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'Alexanders' featuring Heracles

04 November 2023
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Alexander continued the use of the portrait of Heracles, the ancestor of the Argead line, on the obverse of his silver and bronze like the kings before him since Perdiccas II in the mid-fifth century BCE (Fig. 2, 3 & 4 ff.).

Heracles was a popular divine figure in both Greece and Macedonia, and the hero who had earned his divine status through labours on the mortal plane was an especially apt figure for the young Alexander. In fact, Heracles’ features on Alexander’s coinage were modelled on Alexander’s own so that it was difficult to tell the two apart; and since it was Alexander’s features, one might well argue that actually it was a depiction of Alexander himself. 

Catalogue

'Alexanders' featuring Heracles: Figure 2
Item:Drachma
Issue:Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon
Mint:Unknown
Material:Bronze
Diameter:19.2 mm
Weight:5.8 g
Date:Unknown
Obverse:Head of beardless Heracles wearing a lion skin.
Reverse:Above: a bow and quiver; below: club of Heracles and an ear of wheat. Inscription in middle.
Inscription:ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Alexandrou, (=of Alexander)
Accession #:OM: 386
Credit:Copyright Otago Museum, Dunedin
Obverse:
Reverse:
'Alexanders' featuring Heracles: Figure 3
Item:Tetradrachm
Issue:Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon
Mint:Damascus
Material:Silver
Diameter:28 mm x 26 mm
Weight:17.22 g
Date:ca. 333-323 BCE
Obverse:Head of beardless Heracles wearing a lion skin.
Reverse:Seated Zeus facing left, holding a sceptre in his left hand and an eagle in his extended right hand. Below the eagle is half the body of a ram (mint mark). Inscription to the right.
Inscription:ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Alexandrou, (=of Alexander), ΔΑ (under Zeus’ seat = Damascus)
Accession #:JLMC: 202.06.4
Credit:Copyright University of Canterbury, Christchurch
Obverse:
Head of beardless Heracles
Reverse:
Seated Zeus
'Alexanders' featuring Heracles: Figure 4
Item:Drachma
Issue:Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon
Mint:Miletus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey)
Material:Silver
Diameter:17 mm
Weight:17.4 g
Date:ca. 336-323 BCE
Obverse:Head of beardless Heracles wearing a lion skin.
Reverse:Seated Zeus facing left, holding a sceptre in his left hand and an eagle in his extended right hand. Inscription to the right.
Inscription:ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Alexandrou, (=of Alexander)
Accession #:JLMC: 180.96.2
Credit:Copyright University of Canterbury, Christchurch
Obverse:
Head of beardless Heracles
Reverse:
Seated Zeus holding sceptre
'Alexanders' featuring Heracles: Figure 5
Item:Tetradrachm
Issue:Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon (posthumous)
Mint:Ake, Phoenicia (modern Syria and Lebanon)
Material:Silver
Diameter:Unavailable
Weight:Unavailable
Date:315 / 314 BCE
Obverse:Head of beardless Heracles wearing a lion skin.
Reverse:Seated Zeus facing left, holding a sceptre in his left hand and an eagle in his extended right hand. Inscription to the right.
Inscription:ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ (=of Alexander). Phoenician letters: a K (=Ake). Phoenician numerals (=year 32)
Accession #:CM: NUM1994.704
Credit:Copyright Canterbury Museum, Christchurch
Obverse:
Head of beardless Heracles
Reverse:
Seated Zeus facing left
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