
hurled themselves off the Acropolis. Erichthonios was then left to
found a new dynasty of the early kings of Athens. Although here the
child is shown fully human, this rare Kyzikene stater is undoubtedly a
representation of the beginning of this tale.