Obolos 19

SICILY. Syracuse. Second Democracy, 466-405 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 28 mm, 17.01 g, 3 h), c. 430-420. Male charioteer, wearing a long chiton and holding a goad in his right hand and the reins in both, driving a walking quadriga to right; above, Nike flying right to crown the horses; in exergue, olive branch. Rev. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ Head of Arethusa to right, wearing a double spiral earring and a simple necklace, and with her hair bound in a sakkos ornamented with a patterned band over her forehead; around Arethusa’s head, two dolphins swimming downwards and two swimming upwards. Boehringer 654 (V331/R449). Weber 1593 (same dies). Scattered porosity, scratches, otherwise, very fine.

During the 420s the Syracusan engravers began showing Arethusa wearing a sakkos, or ornamental net, over her hair; this must have reflected contemporary fashions. Some of the dies are really quite beautiful but others have a ‘hardness’ about them that makes Arethusa look somewhat severe and unpleasant. This die, however, shows us a young woman with a hint of a smile who looks as if she is intelligent, attractive and rather kind. Here we have a real person, not an abstract goddess: she was someone the die cutter knew.