Greek Kings of Pontos Mithradates IV

Perseus, the famous hero of Greek myth, is instantly recognisable on the reverse of this coin by virtue of the severed head of Medusa he carries. According to the legend, King Akrisios of Argos imprisoned Perseus' mother Danae to prevent her having children after an oracle foretold he would be killed by her son. When however she bore a son of Zeus, Perseus, he banished them to sea in a wooden box, only for the mother and son to survive, having been washed ashore and taken-in by the fisherman Dictys. As a man, Perseus was instructed by King Polydektes of Seriphos to bring him the head of Medusa, a woman whom Ovid relates was cursed by Athena after being violated by Poseidon in the goddess's temple, causing her hair to transform into...

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