Cleveland Museum of Art

Drachm: Forepart of Lion (obverse); Head of Aphrodite (reverse)

Date

465–449 BCE

Medium

silver

Culture

Greek, minted at Knidos (Karia)

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The lion, king of the beasts and an animal associated with regal and heroic power, featured prominently on the coinage of many ancient Greek city-states. Artists placed the lion in a variety of poses, sometimes including the whole body, at other times the foreparts or just the head. Although it may once have roamed nearby, for many Greeks the lion was a monster nearly as exotic as the Chimaera, of which it formed a part, together with a goat head and snake-headed tail. The forepart of a lion on Knidian coins is thought to represent Apollo.

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