Aigai in AIOLIS 300BC Rare Ancient Greek Coin APOLLO Goat’s head i27771

Item: i27771

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Aigai in AIOLIS

Bronze 16mm (2.85 grams) Struck circa 300-200 B.C.
Reference: Sear 4165; B.M.C. 17.95, 2-4

Laureate head of Apollo right.
ΑΙΓΑΕ behind goat’s head right.

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Guarantee of Authenticity.

In

Greek

and

Roman mythology

, Apollo
,

is one of the most important and diverse of the

Olympian deities

. The ideal of the

kouros
(a

beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the

sun; truth and prophecy;

archery
;

medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son

of Zeus
and

Leto, and has a

twin

sister, the chaste huntress

Artemis
.

Apollo is known in Greek-influenced

Etruscan mythology

as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both

ancient Greek

and

Roman religion

, as well as in the modern

Greco

–Roman

Neopaganism

.

As the patron of Delphi

(Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an

oracular

god — the prophetic deity of the

Delphic Oracle
.

Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god

himself or mediated through his son

Asclepius
,

yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly

plague

as well as one who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god’s

custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over

colonists

, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of

the Muses
(Apollon

Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god

of music and poetry
.

Hermes
created

the lyre
for him,

and the instrument became a common

attribute

of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called

paeans
.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo

Helios he became identified among Greeks with

Helios
,

god of

the sun
, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with

Selene
,

goddess

of the moon
.

In Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to

find any conflation of Apollo with

Sol

among the

Augustan poets

of the first century, not even in the conjurations of

Aeneas
and

Latinus
in

Aeneid
XII

(161–215).

Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological

texts until the third century CE.

Aigai or Aegae was an

ancient Greek

city in

Aeolis
(part of

modern North-West Turkey

). Aegae is mentioned by both

Herodotus

and Strabo
as

being a member of the Aeolian dodecapolis. It was also an important sanctuary of

Apollo. Aigai had its brightest period under the

Attalid dynasty

that ruled from nearby

Pergamon
in

the 3rd and 2nd century BC.

The archaeological site situated at a rather high altitude almost on top of

the

Mount Gün

(Dağı), part of the mountain chain of

Yunt

(Dağları). It is in western

Anatolia
,

in the modern village of

Yuntdağı Köseler

, in

Manisa

district. It is more readily accessible from

İzmir
‘s

Aliağa

district, through the bifurcation for

Şakran

township.