RHODES Island Off Caria 307BC Helios Rose Ancient Silver Greek Coin i46307

RHODES Island Off Caria 307BC Helios Rose Ancient Silver Greek Coin i46307

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RHODES Island Off Caria 307BC Helios Rose Ancient Silver Greek Coin i46307:
$700.00

Item: i46307

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Rhodes, Islands off Caria
Silver Drachm 15mm (2.30 grams) Struck circa 307-189 B.C.
Reference: BMC 179
Head of Helios facing.
P-O, rose with bud left; magistrate\'s name above; caduceus in field to right.The large and important island of Rhodos, off the south-west coast of Asia Minor, produced a considerable coinage in the archaic period from its three major cities, Ialysos, Kamiros and Lindos. After the Persian wars no further coinage was issued on the island until the foundation of the new federal capital circa 408 B.C. This splendid city, situated on the northern promontory only 12 miles from the mainland, was given the same name as the island. It quickly achieved great prosperity and eventually became one of the principal trading centers of the ancient world. In the third century Rhodos exercised much political influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, through the strength of its fleet. But in 167 B.C. the Romans declared Delos a free port, and the Rhodians, their prosperity now greatly diminished, sank into comparative obscurity.

You are offerding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

Helios was the personification of theSun inGreek mythology.Homer often calls himTitan orHyperion, whileHesiod (Theogony 371) and theHomeric Hymn separate him as a son of the TitansHyperion andTheia (Hesiod) orEuryphaessa (Homeric Hymn) and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, andEos, the dawn. Ovid also calls him Titan.

Helios was imagined as a handsome god crowned with the shiningaureole of the Sun, who drove thechariot of the sun across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. Homer described Helios\'s chariot as drawn bysolar steeds (Iliad xvi.779); later Pindar described it as drawn by \"fire-darting steeds\" (Olympian Ode 7.71). Still later, the horses were given fiery names:Pyrois,Aeos,Aethon, andPhlegon.

As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light,Apollo. However, in spite of their syncretism, they were also often viewed as two distinct gods (Helios was aTitan, whereas Apollo was anOlympian). The equivalent of Helios inRoman mythology wasSol, specificallySol Invictus.

Etymology

The Greek masculinetheonym Ἥλιος (Helios) is derived from the noun ἥλιος, \"Sun\" in ancient Greek. The ancient Greek word derives fromProto-Indo-European .Cognate withLatin sol, Sanskritsurya, Old English swegl (sky-heavens) Germanic sunna. The female offspring of Helios were called Heliades.

Greek mythology

The best known story involving Helios is that of his sonPhaëton, who attempted to drive his father\'s chariot but lost control and set the earth on fire.

Solar Apollo with the radiant halo of Helios in a Roman floor mosaic, El Djem, Tunisia, late 2nd century

In one Greek vase painting, Helios appears riding across the sea in the cup of the Delphic tripod which appears to be a solar reference.Athenaeus in Deipnosophistae relates that, at the hour of sunset, Helios climbed into a great golden cup in which he passes from theHesperides in the farthest west to the land of the Ethiops, with whom he passes the dark hours. WhileHeracles traveled toErytheia to retrieve the cattle ofGeryon, he crossed theLibyan desert and was so frustrated at the heat that he shot an arrow at Helios, the Sun. Almost immediately, Heracles realized his mistake and apologized profusely, in turn and equally courteous, Helios granted Heracles the golden cup which he used to sail across the sea every night, from the west to the east because he found Heracles\' actions immensely bold. Heracles used this golden cup to reach Erytheia.

By the Oceanid Perse, Helios became the father ofAeëtes,Circe, andPasiphaë. His other children are Phaethusa (\"radiant\") and Lampetia (\"shining\").

Helios and Apollo

Helios is sometimes identified with Apollo: \"Different names may refer to the same being,\" Walter Burkert observes, \"or else they may be consciously equated, as in the case of Apollo and Helios.\"

In Homer,Apollo is clearly identified as a different god, a plague-dealer with a silver (not golden) bow and no solar features.

