[ 3273] Mn. Fonteius C.f. Silver Denarius (20mm, 3 ...

[ 3273] Mn. Fonteius C.f. Silver Denarius (20mm, 3.88 gm), Rome, 85 B.C. Reference: Fonteia 9; B.M.C. 2476; Syd. 724; Craw. 353/1a Laureate head of Vejovis right, monogram of Roma below chin, thunderbolt below head, MN . FONTEI . C . F behind. Infant winged Genius seated on goat right, caps of the Dioscuri above, thyrsus below, all within laurel wreath. In the temple of Vejovis in Rome there stood near his statue a goat bearing a winged Genius on its back, a representation of which recalls the infancy of Jupiter who was suckled by the goat Amaltheia on Mount Ida. Provided with certificate of authenticity. CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC by Sergey Nechayev, PhD - Numismatic Expert In Greek mythology, Amalthea or Amaltheia (Greek: Ἀμάλθεια) is the most-frequently mentioned foster-mother of Zeus. Her name in Greek ("tender goddess") is clearly an epithet, signifying the presence of an earlier nurturing goddess, whom the Hellenes, whose myths we know, knew to be located in Crete, where Minoans may have called her a version of "Dikte". Amalthea is sometimes represented as the goat who suckled the infant-god in a cave in Cretan Mount Aigaion ("Goat Mountain"), sometimes as a goat-tending nymph of uncertain parentage (the daughter of Oceanus, Haemonius, Olenos, or - according to Lactantius — Melisseus), who brought him up on the milk of her goat. Having multiple and uncertain mythological parents, indicates wide worship of a deity in many cultures having varying local traditions. Amalthea becomes blurred with Adamanthea at times. In the tradition represented by Hesiod's Theogony, Cronus swallowed all of his children immediately after birth. The mother goddess Rhea, Zeus' mother, deceived her brother consort Cronus by giving him a stone wrapped to look like a baby instead of Zeus. Since she instead gave the infant Zeus to Adamanthea to nurse in a cave on a mountain in Crete, it is clear that Adamanthea is a doublet of Amalthea. In many literary references, the Greek tradition relates that in order that Cronus should not hear the wailing of the infant, Amalthea gathered about the cave the Kuretes or the Korybantes to dance, shout, and clash their spears against their shields. Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers in Greek and Roman mythology and collectively known as the Dioskouroi. They were the sons of Leda by Tyndareus and Zeus respectively, the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and the half-brothers of Timandra, Phoebe, Heracles, and Philonoe. They are known collectively in Greek as the Dioscuri (Latin: Dioscūrī; Greek: Διόσκουροι, Dioskouroi, "sons of Zeus") and in Latin as the Gemini ("twins") or Castores. They are sometimes also termed the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids , later seen as a reference to their father and stepfather Tyndareus. In the myth the twins shared the same mother but had different fathers which meant that Pollux was immortal and Castor was mortal. When Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together and they were transformed into the Gemini constellation. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo's fire. Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by Rubens, ca. 1618. In Greek mythology, Amalthea or Amaltheia (Greek: Ἀμάλθεια) is the most-frequently mentioned foster-mother of Zeus. Her name in Greek ("tender goddess") is clearly an epithet, signifying the presence of an earlier nurturing goddess, whom the Hellenes, whose myths we know, knew to be located in Crete, where Minoans may have called her a version of "Dikte". Amalthea is sometimes represented as the goat who suckled the infant-god in a cave in Cretan Mount Aigaion ("Goat Mountain"), sometimes as a goat-tending nymph of uncertain parentage (the daughter of Oceanus, Haemonius, Olenos, or - according to Lactantius — Melisseus), who brought him up on the milk of ...