Cleveland Museum of Art

Hemidrachm: Gorgoneion (obverse); Bull (reverse)

Date

c. 400 BCE

Medium

silver

Culture

Greek, minted at Parion (Mysia)

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Like the coins of several other ancient cities, those of Parion feature the gorgoneion, or frontal face of Medusa, surrounded by serpents. On the reverse, a bull looks back across its body, with the letters Ρ Ι between its legs. More centrally struck examples preserve two more letters above—Π Α, to give ΠΑΡΙ (PARI), identifying the mint of Parion. The name recalls that of the Cycladic island Paros, one of Parion’s colonizers (with Miletos and Erythrae). Ancient Parion (Latin Parium) lay in the region of Mysia, now northwest Turkey, on the Hellespont.

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