The earliest certain reference to Apollo identified with Helios appears in the surviving fragments ofEuripides\' play Phaethon in a speech near the end (fr 781 N²),Clymene, Phaethon\'s mother, laments that Helios has destroyed her child, that Helios whom men rightly call Apollo (the name Apollo is here understood to mean Apollon \"Destroyer\").

ByHellenistic times Apollo had become closely connected with the Sun incult. His epithet Phoebus, Phoibos \"shining\", drawn from Helios, was later also applied byLatin poets to the sun-god Sol.

Coin of Roman Emperor Constantine I depicting Sol Invictus/Apollo with the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, c. 315.

The identification became a commonplace in philosophic texts and appears in the writing ofParmenides,Empedocles,Plutarch andCrates of Thebes among others, as well as appearing in some Orphic texts.Pseudo-Eratosthenes writes aboutOrpheus in Catasterismi, section 24:

\"But having gone down into Hades because of his wife and seeing what sort of things were there, he did not continue to worship Dionysus, because of whom he was famous, but he thought Helios to be the greatest of the gods, Helios whom he also addressed as Apollo. Rousing himself each night toward dawn and climbing the mountain called Pangaion, he would await the sun\'s rising, so that he might see it first. Therefore Dionysus, being angry with him, sent the Bassarides, as Aeschylus the tragedian says; they tore him apart and scattered the limbs.\"

Dionysus andAsclepius are sometimes also identified with this Apollo Helios.

Classical Latin poets also used Phoebus as a byname for the sun-god, whence come common references in later European poetry to Phoebus and his car (\"chariot\") as a metaphor for the sun. But in particular instances in myth, Apollo and Helios are distinct. The sun-god, the son of Hyperion, with his sun chariot, though often called Phoebus (\"shining\") is not called Apollo except in purposeful non-traditional identifications.

Despite these identifications, Apollo was never actually described by the Greek poets driving the chariot of the sun, although it was common practice among Latin poets.. Therefore, Helios is still known as the \'sun god\' - the one who drives the sun chariot across the sky each day.

Bust of Alexander the Great as Helios (Musei Capitolini) Cult of Helios

L.R. Farnell assumed \"that sun-worship had once been prevalent and powerful among the people of the pre-Hellenic culture, but that very few of the communities of the later historic period retained it as a potent factor of the state religion.\" Our largely Attic literary sources tend to give us an unavoidable Athenian bias when we look at ancient Greek religion, and \"no Athenian could be expected to worship Helios or Selene,\" J. Burnet observes, \"but he might think them to be gods, since Helios was the great god of Rhodes and Selene was worshiped at Elis and elsewhere.\" James A. Notopoulos considers Burnet\'s an artificial distinction: \"To believe in the existence of the gods involves acknowledgment through worship, as Laws 87 D, E shows\" (note, p.264).Aristophanes\' Peace (406-13) contrasts the worship of Helios and Selene with that of the more essentially GreekTwelve Olympians, as the representative gods of theAchaemenid Persians; all the evidence shows that Helios and Selene were minor gods to the Greeks.

Colossus of Rhodes

\"The island of Rhodes is almost the only place where Helios enjoys an importantcult\", Burkert asserts (p 174), instancing a spectacular rite in which aquadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses, is driven over a precipice into the sea, with its overtones of the plight ofPhaethon noted. There annual gymnastic tournaments were held in his honor. TheColossus of Rhodes was dedicated to him. Helios also had a significant cult on theacropolis of Corinth on the Greek mainland.

The tension between the mainstream traditional religious veneration of Helios, which had become enriched with ethical values and poetical symbolism inPindar,Aeschylus andSophocles, and the Ionian proto-scientific examination of Helios the Sun, a phenomenon of the study Greeks termed meteora, clashed in the trial ofAnaxagoras ca 450 BC, a forerunner of the culturally traumatictrial of Socrates for irreligion, in 399.

In Plato\'s Republic (516B), Helios, the Sun, is the symbolic offspring of the idea of the Good.

