Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 133 21 Nov 2022
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Greek Coins. Tegeia.
Arcadian league. Hemidrachm circa 460-450, AR 3.03 g. Zeus Lykaios seated l. on low throne with swan's head at the top of the backrest, holding sceptre and eagle with open wings on his r. hand. Rev. APKA – [ΔI] – KON Head of Kallisto facing r., hair bound with taenia and tied in a bun at the back, wearing necklace. Williams, Arcadians 76b (this coin). de Nanteuil 957 (this coin). Weber 4288 (this coin). BCD Peloponnesos I, 1709.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, undoubtedly among the finest
specimens known. A portrait of great beauty, the work of a very talented
master-engraver. Lovely old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex Ciani 12 December 1921, 67; Hess-Leu 36, 1968, 227; Leu 36, 1985, 136 and Morton & Eden 51, 2011, ExceptionalGreek Coins, 116 sales. From the de Nanteuil and Weber collections.
Although it is perhaps most well known in its Theban-sponsored iteration in the fourth century BC, the Arcadian League originated as a regional alliance of Arkadian cities centered on Tegea in the sixth and fifth century BC formed in an attempt to resist total domination by the neighbouring superpower of Sparta and to exert pressure against Mantineia, the primary rival of Tegea in Arkadia. The present hemidrachm depicts the divine ancestors of the Arkadian peoples as a whole. Zeus Lykaios, who appears on the obverse, had an important secret festival held every nine years at the top of Mount Lykaion, the tallest mountain in Arkadia. It focused on the coming of age of Arkadian youths and gained a reputation among other Greeks for involving human sacrifice and producing werewolves. Lykos is the Greek word for wolf. According to Pausanias, in the second century AD, Damarchus of Parrhasia was turned into a wolf at the sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios and did not resume his human form until the next festival nine years later. The cannibalistic reputation of the festival was derived from the connection of Mount Lykaion to Lykaon, the mythological king of Arkadia who became infamous for serving the flesh of his son to Zeus in order to test the god's omniscience. Lykaon was destroyed by the blast of a thunderbolt, but his grandson, Arkas, lived on to become the eponymous ancestor of the Arkadians. This Arkas was the son of Zeus and Lykaon's daughter Kallisto, who is depicted on the reverse. Unfortunately, before her involvement with Zeus, Kallisto had been a devotee of Artemis and had taken a vow of chastity. Angered at the breaking of her vow, Artemis turned Kallisto into a bear. Arkas, not recognizing the bear as his mother was on the verge of killing her when taking pity, Zeus installed her in the heavens as the constellation of the bear (Ursa Major). She was joined in the night sky by Arkas, who became the constellation of Ursa Minor.
Arcadian league. Hemidrachm circa 460-450, AR 3.03 g. Zeus Lykaios seated l. on low throne with swan's head at the top of the backrest, holding sceptre and eagle with open wings on his r. hand. Rev. APKA – [ΔI] – KON Head of Kallisto facing r., hair bound with taenia and tied in a bun at the back, wearing necklace. Williams, Arcadians 76b (this coin). de Nanteuil 957 (this coin). Weber 4288 (this coin). BCD Peloponnesos I, 1709.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, undoubtedly among the finest
specimens known. A portrait of great beauty, the work of a very talented
master-engraver. Lovely old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex Ciani 12 December 1921, 67; Hess-Leu 36, 1968, 227; Leu 36, 1985, 136 and Morton & Eden 51, 2011, ExceptionalGreek Coins, 116 sales. From the de Nanteuil and Weber collections.
Although it is perhaps most well known in its Theban-sponsored iteration in the fourth century BC, the Arcadian League originated as a regional alliance of Arkadian cities centered on Tegea in the sixth and fifth century BC formed in an attempt to resist total domination by the neighbouring superpower of Sparta and to exert pressure against Mantineia, the primary rival of Tegea in Arkadia. The present hemidrachm depicts the divine ancestors of the Arkadian peoples as a whole. Zeus Lykaios, who appears on the obverse, had an important secret festival held every nine years at the top of Mount Lykaion, the tallest mountain in Arkadia. It focused on the coming of age of Arkadian youths and gained a reputation among other Greeks for involving human sacrifice and producing werewolves. Lykos is the Greek word for wolf. According to Pausanias, in the second century AD, Damarchus of Parrhasia was turned into a wolf at the sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios and did not resume his human form until the next festival nine years later. The cannibalistic reputation of the festival was derived from the connection of Mount Lykaion to Lykaon, the mythological king of Arkadia who became infamous for serving the flesh of his son to Zeus in order to test the god's omniscience. Lykaon was destroyed by the blast of a thunderbolt, but his grandson, Arkas, lived on to become the eponymous ancestor of the Arkadians. This Arkas was the son of Zeus and Lykaon's daughter Kallisto, who is depicted on the reverse. Unfortunately, before her involvement with Zeus, Kallisto had been a devotee of Artemis and had taken a vow of chastity. Angered at the breaking of her vow, Artemis turned Kallisto into a bear. Arkas, not recognizing the bear as his mother was on the verge of killing her when taking pity, Zeus installed her in the heavens as the constellation of the bear (Ursa Major). She was joined in the night sky by Arkas, who became the constellation of Ursa Minor.