Potamikon attempts to solve a question that has perplexed scholars for hundreds of years: Who exactly is the man-faced bull featured so often on Greek coinage? It approaches this question by examining the origin of the iconography and traces its development throughout various Mediterranean cultures, finally arriving in Archaic and Classical Greece in the first millennium BC. Within the context of Greek coinage, the authors review all the past arguments for the identity of the man-faced bull before incorporating the two leading theories (Local River Gods vs. Acheloios) into a new theory of local embodiments of Acheloios, thereby preserving the sanctity of the local rivers while recognizing Acheloios as the original god of all water. The second part of the book exhibits many of these 'Sinews of Acheloios' as they appear throughout the Greek world on bronze coinage, in each case paying careful attention to the reasons a specific group adopted the iconography and shedding further light on the mythos of Acheloios.
This essay delves into the most intimate secret of Naples through an archaeoastronomical inquiry. It demonstrates that religious and philosophical motivations were central to the urban planning of its ancient Greek centre, Neapolis, constructed in the 6th- 5th centuries BC by Cumaeans and other Greek colonists. The design of the city's streets and its distinctive geographical-astronomical orientation evoked the cults of Apollo (the Greek Sun-god) and Parthenope (the local Numen, who reminds the mythical Sibyl of Cumae) on solstices and equinoxes. Neapolis' street grid was also inspired by Pythagorean cosmology, as it was designed with golden ratio and decagonal proportions. These elements combined to make Neapolis a perfect microcosm, or better yet, a temple-city centred on the cult of the Sun and Parthenope. Finally, the city’s religious traditions likely increased the public impact of the martyrdom of Saint Januarius, facilitating the Christianization of Naples in the 4th century AD. Naples’ ancient streets, culture, and Cathedral still preserve the legacy of Neapolis' solar traditions in their geometries, symbols, hymns, sweets, mosaics, and relics
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