Ancient => Big Shoota => PAN & Hot Chick with Shield (Uh-huh)

Yeah, I need to ask her which workout regimen she uses

 

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Jerry and TIF - those are beautiful examples of the type. Great choices!

I have one little paltry bronze from Macedon, Phillip II, father of Alexander the great...



I hope that doesn't spoil the thread, so I'll make up for it with another representation of Athena...

 

So I was studying Athena's little outfit on these coins and noticed something interesting. I think the engraver kinda goofed on mine and several others I looked at (vcoins and wildwinds).

Look at the throwing arm. With which arm is she throwing the thunderbolt? In Steve's coin, it's clearly her right arm. Her top garment is a shawl-y cape-y thing and should be draped in the back. Yet on mine, it looks like she's throwing with her left arm and the front of the 'cape' covers her chest. The throwing position is wrong on my coin for a lefty throw-- wrong foot forward, unless she's just throwing like a girl

I squinted and turned my head and with some imagination can see mine with her holding the thunderbolt in her right hand, but I think the engravers messed up on some of the portraits. In a completely nonscientific sampling of 33 coins on wildwinds and vcoins, in 28 she's clearly holding the thunderbolt with her right hand and in 5, the left hand or ambiguous.

Also noted, in some she's holding the shield horizontal to the ground. Gurrrrl, that's not going to protect you!

Steve's on the left, mine on the right:

 

Well one can assume the coins were cut by different people. The monograms are different. Although the monograms are poorly understood one can assume that these might be the initials of the engraver.


From the waist up I like steve's from the waist down I like yours.

 

That's an astute observation TIF - I hadn't noticed it. Looking at both of those images side-by-side, I get the effect of an M. C. Escher illusion.

At any rate, I'm always astonished at how much detail ancient engravers managed to pack into insanely small spaces, before the days of reduction machines or even magnifying glasses. It's easy to forgive a little ambiguity.

 

I bet Steve's Athena never sits down in that gown