Crete, Knossos, c. 2nd century BC, Æ12, Svoronos, Numismatique 105; SNG Copenhagen 385

Crete, Knossos, c. 2nd century BC, Æ12, Svoronos, Numismatique 105; SNG Copenhagen 385 (2.20 g, 12 mm)

Probably the most famous legend of Crete is that of the Minotaur, and the Labyrinth that served as its lair. Several ancient coin types from Knossos depict the Labyrinth.

According to the myth, Minos, the king of Crete, once boasted that he could receive any favour from the gods. To prove his claim, he prayed to the sea god Poseidon, who granted him a magnificent bull. The bull was meant to be sacrificed to Poseidon, but Minos liked it so much that he kept it for himself and sacrificed a different animal to the sea god. This invoked Poseidon’s wrath, who caused Monos’ queen Pasiphae to because enamoured with the bull. Their union gave birth to the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster.

To avoid angering Poseidon further, Minos kept the Minotaur alive, instructing his architect Daedalus to build an impassable maze to house the creature: the famous Labyrinth.

The Athenians, who had lost a war to the Minoans, had to pay an annual tribute of seven maidens and seven youths every year to Crete, all of whom would be devoured by the Minotaur. Theseus, son of the Athenian king, volunteered to go as one of the youth. Through the aid of Minos’s daughter Ariadne, who had given him a spool of red thread, Theseus managed to find his way through the Labyrinth and slew the Minotaur.

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right.
Reverse: Square Labyrinth; ( ΚΝΟΣΙΟΝ.)

 

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Fun write up and great coin!
This is one of the types that I wanted a soon as I found out they existed... but it took a few years to get one...and now I've two


Crete. Knossos circa 200-100 BC. Æ 24 mm, 10,02 g
Obv: Zeus head left
Rev: Labyrinth
fine
Svoronos 112.
Purchased from Savoca Oct 2021


CRETE, KNOSSOS.
AE (2.54 g), approx. 200-67 BC BC: head of the bearded Zeus to the right. Back: Labyrinth between ΚΝΩΣΙ / ΩΝ. Svoronos, Crete 116.2.00, Lindgren. Nice. Ex BAC Numismatics 2/9/20201

 

Excellent coins. I love the second one, in particular.

 

Unfortunately I do not have one of those "labyrinth" issues of Crete, but maybe someday...

This is the only one I have from Crete - the eagle is not as cool as a labyrinth, but the issue is somewhat interesting, with a potential Marc Antony connection, from what I could find (if I have this attributed correctly):


Crete, Knossos Æ 28
(c. 40-30 B.C.)
Kydas, magistrate
Laureate head of Zeus facing right, thunderbolt before chin / [K - Y] / Δ - A / Σ , in three lines across field, eagle standing right, open wings.
RPC I, 224, 934; Svoronos 142; SNG Copenhagen 388.
(9.78 grams / 28 mm)
eBay June 2020

"...but in the 30s B.C. Crete seems to have been governed by the confederation of the Kretaieis, under the supervision of Kydas the Cretarch. The whole 'dossier' (Rouanet-Liesenfelt 1984) shows a person by this name appearing on inscriptions (IC IV.250, IV.251), on coins (Svoronos 1890, 334 no. 1 and pl. 32 fig. 1; Raven 1938, 154-8, Burnett et al. 1992, 222), and also mentioned in Cicero (Phil. 5.13). Rouanet-Leisenfelt believes that Marc Antony created this confederation and chose Kydas to rule it, probably between 43 BC (the end of Brutus' proconsulate and Actium). If Kydas was ruling Crete, or a part of it, Crete and Cyrencaica were not united...The uncertainty of the date of the coin issues presented above, the vagueness of Kydas' chronology, and the contradiction of sources have led several scholars to date the union between Crete and Cyrenaica only to 27 B.C...."

The reverse inscription is confusingly scattered around the fields: