52 SEA FABLES EXPLAINED.
ZYPAKOZION. 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 NaupHa, 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. 20, — GOLDEN ORNAMENT IN FORM OF AN OCTOPUS, FOUND BY
DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCEN.^.
there in 1876, found in a tomb a gold plate, or button, two
and a half inches in diameter (Fig. 19), 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 20), 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