Obolos 16

CARIA. Iasos. Circa 250-190 BC. (Bronze, 21 mm, 5.27 g, 11 h). Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. IAΣΕΩΝ Hermias swimming with dolphin to right. SNG Copenhagen 410. SNG Keckman -. Glossy dark green patina; fine style. Metal flaw and short flan crack, otherwise, good very fine.

The reverse of this coin features a scene from the myth of Hermias and the dolphin. The story goes that Hermias was a youth from Iasos whose mother never allowed him to swim in the sea as she feared for his safety. One day his friends begged him to go swimming with them and after much pleading his mother finally relented, cautioning him not to go out too far. That evening after his friends had all returned to the beach, Hermias could not be found. The townsfolk got together and began searching for him until a fisherman finally spotted the youth riding on the back of a dolphin towards the shore. When they were found it was discovered that both were dead. Hermias had been playing with the dolphin and they had formed a strong bond of friendship. At some point Hermias fell on the dolphin's dorsal fin which pierced his heart and he died. The dolphin, so overcome with grief, swam Hermias ashore where it then died of a broken heart. Recently it was argued that the creation of the myth of Hermias was a way to help overcome the grief associated with the devastating loss of a child. (Turgut, M. "The myth of youth Hermias and his dolphin at Iasos in Caria." Childs Nerv Syst 26 (2010): 407-9).