The Gigantomachy

239, Lot: 320. Estimate $100. Sold for $230. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CILICIA, Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. Æ (28mm, 11.64 g, 12h). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Athena standing left, holding shield and spear, about to attack serpent-legged Giant to right. SNG France -; SNG Levante 736 var. (view of bust); SNG Levante Suppl. -; SNG Copenhagen -. Near VF, dark green and brown patina, two scratches before bust.

After Zeus had defeated the Titans in the Titantomachy and apportioned their former relatives to his fellow Olympians, he was compelled to resolve a conflict with the Giants, offspring of Gaia and Cronus. Known as the Gigantomachy, these chthonic half-man, half-serpent creatures attempted to wrestle power from the Olympians by casting them out of Olympus. To accomplish this, the Giants attempted to reach Olympus by heaping up one mountain range on top of the other. From above, Zeus and the other Olympians defended themselves by hurling their weapons. In the end, however, it was the assistance of Hercules, that won the day.