The coins honoring Venus Victrix
Victorious Venus. These coins exhibit a single scene from a Greek legend which, but the time these coins were produced, is already well over 1000 years old. Given the number of emperors and empresses who minted coins with this particular reverse design, we must guess that this was a representation of a famous statue, but as yet I've been unable to find mention of one.
At the wedding of King Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis all of the gods were in attendance, with one notable exception. Eris, the goddess of Strife, had not been invited. Enraged at being excluded and true to her nature, she caused discord. The goddess flung a golden apple among the guests with the inscription "For the fairest." Three goddesses laid claim to this - Hera (Juno), Athena (Diana), and Aphrodite (Venus).
The three asked for father Zeus to judge between them, but wisely he declined, knowing that there was no way to win. He ordered Hermes to go to the shepherd Paris on Mount Ida to judge. King Priam of Troy had been warned that his son would some day cause the ruin of his country, so he had sent him away. The son, Paris, was living with the nymph Oenone at the time of the Judgement.
Since it is impossible for a mortal to judge the perfect beauty of a goddess, each came offering him gifts appropriate to her domain. Hera offered dominion over all lands and great riches. Athena offered victory in battle, with Paris leading the Trojans to victory against the Mycenaean Greeks. Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful woman. Oenone wisely knew that any decision would be disasterous, but advised Paris to choose Athena. To the ruin of all, he chose the gifts of Aphrodite and offered her the apple.
The most beautiful woman in the world was Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Paris went to Greece and stayed in the hall of Menelaus. Helen instantly fell in love with him and they fled to Troy together. Not only had he stolen another man's wife, but he had also broken the sacred laws of hospitality. King Menelaus and his allies immediately declared war on Troy, the legendary cause of the Trojan War immortalized by the Homeric Poems, The Illiad and The Odyssey.
Paris does not fare well in the war. After killing Achilles he is wounded by an arrow. He calls on Oenone, the nymph he had spurned to heal him but she refuses and allows him to die. She later kills herself. Helen is reunited with Menelaus at the end of the war and returns to Sparta. The Odyssey revisits the home of Menelaus years later, as Oddesseus enjoys the hospitality of the king and queen.
The legend can be possibly be dated by observing the goddesses included. Both Hera and Aphrodite seem to have been Minoan goddesses, but Athena is a later arrival in Greece having been introduced by the Mycenaean culture. The original depictions of the legend on early Greek pottery show the three goddesses robed, offering gifts to Paris. It was through later artists that the legend seemed to devolve into a beauty contest, with the three shown nude. Since a mortal would be unable to judge the perfect beauty of a goddess this method of display is illogical, yet reflects the art of the times. The fact that Artemis is not included in the original depictions of the legend can be used to date the popular version of the legend. She was of Anatolian origin and was a minor deity in the Greek pantheon early on, but she is later included by Homer in a brief mention of the tale in book 20 of The Odyssey.
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All coins from the author's collection. Not a commercial site, these coins are not for sale.