Sicily. Syracuse. 310-305 BC. EL 5 Litrae (0.74g, 11h). Bérend 6, 23 (same dies); Adams 15. Lightly toned. Good very fine. From a European private collection; 51 Gallery 2015 (29 April) lot 16

Classical art is full of representations of the octopus, from the sinuous creatures on amphorae in Minoan 'Marine Style' through images on Greek coins, to the combat between crayfish and octopus which was so popular on Roman mosaics. The characteristics of the octopus that impressed the Greeks were both its tenacity and its flexibility: it can change its shape and colour, while apparently defenceless it can kill creatures much more heavily armoured than itself, and it was even said to be able to take birds from the sky (Aelian 7.11).