Usil, the Etruscan Helios

The Etruscan god of the Sun, equivalent to Helios, was Usil. His name appears on the bronzeliver of Piacenza, next to Tiur, the moon. He appears, rising out of the sea, with a fireball in either outstretched hand, on an engraved Etruscanbronze mirror in late Archaic style, formerly on the Roman antiquities market. On Etruscan mirrors in Classical style, he appears with ahalo.

Helios Megistos

InLate Antiquity a cult of Helios Megistos (\"Great Helios\") (Sol Invictus) drew to the image of Helios a number ofsyncretic elements, which have been analysed in detail by Wilhelm Fauth by means of a series of late Greek texts, namely: anOrphic Hymn to Helios; the so-calledMithras Liturgy, where Helios rules the elements; spells and incantations invoking Helios among theGreek Magical Papyri; a Hymn to Helios by Proclus;Julian\'s Oration to Helios, the last stand of official paganism; and an episode inNonnus\' Dionysiaca.

Consorts and children
  1. By Aegle the Naiad
    1. The Charites (who are otherwise called daughters of Eurynome with Zeus or of Aphrodite with Dionysus):
      1. Aglaea \"splendor\"
      2. Euphrosyne \"mirth\"
      3. Thalia \"flourishing\"
  2. By Clymene, the Oceanid daughter of Oceanus and Tethys
    1. The Heliades, mostly represented as poplars mourning Phaëton\'s death beside the river Eridanos, weeping tears of amber:
    2. Phaëton, the son who borrowed the chariot of Helios, but lost control and plunged into the river Eridanos
    3. Astris, wife of the river-god Hydaspes in India, mother of Deriades
  3. By Neaera the nymph, two daughters - guardians of the cattle of Thrinacia:
    1. Phaethusa
    2. Lampetia

(other sources list these two among the children of Clymene)

  1. By Rhode, the Oceanid daughter of Oceanus and Tethys
    1. The Heliadae, expert seafarers and astrologers from Rhodes:
      1. Tenages
      2. Macareus
      3. Actis
      4. Triopas
      5. Candalus
      6. Ochimus
      8. Electryone
    1. By Perse or Perseis, the Oceanid daughter of Oceanus and Tethys:
      1. Aega
      2. Aeëtes, ruler over Colchis
      3. Circe, the minor magicians\' goddess
      4. Pasiphaë, wife of King Minos of Crete
      5. Perses
    2. By Ocyrrhoe the Oceanid:
      1. Phasis, a river-god in Colchis
    3. By Leucothoe, daughter of Eurynome and Orchamus:
      1. Thersanon
    4. By Nausidame, daughter of Amphidamas of Elis:
      1. Augeas, one of the Argonauts
    5. By Gaia
      1. Bisaltes
    6. By Selene
      1. The Horae (possibly; more commonly known as daughters of Zeus)
    7. By unknown mothers:
      1. Aegiale, possible mother to Alcyone
      2. Aithon, who chopped Demeter\'s sacred grove and was forever famished for that (compare the myth of Erysichthon)
      3. Aix, a nymph with a beautiful body and a horrible face
      4. Aloeus, ruler over Asopia
      5. Camirus, founder of Camira, a city in Rhodes
      6. Mausolus
      7. Phorbas, father of Ambracia
    Notes
    • Listed above are the most common versions of the myths considering mothers of Helios\' children; other ones are known as well, for instance:
      • Rhode or the Nereid Prote were possible mothers of Phaethon
      • Ephyra, of Aeetes
      • Antiope, of Aeetes and Aloeus
      • Asterope, of Aeetes and Circe
      • Crete, of Pasiphae
      • Hyrmine, of Augeas
    • According to Ovid\'s Metamorphoses, Clytie, sister of Leucothoe, also loved Helios, but didn\'t have her feelings answered
    • Anaxibia, an Indian Naiad, was lusted after by Helios according to Pseudo-Plutarch
    Horses of Helios

    Some lists, cited byHyginus, of the names of horses that pulled Helios\' chariot, are as follows.

    According toEumelus of Corinth - Eous; by him the sky is turned. Aethiops, as if faming, parches the grain. These trace-horses are male. The female are yoke-bearers:Bronte, whom we call Thunder, andSterope, whom we call Lightning.

    According to Homer, the names are:Abraxas, *Therbeeo.

