240 SEA FABLES EXPLAINED. 



ZYPAKOZinN. Goltzius was of the opinion that the head 

 was that of Arethusa. The coins found at Tarentum had 

 on one side a figure of Neptune seated on a dolphin, and 

 holding an octopus in one hand and a trident in the 

 other. 



Lerne, or Lerna, the reputed home of the Hydra, was a 

 port of Southern Greece, situated at the head of the Gulf 

 of Nauplia, and between the existing towns of Argos and 

 Tripolitza. Within a few miles of it was Mycenae ; and it 

 is remarkable that Dr. Schliemann, during his excavations 



FIG. 21. GOLDEN ORNAMENT IN FORM OF AN OCTOPUS, FOUND BY 

 DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENAE. 



there in 1876, found in a tomb a gold plate, or button, two 

 and a half inches in diameter (Fig. 20), on which is figured an 

 octopus, the eight arms of which are converted into spirals, 

 the head and the two eyes being distinctly visible. In 

 another sepulchre he discovered fifty-three golden models 

 of the octopus (Fig. 21), all exactly alike, and apparently 

 cast in the same mould. The arms are very naturally 

 carved. By the kindness of Mr. Murray, his publisher, I am 

 enabled to give illustrations of these and two other 

 handsome ornaments. 



