Vergina Sun - Interpretations

Interpretations

The significance of the Vergina Sun is unclear. Archaeologists do not agree whether the sun was a symbol of Macedon, an emblem of Philip's Argead dynasty, a religious symbol representing the Twelve Gods of Olympus, or simply a decorative design. Andronikos repeatedly interprets it as the "emblem of the Macedonian dynasty", though Eugene Borza has pointed out that it is widely used in ancient Macedonian art. John Paul Adams cites its long-established use as a decorative element in Greek art and concludes that it cannot definitively be said that it was either a "royal" or "national" Macedonian symbol. Sixteen and eight-pointed suns often appear in Macedonian and Hellenistic coins and shields of that period, however the use of the symbol is attested in Greek art long before that period; depictions of ancient Greek hoplites bearing identical sixteen-pointed and similar eight-pointed symbols on their armours and shields as early as the 6th century BC, as well as coin designs from island and mainland Greece bearing eight or sixteen-pointed sun symbols (Corfu, 5th century BC, Locris, 4th century BC). Before 1977 the symbol had been regarded as a simple ornament. After Andronikos' discovery, the symbol began to be viewed as predominantly associated with Ancient Macedonians, despite its earlier ornamental use in Greek art.

"The stele of Aristion". Funerary stele of an Athenian hoplite (Aristion) having a sixteen-pointed Vergina sun symbol on his right shoulder, ca. 520 BC. Relief at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
A drawing of the "stele of Aristion", from the collections of Harvard University, 1894.
Modern reconstruction of the original polychrome of the "stele of Aristion". On a loan by the Glyptothek in Munich for the Bunte Götter exhibition. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
Achilles and Ajax playing a board game. Eight-pointed sun symbols are depicted on their cloaks. Amphora by Exekias, 6th century BC, Vatican Museum.
Heracles fighting the Amazons. Attic black-figure lekythos, early 5th century BC, from Gela. Heracles bearing a Vergina sun symbol on his shield. Regional Archaeological Museum "Antonio Salinas", Palermo.
A Vergina sun on Athena's shield. Pithos with the Judgment of Paris, from Athens.
Ancient Greek coin of Pyrrhus of Epirus, Kingdom of Epirus (inscription in Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΥΡΡΟΥ). An eight-pointed sun symbol before Athena's face.
Ancient Greek coin from Campania, Italy. A Vergina sun symbol is depicted above the bull.
Plate depicting Cybele pulled by lions, a votive sacrifice and the Sun God. Ai Khanoum, 2nd century BC.