Description:
This silver coin was minted in the Greek city of Parion, in the region of Mysia, during the 4th century BC. Parion was located along the Hellespont, which is a narrow strait in present-day Northwestern Turkey that connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. This prominent port city was founded in 710 BC and flourished over the centuries with its excellent harbor. However, at the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 BC, as with all the other Greek cities in Asia Minor, Parion was subjugated over to the Persian Empire. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great set out from Macedonia to conquer the Persians and when his Greek army defeated the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus, Alexander liberated Parion.
The facing head of a Gorgon with serpents for hair is depicted on the obverse of this coin. In classical antiquity, the Gorgon image was used as an evil-averting device, known as a Gorgoneion. There were three Gorgon sisters: Stheno and Euryale who were immortal and the third sister, Medusa, who was mortal. Medusa was a terrifying dragon-like creature that lived on the farthest side of the western sea, shunned because her glance turned people to stone. The Hero Perseus volunteered to kill Medusa and bring back her head, which he used as a weapon, until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield.
For the Greeks, the Gorgon image was believed to ward off evil spirits as well as your enemies. Even Alexander the Great had an image of a Gorgon on his breastplate for battle. The reverse of this coin shows a bull, which was a symbol of Zeus.
