Hercules’ Penultimate Labor – The Apples of the Hesperides

401, Lot: 568. Estimate $300. Sold for $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantius I. As Caesar, AD 293-305. Antoninianus (16.5mm, 3.09 g, 12h). Ticinum mint. Struck AD 294. FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VIRTVS AVGG, Hercules standing right in the garden of the Hesperides, holding club and apple, lion skin over arm, under apple tree round which is entwined a serpent, Ladon; XXIT. RIC V 670. Good VF, green surfaces, earthen deposits. Rare.

Because he had been assisted in completing some of his earlier tasks, Hercules was compelled to undergo two more labors. The first of these was to steal the Apples of the Hesperides, nymphs who lived in a grove at the far western edge of the world. Hercules tricked the Titan Atlas, whose task it was to hold up the heavens, to retrieve the apples in return for holding up the heavens while he did so. Having accomplished the task, Atlas was reluctant to give up his freedom, and told Hercules that he would take back the apples to Mycenae. Once again, Hercules tricked the Titan, requesting that Atlas hold the heavens while Hercules adjusted his cloak to be more comfortable.