    According to Ovid:Pyrois,Eous,Aethon, andPhlegon\".

    Rhodes is aGreekisland approximately 18kilometres (11mi) southwest ofTurkey in Eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of theDodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007[1] of which 53,709 resided in thehomonymouscapital city of the island.

    Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for theColossus of Rhodes, one of theSeven Wonders of the World. The medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared aWorld Heritage Site. Today Rhodes is a tourist destination.

    Geography

    The island of Rhodes is shaped like aspearhead, 79.7km (49.5mi) long and 38km (24mi) wide, with a total area of approximately 1,400square kilometres (541sqmi) and a coastline of approximately 220km (137mi). Thecity of Rhodes is located at the northern tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient and modern commercialharbours. The main air gateway (Diagoras International Airport, IATA code: RHO) is located 14km (9mi) to the southwest of the city inParadisi. The road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts.

    In terms offlora andfauna, Rhodes is closer toAsia Minor than to the rest of Greece. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests ofpine (Pinus brutia) andcypress (Cupressus sempervirens). The island is home to the Rhodiandeer. InPetaludes Valley (Greek for \"Valley of the Butterflies\"), large numbers oftiger moths gather during the summer months. Mount Attavyros, at 1,216metres (3,990ft), is the island\'s highest point of elevation. While the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land wherecitrus fruit,wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown.

    Outside of the city of Rhodes, the island is dotted with small villages and beach resorts, among Afantou, Koskinou,Embona (Attavyros),Paradisi, andTrianta (Ialysos). Tourism is the island\'s primary source of income.

    Earthquakes

    Rhodes has experienced severeearthquakes. Notable are the226 BC earthquake that destroyed theColossus of Rhodes; the one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes;[2] and the one on 26 June 1926.[3] 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings. One woman lost her life when she fell down stairs while trying to flee her home.[4]

    HistoryAncient times

    The island was inhabited in theNeolithic period, although little remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC theMinoans came to Rhodes. Later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines, and associated the island of Rhodes withDanaus; it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis. In the 15th century BC,Mycenaean Greeks invaded. After theBronze Age collapse the first renewed outside contacts are withCyprus.[5]In the 8th century BC the island\'s settlements started to form, with the coming of the Dorians, who built the three important cities of Lindos,Ialyssos andKameiros, which together with Kos,Cnidus andHalicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-calledDorian Hexapolis.

    Before archaeology, myth stood in for blanks in the historical record/ InPindar\'s ode, the island was said to be born of the union ofHelios the sun god and the nymphRhode, and the cities were named for their three sons. The rhoda is a pink hibiscus native to the island.Diodorus Siculus added thatActis, one of the sons of Helios and Rhode, travelled toEgypt. He built the city ofHeliopolis and taught the Egyptians the science ofastrology.[6]

    The Persians invaded and overran the island, but were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC. The cities joined theAthenian League. When thePeloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. The war lasted until 404 BC, but by this time Rhodes had withdrawn entirely from the conflict and decided to go her own way.

    In 408 BC the cities united to form one territory. They built the city of Rhodes, a new capital on the northern end of the island. Its regular plan was superintended by the Athenian architectHippodamus. The Peloponnesian War had so weakened the entire Greek culture that it lay open to invasion. In 357 BC the island was conquered by the kingMausolusof Caria, then it fell to the Persians in 340 BC. Their rule was also short. To the great relief of its citizens, Rhodes became a part of the growing empire ofAlexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians.

    Following the death of Alexander his generals vied for control of the kingdom. Three:Ptolemy,Seleucus, andAntigonus, succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies inAlexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC. The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center; its coins circulated nearly everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy, science, literature andrhetoric shared masters with Alexandria: the Athenian rhetoricianAeschines, who formed a school at Rhodes;Apollonius of Rhodes; the observations and works of the astronomersHipparchus and Geminus, the rhetoricianDionysios Trax. Its school of sculptors developed a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as \"HellenisticBaroque\".

