In
Greek mythology, 'Tyche' (Τύχη,meaning "luck" in
Greek,
Roman equivalent:
Fortuna) was the presiding
tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its
destiny. Increasingly during the
Hellenistic period, cities had their own specific iconic version of Tyche, wearing a
mural crown (a crown like the walls of the city). In literature, she might be given various genealogies, as a daughter of
Hermes and
Aphrodite, or considered as one of the
Oceanids, daughters of
Oceanus and
Tethys or
Zeus Pindar. She was connected with
Nemesis and
Agathos Daimon ("good spirit").
Tyche appears on many
coins of the Hellenistic period in the three centuries before the Christian era, especially from cities in the Aegean.
In
medieval art, she was depicted as carrying a
cornucopia, an
emblematic ship's rudder, and the
wheel of fortune, or she may stand on the wheel, presiding over the entire circle of fate.
In the
Greco-Buddhist art of
Gandhara, Tyche became closely associated with the Buddhist ogress
Hariti.
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