|
Greek city of Lampsakos in Mysia
Bronze 14mm (1.80 grams) Struck circa 300-200 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3904; B.M.C. 15.85,65
Head of Poseidon right, bearded.
ΛAM, forepart of Pegasus right, dolphin
swimming right below.
A colony of Phokaia, Lampsakos was strategically placed at the
eastern entrance to the Hellespont and rose to to be a city of great importance.
Although under Persian and Athenian control for much of the sixth and fifth
centuries, Lampsakos managed to preserver its prosperity into the Hellenistic
age.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Pegasus, as the horse of Muses, was put on the roof of Poznań Opera House (Max Littmann, 1910)
Pegasus (Greek
Πήγα�ƒÎ¿�‚/Pegasos, Latin Pegasus) is one of the best known fantastical
creatures in
Greek mythology
. He is a winged divine horse,
usually white in color. He was sired by
Poseidon
, in his role as horse-god, and foaled
by the Gorgon
Medusa
. He was the brother of
Chrysaor
, born at a single birthing when
his
mother was decapitated by Perseus. Greco-Roman poets write about his ascent to
heaven after his birth and his obeisance to
Zeus, king of the gods, who instructed him to bring lightning and
thunder from Olympus. Friend of the Muses, Pegasus is the creator of
Hippocrene
, the fountain on
Mt. Helicon
. He was captured by the Greek hero
Bellerophon
near the fountain Peirene with the
help of Athena and Poseidon. Pegasus allows the hero to ride him to defeat a
monster, the Chimera, before realizing many other exploits. His rider, however,
falls off his back trying to reach Mount Olympus. Zeus transformed him into the
constellation
Pegasus
and placed him in the sky.
Hypotheses have been proposed regarding its relationship with the
Muses
, the gods
Athena
,
Poseidon
,
Zeus, Apollo
, and the hero
Perseus
.
The symbolism of Pegasus varies with time. Symbol of wisdom and especially of
fame from the Middle Ages until the Renaissance, he became one symbol of the
poetry and the creator of sources in which the poets come to draw inspiration,
particularly in the 19th century. Pegasus is the subject of a very rich
iconography, especially through the ancient Greek pottery and paintings and
sculptures of the Renaissance. Personification of the water, solar myth, or
shaman mount, Carl Jung and his followers have seen in Pegasus a profound
symbolic esoteric in relation to the spiritual energy that allows to access to
the realm of the gods on Mount Olympus.
In the 20th and 21st century, he appeared in movies, in fantasy, in video
games and in role play, where by extension, the term Pegasus is often used to
refer to any winged horse.
Poseidon (Greek:
Πο�ƒÎµÎ¹Î´á¿¶Î½
) was the god of the
sea,
and, as “Earth-Shaker,” of
earthquakes
in
Greek mythology
. The name of the sea-god
Nethuns
in
Etruscan
was adopted in
Latin
for
Neptune
in
Roman mythology
: both were sea gods analogous
to Poseidon. Linear B
tablets show that Poseidon was
venerated at Pylos
and
Thebes
in pre-Olympian
Bronze Age Greece
, but he was integrated into
the
Olympian gods
as the brother of
Zeus and Hades
. Poseidon has many children. There is a
Homeric hymn
to Poseidon, who was the protector
of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the contest for
Athens
to
Athena
.
Lampsacus
was an ancient Greek
city strategically located on the eastern side of the
Hellespont
in the northern Troad
.
An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been
transmitted in the nearby modern town of
Lapseki
.
//
History
Originally known as Pityusa or Pityussa
Pituoussa, it was colonized from
Phocaea
and
Miletus
.
During the
6th
and 5th century BC
, Lampsacus was successively dominated by
Lydia
,
Persia
, Athens
,
and Sparta
;
Artaxerxes I
assigned it to
Themistocles
with the expectation that the city supply the Persian king with
its famous wine
.
Lampsacus joined the
Delian League
after the
battle of Mycale
, and paid a tribute of twelve
talents
, a testimony to its wealth, and it had a
gold coinage in the
4th
century BC
, an activity only available to the more prosperous cities.
A revolt against the Athenians in
411 BC
was put
down by force. In 196 BC
, the
Romans
defended the town against
Antiochus the Great
, and it became an ally of Rome;
Cicero
(2
Verr. i. 24. 63) and
Strabo
(13. 1.
15) attest its continuing prosperity under Roman rule. Lampsacus was also
notable for its worship of
Priapus
, who
was said to have been born there.
Lampsacus produced a series of notable philosophers.
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the elder)
(5th century BC) was a philosopher from
the school of
Anaxagoras
.
Strato of Lampsacus
(c. 335-c. 269 BC) was a Peripatetic philosopher and the
third director of Aristotle’s
Lyceum
at
Athens.
Euaeon of Lampsacus
was one of
Plato
‘s students.
A group of Lampsacenes were in the circle of
Epicurus
;
they included
Polyaenus of Lampsacus
(c. 340 – 278 BC) a mathematician, the philosophers
Idomeneus of Lampsacus
,
Colotes
the
satirist and
Leonteus of Lampsacus
;
Batis of Lampsacus
the wife of Idomeneus, was the sister of
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger)
, whose elder brother, also a friend of
Epicurus, was
Timocrates of Lampsacus
.
Christian
history
According to legend,
St Tryphon
was buried at Lampsacus after his martyrdom at
Nicaea
in 250 AD
.
The first known bishop
in Lampsacus was
Parthenius
, under
Constantine I
. In 364, the
see
was occupied by Marcian
and in the same year a council of bishops was held at Lampsacus.
Marcian, was summoned to the
First Council of Constantinople
of
Constantinople
in 381, but refused to retract his adherence of the
Macedonian
Christian
sect. Other known
Bishops of Lampsacus were
Daniel
, who assisted at the
Council of Chalcedon
(451);
Harmonius
(458); Constantine (680), who attended the
Third Council of Constantinople
; John (787), at Nicaea;
St. Euschemon
, a correspondent of
St. Theodore the Studite
, and a confessor of the Faith for the veneration of
images, under
Theophilus
.
The See of Lampsacus is mentioned in the “Notitiae
Episcopatuum” until about the twelfth or thirteenth century.
Modern
settlement
The nearby settlement of
Lapseki
has
inherited the name; its population is now in the region of 11,000.
|
