- Katılım
- 4 Şub 2022
- Mesajlar
- 13,827
- Beğeni
- 12,735
At the heart of Aegina's early coinage is the sea turtle motif. This image, elegantly depicted on the obverse of the coins, was more than a mere decorative choice; it embodied the essence of the island itself.
The sea turtle, revered as a symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and fertility, resonated with the maritime identity of Aegina, a dominant naval power of its time. The earliest coins of Aegina depict a sea turtle around 456 BC and because of her loss of any pretension of sea power due to her defeat by Athens this type was changed to a land tortoise. This rather illogical, however, since states do not usually commemorate their defeat on their own coinage. On the contrary, this change almost certainly has to do with changes in religious ritual.
The sea turtle, revered as a symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and fertility, resonated with the maritime identity of Aegina, a dominant naval power of its time. The earliest coins of Aegina depict a sea turtle around 456 BC and because of her loss of any pretension of sea power due to her defeat by Athens this type was changed to a land tortoise. This rather illogical, however, since states do not usually commemorate their defeat on their own coinage. On the contrary, this change almost certainly has to do with changes in religious ritual.