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CILICIA, Tarsus. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ (32mm, 15.12 g, 12h). Laureate head left; below, star / Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra – Hercules standing left, lion skin draped over his left arm and holding bow with his left hand, holding club overhead with his right hand and preparing to strike the Lernaean Hydra before him. SNG BN –; Voegtli Type 2, pl. 2, q = SNG Levante 1051 (same dies); Ziegler, Münzen Kilikiens 694 (same dies). Brown surfaces, light porosity. Near Fine.
Ex Savoca 90th Blue Auction (28 November 2020), lot 1001.
For his Second Labor, Herakles had to kill the Lernaean Hydra, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sibling of the Nemean Lion, the Chimaera, and Kerberos. Inhabiting the swamp near Lake Lerna in the Argolid, the creature possessed numerous mortal and one immortal head on its single body; should one head be removed, two more would grow in its place. When Herakles reached the swamp where the Hydra dwelt, he drew it out of its lair near the spring of Amymone. Thereupon, wielding a harvesting sickle, he attempted to decapitate the creature. When this proved unsuccessful, because of the Hydra’s regenerative ability, Herakles enlisted the assistance of his nephew Iolaos, who devised a plan: once Hercakles had cut off one of the creature’s heads, Iolaos would cauterize the stump with a burning firebrand. The plan succeeded, and the Hydra was destroyed. Herakles placed its one immortal head under a large rock on the sacred way between Lerna and Elaius and dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood.
Closing Date and Time: 1 May 2024 at 12:31:40 ET.
All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.
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