The coins of Olympia and the consolidation of Zeus’ imagetic in Classical Greece

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a study of the monetary iconography of the coins minted by the poleis that controlled the sanctuary of Olympia during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Our intention is to understand how these coins can contribute to the consolidation of Zeus’ visual representation. For that purpose we compared the images of Zeus and his attributes on these coins with the same images of the deity on coins issued by other poleis and in sculptures and reliefs. We concluded that the Peloponnesus was the center of innovation of Zeus’ imagetic, disseminating a characteristic pattern mainly to the Western poleis. The systematization of the pattern of Zeus’ representation in sculptures and reliefs allowed the definition of a chronology for the representation of Zeus on Greek coins and revealed a well defined historical context for the cult of the god.