The exhibition at the Numismatic Museum of Athens entitled “The Greek Kingdoms of Bactria and India” will last until June 16. The exhibition presents the most important monetary issues of the rulers of the kingdoms of Bactria and India during the Hellenistic era, about a century after the death of Alexander the Great. The Greek inscriptions, symbols and representations that adorn the faces of the coins are false testimonies of a Greek culture that developed in the depths of Asia, so far from the Mediterranean, having incorporated elements from local societies. The exhibition was opened by Dr Osmund Bopearachchi and the most interesting exhibit is considered to be a gold coin, believed to be the only one with a bust of Alexander the Great minted while he was alive. The professor says of the coin: I am sure that this is a commemorative medal struck after the Battle of the Hydaspis Potamus and the defeat of the Indian king Porus. There must have been other such medals with the same portrait, distributed among his generals.
It is the first portrait of Alexander the Great” explains Dr. Boperaci for the coin depicting the Macedonian king wearing the skin of an elephant (symbol of India) on his head, while the aegis of the Mermaid and the horn of Zeus Ammon can be seen.
At the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC, Alexander faced an army of 250,000 elephants coming head on. He himself had no elephants, only cavalry. So he did something very clever: One division of the cavalry attacked in the middle and two others from the sides. The elephants in their confusion began to act like madmen, throwing and trampling the Indian soldiers. You can’t face elephants unless you’re a genius and Alexander was”
Bopearachchi does not fail to emphasize the enormous impact that Greek civilization had on the peoples of the region (present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc.).
“Even when Greek power in India came to an end (about 20 AD), the Greek alphabet was used for another two centuries. In addition, Buddhism borrowed gods from Greek mythology, such as Hercules and Dionysus. The Greeks had a huge influence on these peoples, so much that we cannot imagine” he concludes.