An Extremely Rare Coin Promoting the Fine Wine of Lesbos
This electrum hekte was struck in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos circa 478-455 BC. It shows the bearded head of Silenos on the obverse and on the reverse is the incuse head of a roaring lion. There are only 5 known specimens of this coin.
Silenos, the rustic god of winemaking and drunkenness, is conspicuous for being commonly featured on the coinage of Mytilene in a variety of forms and types. That this is the case should immediately suggest to us that wine making was an important aspect of Mytilene’s economic activities, and when consulting the ancient sources we find that this was indeed the case.
The island of Lesbos has a long history of wine making dating back to at least the 7th century BC when it was mentioned in the works of Homer. Warmly spoken of in the 4th century BC, Lesbian wines achieve fulsome praise from Archestratos, the ‘Daedalos of tasty dishes’, who rated it above Thasian and Phoenician, without even a mention (in the surviving fragments) of Chian, the other first-class wine of the period. Euboulos implies that tax breaks for Lesbian wines at Athens increased its popularity and availability, and refers to it as “old, dripping with nectar.”
During this time the island competed with the wines of Chios for the lucrative Greek markets, and the popularity of Lesbian wine is well attested as continuing into Roman times where it was highly valued along with other Aegean wines of Chios, Thasos and Kos.
I can name and praise the wines produced in other cities
and their names I do not forget.
But none of them is compared to the wine of Lesbos.”
(Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, A, 52d)
baratheonpilled
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
dededos
dailybridgerton
discoholicmusic
