★ Eros is hovering above the bull ★

Mysia, Kyzikos. EL Hekte, 2.67 g 10.71 mm. Circa 450-330 BC.
Obv: Eros seated left on back of bull kneeling left, who he is subduing by the horns; below, tunny left Rev: Quadripartite incuse square.
Ref: Von Fritze -; Boston MFA -; Hurter & Liewald I 9b corr. (Eros not Nike); SNG von Aulock 1212; Numismatik Lanz Au 165, Lot 88.
Good Very Fine.
Eros enables mating and procreation and always appears as a power figure associated with love, sexuality and desire. In many legends, especially when it comes to forbidden love, Eros leads people to love as a bewildering and sensual figure. There are many legends surrounding the birth of Eros. According to one of them, Eros is the son of Penia, the goddess of poverty, and Poros, the god of wealth. Eros carries the traits of both, his mother and his father in his own character. Poor in love, he is hiking barefoot in the mountains, on the slopes, in front of the doors. He's rich too. Always chasing after the good, he is brave, daring, always sets traps, and is unsurpassed in witchcraft. It is neither mortal nor immortal. While living in abundance in one day, he suddenly dies, then finds a way and is reborn. So love is neither in abundance nor in riches. This whole complex character of Eros also makes up the nature of love.
Depictions of Eros riding a bull are known from terracotta examples. It is extremely rare to see Eros directly on a bull on coins.
Sometimes Eros is included in the scene where Zeus, in the form of a bull, is abducting Europa. For example, on a Panathenaic amphora c. 400–390 BC Chr. Eros flies behind Europa with a ribbon. In an Apulian amphora c. 330 BC an Eros hovers over the bull and the girl, while another Eros rides the bull. This image of Eros on the bull, which has sensual, erotic connotations, is often found in vase paintings and terracotta figures of the 4th century BC. See Naples 81952, LIMC Europe 1.7.

Described by Pactolus Numismatic Academy (PNA).