Greek Art and the Athenian Tetradrachma - Essay Example

Greek Art, the Athenian Tetradrachma The Greek world witnessed Athens as the leading navalpower in the early years of the 5th century BC (Baldwin, 70). A true account is that Athens was one of the greatest cities at the time. This could partly be attributed to its discovery of silver deposits. However, the greatest challenge was how to utilize the resource. A true account is that for a long time the tetradrachms of Athens are the most common type of coins amongst ancient coins’ collectors. These coins have also been commonly known as ‘owls’ because of their centrality. It is important to note that other coins around the world had owls shown in an equally outstanding design. According to Baldwin (75) quite a number of things or rather features relating to the coins have changed with time. These features include weight, thickness and diameter. To be specific, their weight has changed in relation to the economic times of the city. In general the Athenian owls were the most influential. The coins were heavy, high-relief and thick. Figure1 Figure 2 (Goldsborough, 1) The above two figures depict two sides of the Classical Owl tetradrachm. History reveals them as the most popular across the world. Putting a head on the front of the coin and an animal at the back was a common practice at the time. These coins were handled by quite a number of people including Hippocrates, Euclid, Pythagoras, Democritus, Aristotle, Xenophanes, Socrates, Plato and Archimedes (Illingworth, 1). The thinking of these people and others was the foundation of Western civilization. Greece was where mankind’s way of life in relation to how he or she thinks and interacts with others. The Greeks inherited their rich ways of civilization from Egypt, Mesopotamia and Minoa. Despite its military success, Rome borrowed a leaf in terms of civilization from Greece. The society’s politics, mathematics, medicine, science, theatre, art, sports, philosophy education, and architecture can easily be traced back to the ancient Greece. For half a millennium the theme relating to these coins was not changed. The observe of the coin had the face of Athena while the reverse had the owl. History reveals that the redesigning of the US coins was inspired by the fact that President Roosevelt always had a classical owl coin as his pocket piece. Athens used its money to enhance commerce and trade in addition to expanding its rapid growing financial empire. The city obtained seigniorage profits just by virtue of using the coins irrespective of the origin and quality of the silver that was used to mint them. The use of the owls spread to other parts of the world starting with neighboring countries because of their exchangeability. They became the first great trade currency in the world, with time. Other coins that followed included the Dutch lion dollars, American dollars, the Roman denarii, Alexander the Great tetradrachms and starters, Theresa thalers, Austrian Maria and the Spanish American pieces of eight (Illingworth, 1). The owls had a very interesting mythology associated with them. According to Stroud (160) Athena was the goddess of warfare and wisdom. An ancient Greek myth reveals that Athena was born to Zeus and Metis as her parents. The name Metis meant wisdom. The fact that Zeus killed himself after swallowing his pregnant wife after being told that his first son would be more powerful than him showed an element of power and not wisdom. This is what led to Athena being referred to by the two attributes thus warfare and wisdom. The eye goddess was known to be all-knowing and all-seeing. This was another attribute that was associated with Athena. The owl is still a symbol of wisdom, standing between 6-8 inches with 2.5 to 4.5 ounces worth of weight (Illingworth, 1). However, different places and time have their own symbolism in relation to owls for instance death and dread. The owl has therefore been observed to epitomize Athens in the best way possible. Stroud (167) asserts that the interesting charm that relates to the simple aesthetics of the owls is what led to their popularity. Their attraction can be attributed to their mythical symbolism, relative beauty, and the age of the coins, their origin and their great appeal at the time. It is no mistake that Athens was granted the status as the cradle of civilization by Rome. It is no wonder that Augustus (the greatest Roman emperor) made use of Alexander the Great’s figure as his personal seal. During this period, Greece was able to experience what can be termed as an explosion in relation to creativity. The following brief history gives a clear impression of the tetradrachms era. Other smaller denominations that were minted in relation to the Athenian coins included the drachms, hemibolos, bronzes, obols, trihemiobols, didrachms, hemiatemorions, trihemitartemorions and tetartemorions (Baldwin, 67). The middle