Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 469 3 Jun 2020
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TROAS, Ilium. Faustina Junior. Augusta, AD 147-175. Æ (26mm, 9.23 g, 12h). Draped bust right; c/m: helmeted bust of Athena right within circular incuse / Zeus, in the form of an eagle, facing, head right, spreading his wings, abducting nude Ganymede with Phrygian cap and lagobolon, facing, head left. RPC IV.2 Online 11274; Bellinger –; for c/m: Howgego 186. Brown surfaces, some obverse roughness. Fine. Extremely rare, only one specimen cited by the authors of RPC (Gorny & Mosch 181, lot 1767).
Ganymede was the son of Tros, the founder of Troy. A youth of great beauty, he was abducted by Zeus while the young man was tending his flocks on Mt. Ida. Carried to Olympus either by an eagle, or Zeus himself in aquiline form, Ganymede served as the god's cupbearer in place of Hebe, as well as his eromenos. To compensate Tros for the loss of his son, Zeus provided him with a pair of horses so swift that they could cross over water, and were the ancestors of the horses for which the Trojans were renowned.
Ganymede was the son of Tros, the founder of Troy. A youth of great beauty, he was abducted by Zeus while the young man was tending his flocks on Mt. Ida. Carried to Olympus either by an eagle, or Zeus himself in aquiline form, Ganymede served as the god's cupbearer in place of Hebe, as well as his eromenos. To compensate Tros for the loss of his son, Zeus provided him with a pair of horses so swift that they could cross over water, and were the ancestors of the horses for which the Trojans were renowned.