#rhodes

Silver tetradrachm (13.48 g) of Rhodes, minted between 205 and 190 BCE (Hellenistic period). The obverse shows the sun god Helios, readily identifiable by his radiant crown. While relatively unimportant in cult elsewhere in the Greek world, Helios was the patron deity of Rhodes. According to a mythical account already found in Pindar and popular in the Hellenistic age, Helios had been absent when the Earth was portioned out among the various deities. Upon his return, he sensed that a new island was about to rise from the sea and requested it from Zeus as his portion. The reverse bears a rose, punning on the Greek name of the island, Rhodos.