Description:
This stater coin was minted in the western Greek city of Argos Amphilochikon, located near the eastern shores of the Ambracian Gulf. According to legend, Argos Amphilochikon was founded by the hero Amphilochus after the Trojan War. Amphilochus, being dissatisfied with the state of things in Argos on his return from Troy, emigrated from his native place and founded this city in the region of Akarnania.
This ancient Greek coin features Pegasus, the pure white mythological flying horse who first set foot on Earth at Corinth. With the help of Athena, who presented him with a golden bridle, a young Corinthian nobleman named Bellerophon captured Pegasus while he paused to drink from a spring. He then tamed Pegasus so he could ride on its back and defeat both the Chimera and the Amazons, tasks which would otherwise have been impossible for a mortal. Pegasus was also mortal and because of his faithful service, on the last day of his life, Zeus, the king of the gods, transformed him into a constellation.
On the reverse of this coin, Athena is wearing a Corinthian helmet with a shield to the right. Athena was the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy and reason. An armed warrior goddess, Athena appears in Greek mythology as a helper of many heroes, including Odysseus, Jason and Hercules. In Classical Greek myths she never consorts with a lover, earning the title Athena Parthenos "Athena the Virgin", hence the name of her most famous temple, the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.
