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Greek city of
Larissa Phrikonis in
Aeolis
Bronze 9mm (0.88 grams) Struck circa 400-300 B.C.
Reference: SNG München 565; SNG Copenhagen 212
Bust of female river-god, horned, facing slightly right and wearing necklace.
Laureate head of Apollo right; Λ – A either side of
head.
A strongly fortified town situated south-east of Kyme, Larissa
appears to have declined in importance after circa 300 B.C.
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River-gods were represented often on Greek, Greek Imperial
(Roman Provincial) and Roman Imperial coins, as a personification of a river
that flowed through that area, as it was an important feature of a city. The
coins of the Roman Republic do not have any representations of river gods. Some
river gods represented on ancient coins were that of the Tiber, Nile, Danube and
many more. River gods on ancient Roman coins are most often depicted on Roman
provincial issues (another term for Greek Imperial). There are also Greek coins
that depicted personifications of river-gods usually as the head of that god. On
Greek Imperial coins, the river-god is usually depicted reclining, holding
reeds, and leaning on over-turned jug from which water flows.
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.
Larissa is ancient city in
Asia Minor
near the coast of
Aegean Sea
.
It is near Menemen
and
Gediz
(ancient
Hermos
) river in
İzmir
province of
Turkey
in western
Anatolia
.
Larissa is on a hill by the Buruncuk village.
It is called in the history one of the twelwe
Aeolian
cities. It is also known as one of the
Bronze Age
cities of the
Aegean
region.
Aeolis (Ancient
Greek: Αἰολίς, Aiolís)
or Aeolia (//;
Αἰολία, Aiolía) was an area that
comprised the west and northwestern region of
Asia Minor
, mostly along the coast, and also
several offshore islands (particularly
Lesbos
), where the
Aeolian
Greek
city-states were located. Aeolis
incorporated the southern parts of
Mysia
which bounded it to the north,
Ionia
to the south, and
Lydia
to the east.
Geography
Aeolis was an ancient district on the western coast of
Asia Minor
. It extended along the
Aegean Sea
from the entrance of the
Hellespont
(now the
Dardanelles
) south to the
Hermus River
(now the Gediz River). It was
named for the Aeolians, some of whom migrated there from
Greece
before 1000 BC. Aeolis was, however, an
ethnological and linguistic enclave rather than a geographical unit. The
district often was considered part of the larger northwest region of Mysia.
History
According to Homer’s
description,
Odysseus
, after his stay with the
Cyclopes
, reached the island of
Aeolia
, who provided him with the west wind
Zephyr
.
In early times, by the 8th century BC, the Aeolians’ twelve most important
cities were independent, and formed a league (Dodecapolis):
Cyme
,
Larissa
(also called
Phriconis
),
Neonteichos
,
Temnus
,
Cilla
,
Notion
,
Aegiroessa
,
Pitane
,
Aegae
,
Myrina
,
Gryneion
, and
Smyrna
.
The most celebrated of the cities was
Smyrna
(modern
Izmir, Turkey
), but in 699 BC, Smyrna became
part of an Ionian confederacy. The remaining cities were conquered by
Croesus
, king of
Lydia
(reigned 560-546 BC). Later they were
held successively by the
Persians
,
Macedonians
,
Seleucids
, and Pergamenes.
Attalus III
, the last king of
Pergamum
, bequeathed Aeolis to Rome in 133 BC.
Shortly afterward, it was made part of the Roman
province of Asia
. At the partition of the
Roman Empire
(395 AD), Aeolis was assigned to
the East Roman (Byzantine) empire and remained under Byzantine rule until the
early 15th century, when the
Ottoman Turks
occupied the area.
Natives of Aeolis
-
Autolycus of Pitane
- Andriscus
-
Elias Venezis
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