Knossos–Gortyna Alliance Issue

446, Lot: 70. Estimate $500. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CRETE, Knossos. Circa 220 BC. Æ (17.5mm, 3.28 g, 12h). Knossos–Gortyna alliance issue. Europa, holding veil, seated left on bull leaping left; dolphin below, radiating lines in periphery / Labyrinth; star above. Svoronos, Numismatique 118; SNG Copenhagen 378–9 var. (two dolphins); Traeger 178. VF, rough green-brown patina. Rare.

The ancient city of Knossos, the remains of which were excavated by Sir Arthur Evans, beginning in 1900, was founded in the Minoan Period (circa 1700-1400 BC) as a large and complex palace-city. Although the exact origin of the word “labyrinth, as well as its location, remains open to scholarly conjecture, the intricate maze of rooms and interior courtyards of this palace-city contributed to the later Greek use of the word to describe a maze and the source of the events connected with it to Crete.

According to the Greek myth, Minos was the first king of Crete. Although he gave the island its first constitution, built the palace at Knossos, and built a large navy, he was a cruel tyrant and imperialist. One of his provinces was the city of Athens, from which he demanded a payment every nine years of seven youths and seven virgins. These would Minos feed to the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull who was held in the Labyrinth, a large walled maze. To stop this brutal tribute, the Athenian hero, Theseus, had himself sent as part of the required tribute. With the assistance of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, Theseus was able to navigate the Labyrinth successfully and kill the Minotaur.