Hermodike II has been attributed with inventing

coinage Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Neologism, coinage of a new word * '' COINage'', numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Protologism ''Protologism'' is a term coined in 2003 by the American literary ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

.Aristotle, fr.611,37 ed. V.Rose Other historians have translated the name as Hermodice, Damodice or Demodike as translated by

Julius Pollux Julius Pollux ( el, Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης, ''Ioulios Polydeukes''; fl. 2nd century) was a Greek scholar and rhetorician from Naucratis, Ancient Egypt.Andrew Dalby, ''Food in the Ancient World: From A to Z'', p.265, Routledge, 2003 E ...

.Pollux, Onamastikon IX.83 Hermodike II was the daughter of a dynastic Agamemnon of Cyme and married to the third dynastic King Midas, possibly a literary reference to

Alyattes of Lydia Alyattes (Lydian language: ; grc, Ἀλυάττης ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He ...

, in the 6th century BC. She was named after

Hermodike I Hermodike I has been attributed with inventing the Greek written script, i.e. the transfer of earlier technical knowledge from Phrygia into ancient Greek society through Aeolis. She is referred to by Aristotle. The same name was given as Demod ...

who has been attributed with inventing the Greek written script.

Numismatic history

Coinage revolutionised trade and commerce, creating market economics, see

History of coins The history of coins stretches back to the first millennium BC/BCE. Notable examples of coins include the Lydian Lion coins, Persian daric and siglos, Tong Bei, the dirham and gold dinar. Coins are the major archaeological source of history. T ...

The 8th-century BC King Midas likely

Gyges of Lydia Gyges (, ; Lydian: ;Akkadian: , ; grc, Γύγης, Gugēs; la, Gygēs; reigned c. 680-644 BC) was the founder of the Mermnad dynasty of Lydian kings and the first known king of the Lydian kingdom to have attempted to transform it into a ...

pre-dates coinage. Coins were not invented until 610 BC by King Alyattes (610–560 BC), Gyges' great grandson. The Lydian Lion coin directly preceded ancient Greek coinage, through which Rome begot all Western coinage. Yet, although the Lydian Lion was minted by Alyattes for use as a "nobleman's tax-token", "it took some time before ancient coins were used for everyday commerce and trade. Even the smallest-denomination

electrum Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially, and ...

coins, perhaps worth about a day's subsistence, would have been too valuable for buying a loaf of bread." The Greeks of Cyme changed the Lydian "tax-token" into a means of transaction for the common man and woman. Stamped coins avoided weighing silver for small transactions because the symbol on the hemiobol was enough to verify its value. However, academics state that Aristotle and Pollux, though ancient commentators, were not historians and so their unsubstantiated opinions may be misleading. Given the technological and chronological link to minting, Hermodike II may have been married to

, who had more than one wife, and who amassed great wealth, like Midas, by sourcing the

for his coins from Midas’ fabled river Pactolus. Horse head, rough incuse

Hermodike II is attributed to the global spread of coinage. The coins from Cyme, when first circulated around 600–550 BCE, utilised the symbol of the horse. The symbol of the

Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

tied the dynasty of Agamemnon with the glory of the original

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the ...

through the Greek victory over

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

. Alyattes created coinage - to use a token currency, where the value is guaranteed by the state and not by the value of the metal used in the coins - and the role of Hermodike II was to communicate that technology and philosophy into Greek society as per D. Macpherson's observation, Hermodike II was the royal link between Lydia and Aeolia – the conduit of knowledge and the person who influenced the Greeks into adopting the invention of coins. Ancient Greek market economics subsequently influenced the rest of the western world.

References

{{Reflist Ancient Greeks Coins of ancient Greece