Nymph Larissa Coin Pendant

Description

The city of Larissa and its surrounding pastures were famous for its fine horses, which were exported all over the Greek world and admired locally. Hence the back of this coin which depicts a horse grazing on the lands which were amply watered by the namesake nymph. The front of this coin shows the three-quarters facing bust of the nymph Larissa herself. The two most prominent locks of hair rising from her forehead probably represent horns, and may allude to the stage in the nymph’s life in which she assumed the form of a cow and was courted by the god of the oceans, Poseidon.

The Greek mythological world was divided into the heavens, the oceans and the underworld. Supreme ruler of the oceans and water was poseidon, and following him were a number of nymphs who were dedicated to natural springs and geysers. In the central region of Greece known as Thessaly resided a nymph named Larissa at a spring near a city of the same name.