★ The myth of Lycaon ★

LYCAONIA. Laranda. Philip II, as Caesar, 244-247. Diassarion (Bronze, 25 mm, 7.94 g, 6 h). M IOYΛION ΦΙΛIΠΠOC (sic!) KAIC Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Philip II to right, seen from behind. Rev. CЄB ΛAPANΔЄΩN / MHTPO / KOINON Wolf standing left, carrying human hand in his jaws. RPC VIII online ID 2206. Von Aulock, Lykaonien, 133-9. Rare. Porous and with some deposits, otherwise, about very fine.

Ex Leu Web Auction 26, 8-13 July 2023, 2304, Leu Web Auction 24, 3 December 2022, 2254, previously from a Swiss collection and ex Aufhäuser 21, 17-18 March 2009, 438.

The reverse of this coin refers to the myth of Lycaon, an Arcadian Greek who received a prophecy from Apollo that he was to found a city in Asia Minor on the spot where a restless wolf appeared, clutching a human hand. The Lycaonians and the region they inhabited supposedly took their names from him, and the myth was duly commemorated on Laranda's coinage.