of the 1st Century BC marked the end of the Owl silver coinage. The different owls from different periods included the Archaic Owl tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type A full-crest tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type A full-crest tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type A test-cut, corroded and countermarked tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type A test-cut tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type B test-cut tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type B test-cut and countermarked tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type B test-cut tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type C repaired tetradrachm, the Classical Owl Type C tetradrachm with crystallization defect, the Classical Owl Type C tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl off-center tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl test-cut tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl double struck test-cut tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl repaired, over struck tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl crystallized, test-cut tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style Owl cut tetradrachm, the Intermediate Style oblong Owl tetradrachm and finally the New style Owl tetradrachm (Illingworth, 1). Goldsborough (1) reveals that the Archaic Owl tetradrachm was 22mm thick and weighed 16.24g. It was used in the period between 490-482BC. Apart from the archaic owls, the intermediate and classical owls had an olive sprig on the reverse side of the coin. Secondly, the Classical Owl Type A full-crest tetradrachm was 23mm thick and weighed 17.05g. It was used in the period between 454-431BC. It was also referred to as an Old Style Owls. It had a floral scroll as part of its decoration in addition to the crescent moon and three olive leaves. Thirdly, the Classical Owl Type A full-crest tetradrachm was 26mm thick and weighed 17.06g. It was used in the period between 454-431BC. The Classical Owl Type A test-cut, corroded and countermarked tetradrachm was 27mm thick and weighed 16.62g. It was also used in the period between 454-431BC. The Classical Owl Type A test-cut tetradrachm was 24mm thick and weighed 16.91g. It was used in the period between 454-431BC (Goldsborough, 1). This coin has a small bit off Athena’s helmet crest. The Classical Owl Type B test-cut tetradrachm which was also used in the period between 454-431BC weighed 17.12g. It was 25mm thick (Baldwin, 90). The Classical Owl Type B test-cut and countermarked tetradrachm was 24mm thick and weighed 17.07g. It was used in the period between 431-393BC. The Classical Owl Type B test-cut tetradrachm was 26mm thick and weighed 16.99g. It was also used in the period between 431-393BC. The Classical Owl Type C repaired tetradrachm was 23mm thick and weighed 17.34g. It was also used in the same period. The Classical Owl Type C tetradrachm with crystallization defect was 23mm thick and weighed 16.63g. Illingworth (1) reveals that the large cavity in Athena’s cheek made the coin very unique. The Classical Owl Type C tetradrachm was 23mm thick and weighed 17.12g. The coin is still undamaged and looks relatively beautiful. The intermediate Style owls had an average weight of 15g with an average thickness of 22mm. they were common in the period between 393-300BC. The New Style Owl tetradrachm was 29mm thick and weighed 16.64g unlike the other owls, it was used in the period between 141-140BC. It is also very important to note that Konsantino (a Greek jewelry company) has incorporated the owl side of Athenian tetradrachma on one of their most recent signet rings (Illingworth, 1). Furthermore, the Greek’s traditions and symbols especially those relating to art have remained over thousands of years. In Conclusion, this paper clearly reveals that Athens has a well documented history of coins or rather owls. This era helped to put Greece on the world map. As the origin of Western civilization, Athens is well recognized across the globe. The greatness of this interesting development can therefore be attributed to the fact that the coins had historical significance in addition to the familiar design. Works Cited Baldwin, Agnes. “Symbolism on Greek Coins”. New York: S.J. Durst, 1977. P. 67-99. Goldsborough, Reid. “Athenian Owls through the Ages”. 14 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2011 http://rg.ancients.info/owls/. Illingworth, Joshua. “Ancients: Owls Through the Years - A Look at the Evolution of Athenian Tetradrachms”. 7 Dec 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2011 http://www.ngccoin.com/news/ViewArticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=1288&print=1. Stroud, Ronald. “An Athenian Law on Silver Coinage”. Hesperia, Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, V. 43, no. 2, p. 157-188. Read More