302-286 BCE
Æ Trichalkon 19.65mm 6.99g
Obverse: Wreathed head of Demeter left
Reverse: ΘHBAIΏN, Protesilaos stepping right from prow of galley, holding sword and shield
Rogers 550
Thebai, in Thessaly, is also sometimes called Pthiotic Thebes, and was an important Thessalian city on the coast. In the 4th century BCE, it was joined with two neighboring cities but retained its name.
It lost some of its prominence when Demetrios I Poliorketes built his namesake city of Demetrias in 294 BCE. In 302 BCE it was a stronghold of Kassander and was mentioned earlier as one of the only cities in Thessaly that didn’t participate in the Lamian War.
The reverse of the coin depicts Protesilaos, who was famed as the first of the Greeks to set foot on Trojan soil and, by fate, the first also to die in battle.
A shrine to Protesilaos was located in Phylake, which wasn’t far from Thebai, and was where his widow lacerated her cheeks in mourning him. Both Phylake and Thebai were in his territory, which likely explains his presence on the reverse.