- Stock: Sold
- Model: Andromeda deultum
THRACE. Deultum. Diadumenian (Caesar, 217-218). Ae.
Obv: M OPEL ANTONINVS DIADV C.
Bareheaded, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: COL FL PA C DEVLT.
Perseus standing left, holding head of Medusa, rescuing Andromeda from rocky slope; dead sea-monster at Perseus's feet; harpa to right.
Varbanov 2205.
Condition: Near very fine.
Weight: 5.59 g.
Diameter: 23 mm.
According to myth, the Nereids, daughters of Nereus and Doris, was of proverbial beauty and were proud of this reputation. When Cassiopeia, wife of the Ethiopian king Cepheus, said in public that she and her daughter Andromeda could claim a beauty superior to their own, they were outraged and asked Poseidon, their lord and protector, to teach their vanity a lesson. The god produced a tsunami that swept over the country and sent the monster Cetus against them. Cepheus asked the oracle of Ammon how to placate the divine wrath and was told that the beautiful Andromeda should be displayed chained on a cliff as a sacrifice to the monster. Perseus, who was flying over those areas, was made aware of the facts and agreed with Cassiopeia to deliver him from the monster in exchange for Andromeda, who was to become his bride. The hero thus beheaded the monster and freed the maiden. The scene depicted on the coin's reverse was well known in the ancient world, and is repeated identically in a fresco in the "House of the Dioscuri" in Pompeii. The presence of Medusa's head in both sources, is not accidental. After Andromeda's rescue, in fact, the wedding ceremony was staged, but Perseus had to face a large group of armed men, summoned by Cassiopeia, who was not willing to honor her pacts with the hero and preferred to give her daughter in marriage to Agenor. Perseus had to use Medusa's head against the attackers to prevail.
