οὐδέ κέ τίς μιν γηθήσειεν ἰδών, οὐδ᾽ εἰ θεὸς ἀντιάσειεν

[sovay]

derspatchel and I saw this coin at the MFA on Friday night. It's a silver tetradrachm from Akragas, 414–413 BCE; it's on display in the new Gallery of Ancient Coins. The reverse is the most beautiful depiction of Skylla I think I have ever seen.



It looks even better in person.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The chimerical person reminds me of this video

[sovay]

The chimerical person

That's Skylla. In the Odyssey, she's a six-headed, dog-yelping sort of tentacle monster with triple rows of teeth, but in the tradition elaborated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, she was a beautiful nymph changed by jealous Kirke's magic into a monstrous pack of dogs from the waist down. This depiction seems to combine both versions to—at least if you ask me—lovely effect. I'm sure it's a trick of the coining process and time, but I love how her fingers stretch out as long and fine as the spines of her tail. She looks more like a sea-goddess than a ship-wrecking beast.

(The strait of Skylla and Charybdis was traditionally located at the Strait of Messina, so it makes sense to me that at least one of them would appear on the coinage of Sicily.)

reminds me of this video

That is wrong in almost every conceivable way. Thank you.