Circa 250-221 BCE
Æ 17mm 4.1g
Europa seated right in tree, lifting her drapery; to left, eagle standing left, head right; border of rays /
Europa seated right, lifting her drapery, on bull running left; all within wreath.
Jackson pl. 12, 2; Svoronos, Numismatique 109; Joy 466; SNG Copenhagen 447; BMC 45
Gortyna was the second most powerful city on Crete next to Knossos. While they were earlier allies, they spent most of the classical and Hellenistic times at each others’ throats. Today, the ruins of the ancient city are a major tourist attraction in Crete.
Pictured on one side of this coin is the goddess Europe in front of a Platanos tree. In mythology, Zeus disguised himself as a bull and abducted Europa, then they did the deed underneath a Platanos tree by the side of what would become a famous spring.
These Platanos trees may live two thousand years, so it’s possible that a direct descendant of that very tree provides shade over the modern city today.
Europa had three children from Zeus – Minos, Radamanthys, and Sarpedon. Each would become a major king of Crete, and it’s boasted today that European civilization began in Crete. Since the continent took its name from Europa, it can be argued that it can be narrowed down to Gortyna, and this coin depicts the place.