    In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son,Demetrius, to besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created hugesiege engines, including a 180ft (55m)battering ram and asiege tower namedHelepolis that weighed 360,000pounds (163,293kg). Despite this engagement, in 304 BC after only one year, he relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment. The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god,Helios, the statue since called theColossus of Rhodes.

    In 164 BC, Rhodes signed a treaty withRome. It became an educational center for Roman noble families, and was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such asHermagoras and the author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium. At first the state was an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these were later lost in various machinations of Roman politics.Cassius eventually invaded the island and sacked the city.

    In the first century AD, the EmperorTiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes.Saint Paul broughtChristianity to people on the island.[7] Rhodes reached her zenith in the third century. In 395, the longByzantine Empire-period began for Rhodes, when the Eastern half of the Roman empire became gradually more Greek.

    Rhodes was occupied by theMuslim forces of Muawiyah I in 672. In circa 1090 it was occupied by the Muslim forces of theSeljuk Turks, not long after theBattle of Manzikert.[8] Rhodes was recaptured by theByzantine EmperorAlexius I Comnenus during theFirst Crusade.

    Medieval period

    In 1309 the Byzantine era came to an end when the island was occupied by forces of theKnights Hospitaller. Under the rule of the newly named \"Knights of Rhodes\", the city was rebuilt into a model of the European medieval ideal. Many of the city\'s famous monuments, including thePalace of the Grand Master, were built during this period.

    The strong walls which the Knights had built withstood the attacks of theSultan ofEgypt in 1444, and of Mehmed II in 1480. Ultimately, however, Rhodes fell to the large army ofSuleiman the Magnificent in December 1522, long after the rest of the Byzantine empire had been lost. The few surviving Knights were permitted to retire to theKingdom of Sicily. The Knights would later move their base of operations to Malta. The island was thereafter a possession of theOttoman Empire for nearly four centuries.

    Modern history

    The island was populated by ethnic groups from the surrounding nations, including Jews. Under the Ottoman Empire rule, they generally did fairly well, but discrimination and bigotry occasionally arose.[citation needed] In February 1840, the Jews of Rhodes were falsely accused of ritually murdering a Christian boy. This became known as theRhodes blood libel.

    In 1912, Italy seized Rhodes from the Turks. The island\'s population thus bypassed many of the events associated with the\"exchange of the minorities\" between Greece andTurkey. Due to theTreaty of Lausanne, the island, together with theDodecanese, was officially assigned to Italy. It became the core of their possession of theIsole Italiane dell\'Egeo.

    Following theItalian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the British attempted to get the Italian garrison on Rhodes to change sides. This was anticipated by theGerman Army, which succeeded in occupying the island. In great measure, the German occupation caused the British failure in the subsequentDodecanese Campaign.

    On 19 July 1944 theGestapo rounded up the island’s nearly 2000Jewish inhabitants, to send them to extermination camps. About 160 of the island\'s more than 600 Greek Jews survived. TheTurkish ConsulSelahattin Ülkümen succeeded, at considerable risk to himself and his family, in saving 42 Jewish families, about 200 persons in total, who had Turkish citizenship or were family members of Turkish citizens.

    In 1948, together with the other islands of theDodecanese, Rhodes was united with Greece.

    In 1949, Rhodes was the venue for negotiations betweenIsrael andEgypt,Jordan,Lebanon, andSyria, concluding with the1949 Armistice Agreements.

    Archaeology

    Inancient times, Rhodes was home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World—theColossus of Rhodes. This giant bronze statue was documented as once standing at the harbour. It was completed in 280 BC but was destroyed in anearthquake in 224 BC. No trace of the statue remains today.

    Historical sites on the island of Rhodes include theAcropolis of Lindos, theAcropolis of Rhodes, theTemple of Apollo, ancientIalysos, ancientKamiros, theGovernor\'s Palace,Rhodes Old Town (walled medieval city), thePalace of the Grand Masters,Kahal Shalom Synagogue in theJewish Quarter, theArcheological Museum, the ruins of thecastle of Monolithos, thecastle of Kritinia andSt. Catherine Hospice.

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    RHODES Island Off Caria 307BC Helios Rose Ancient Silver Greek Coin i46307:
    $700.00

    Buy Now