The Wounding of Teucer

Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 814. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.  Sold For $4300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TROAS, Ilium. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ 32mm (22.60 g, 6h). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Hector standing right, holding a rock with which he prepares to wound Teucer, whom he holds by the hair, kneeling left with bow at feet; to right, Ajax running right with head left, brandishing shield and spear. Bellinger -; SNG Lewis 1333 (same dies). Fine, brown surfaces. Extremely rare, possibly only the second example known and the only one not in a public collection.

The son of the Greek king Telamon of Salamis and his Trojan wife Hesione, Teucer was the half-brother of the Greek hero Ajax the Greater, as well as the nephew of King Priam of Troy and cousin of Hector. Siding with the Greeks and hiding behind the giant shield of his half-brother, Teucer used his skills as an archer to defend the Greeks against the Trojans. Enraged by Teucer's success during one of these fights, Hector picked up a huge rock and flung it at Teucer, injuring him so badly that he was forced to withdraw for some time while he recuperated from the concussion.