Romania
Date of Issue: 29th April 2025
two stamps (5.- & 25.- RON)
NOTE those stamps are also issued in sheets of 32 stamps
A limited souvenir-sheet with the 2 Europa stamps has also been in issued in a limited (347 ex) philatelic folder
The postage stamps feature images of objects discovered during archaeological excavations at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa (the capital of the Roman province of Dacia) in 1973, and in the eastern necropolis of Vețel Township, Hunedoara County, in 1967. The exhibits depicted are titled Medusa the Gorgon (on the stamp with the face value of Lei 5.00) and The Abduction of Europa by Zeus transformed into a bull (on the stamp with the face value of Lei 25.00).
The Gorgon Medusa, a gilt bronze appliqué, portrays the features of a mythological creature – Gorgon (the woman with the ‘deadly gaze’) – named Medusa (‘the mistress’), who was said to possess supernatural powers thanks to her gaze, which could kill anyone who came near her. Legend has it that she was slain by the Greek hero Perseus, who kept her head as a fearsome weapon (the Gorgon’s eyes, when directed at enemies, would turn them to stone).
The artefact The Abduction of Europa (Europa, from whom the continent takes its name, was the daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor) has been classified as a decorative element that belonged to a Roman funerary structure. Carved in stone, it depicts – within the circle of a wreath woven from leafy branches – the figure of Europa being carried on the back of a bull (Zeus), who, according to mythological accounts, took her to the island of Crete.
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