The Dove of Aphrodite

Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) was the Ancient Goddess of love and beauty. Much like the owl is associated with Athena's wisdom, Aphrodite is commonly associated with her token bird, the dove, and this explains why doves are often referred to as a "love bird". The city of Sikyonia, where this coin was minted, was a city of prominence in Ancient Greece, and had a great following of the Goddess Aphrodite. In contrast to the "Dove of Aphrodite" on the obverse, the reverse if this coin bears a mythical creature called the Chimera. The Chimera was a monster in the form of a lion with the additional heads of a goat on its back, and a snake head at the end of its tail. Naturally, this menace could not terrorize mankind forever, so a hero named Bellerophon from a neighboring city was given the near-impossible task of slaying the Chimera. With the help of Pegasus, our hero was able to ride upon Pegasus' back and destroy the Chimera.