v49_0133 - THRACE - MARONEIA Unité, (PB, Æ 18)

THRACE - MARONEIA

(4th century BC)

The name of Maronea, which had been colonized by inhabitants of Chios, comes from Maron, priest of Apollo who gave Ulysses the means to neutralize Polyphemus by making him drunk. Maron is also described as a son of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and drunkenness. Wine and vines were therefore important, hence the representation of Dionysos on the obverse, and the city was renowned for the quality of its wine, which is even mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey. The city itself, ancient Ortagurea, located on the northern shore of Lake Ismaris on the Sthenas River, was close to Dikaia and Abdera also located in Thrace. It received colonists from Chios around 540 BC. It lost its independence definitively when Philip II of Macedonia occupied it..