Antaeus(/ænˈtiːəs/;Ancient Greek:Ἀνταῖος,romanized:Antaîos,lit. 'opponent', derived fromἀντάω,antáō,'I face, I oppose'), known to theBerbersasAnti,was a figure inBerberandGreek mythology.[1]He was famed for his defeat byHeraclesas part of theLabours of Hercules.
| Antaeus | |
|---|---|
Giant King ofLibya | |
| Member of the Libyan Royal Family | |
 Hercules Fighting Antaeus(1634), byFrancisco de Zurbarán | |
| Other names | Anti |
| Abode | Libya |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | PoseidonandGaea |
| Consort | Tinjis |
| Children | AlceisorBarce,Iphinoe |
Family
editIn Greek sources, he was the son ofPoseidonandGaia,[2][3][4]who lived in the interior desert of Libya.[5]His wife was the goddessTinge,for whom it was claimed that the city ofTangierinMoroccowas named (though it could be the other way around),[6]and he had a daughter namedAlceisorBarce.[7]Another daughter,Iphinoe,consorted with Heracles.[8]
Mythology
edit
Antaeus would challenge all passers-by towrestling matches[9]and remained invincible as long as he remained in contact with his mother, the earth.[10][11][12][13]As Greek wrestling, like itsmodern equivalent,typically attempted to force opponents to the ground, he always won, killing his opponents.[10][14][15]He built atempleto his father using theirskulls.[10][16]Antaeus fought Heracles as he was on his way to theGarden of Hesperidesas his11th Labour.[17]Heracles realized that he could not beat Antaeus by throwing or pinning him. Instead, he held him aloft and then crushed him to death in abear hug.[18][19][20]
The contest between Heracles and Antaeus was a favored subject inancient[10]andRenaissance sculpture.[21]
Location in Africa
editAntaeus is placed in the interior desert ofLibya.[22]He was probably incorporated into Greek mythology after the Greek colonization of Cyrenaica in the mid-seventh century BC.[1]
A location for Antaeus somewhere far within theBerber worldmight be quite flexible in longitude: when the Roman commanderQuintus Sertoriuscrossed from Hispania to North Africa, he was told by the residents ofTingis(Tangier), far to the west of Libya, that the gigantic remains of Antaeus would be found within a certaintumulus;digging it open, his men found giant bones; closing the site, Sertorius made propitiatory offerings and "helped to magnify the tomb's reputation".[23]It is proposed that this monument is theMsourastone circle, 50 km from Tangier.[24]In Book IV ofMarcus Annaeus Lucanus'epic poemPharsalia(c. AD 65-61), the story ofHeracles' victory over Antaeus is told to theRomanCurioby an unnamed Libyan citizen. The learned client kingJuba II(died 23 BC), husband of the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, claimed his descent from a liaison of Heracles with Tinga, the consort of Antaeus.[25][26]In hisLife of Sertoriuscited above,Plutarchrecounts what he says to be a local myth, according to which Heracles consorted with Tinge after the death of Antaeus and had by her a sonSophax,who named the city Tingis after his mother. Sophax in his turn was father of Diodorus who conquered many Libyan peoples with his army ofOlbiansandMycenaeansbrought to Libya by Heracles.[27]Moreover, some related that Heracles had a sonPalaemonby Iphinoe, the daughter of Antaeus and (presumably) Tinge.[8]
ScholiastsonPindar'sPythian Ode9 also recorded a story which made Antaeus king of the city Irassa in Libya, and father of a daughter named either Alceis or Barce. Antaeus promised her hand to the winner of a race, just asDanaushad done to find husbands forhis daughters.Alexidamusbeat all the other suitors in the race and married the daughter of Antaeus. Three versions of this story, with minor variations, were collected by the scholiasts; one of those versions made Antaeus, king of Irassa, a figure distinct from the Antaeus killed by Heracles, while another one suggested that they were one and the same.[28]
The ancient city ofBarca,probably located atMarj, Libya,was also called Antapolis after Antaeus.[29]Antaeopolisis also the Graeco-Roman name ofTjebu,an Egyptian city. They identified the tutelary god of Tjebu,Nemty,a fusion ofSethandHorus,with Antaeus, although he may be different from the Libyan Antaeus.
Notes
edit- ^abFreely, John (30 March 2014).A Travel Guide to Homer: On the Trail of Odysseus Through Turkey and the Mediterranean, by John Freely, page 151.Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN9781780761978.Retrieved11 December2019.
- ^Apollodorus,2.5.11
- ^Hyginus,Fabulae31&157
- ^Statius,Thebaid6.893 ff.
- ^Lucan,Pharsalia4.588-655
- ^Ahmed Toufiq (2019).في تاريخ المغرب[On the History of Morocco] (in Arabic).
- ^ScholiastsonPindar,Pythian Ode9
- ^abTzetzesonLycophron,663
- ^Plato,Laws7.796a
- ^abcdEB(1878).
- ^Pausanias,9.11.6
- ^Quintus Smyrnaeus,6.285 ff.
- ^Tzetzes,Chiliades2.363 ff.
- ^Diodorus Siculus,4.17.4
- ^Philostratus of Lemnos,Eikones2.21.3 & 2.22.1
- ^Pindar,Isthmian Odes1.4.52 ff.
- ^Flavius Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews
- ^Hyginus,Fabulae31
- ^Apollodorus, 2.5
- ^Diodorus Siculus, 4.18.1 & 4.27.3
- ^Kleiner, Fred S. (1 February 2008).Gardner's Art Through the Ages: V. 2: A Global History.Cengage Learning EMEA. p. 550.ISBN978-0495410607.
- ^I. Malkin,Myth and Territory in the Spartan Mediterranean,1994:181-87, giving sources, noted in Robin Lane Fox,Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer,2008:182 and note 51.
- ^Fox 2008:182, notingPlutarch,Sertorius9.3–4.Fox 2008:182
- ^Tertre de M'zoraArchived2004-06-24 at theWayback Machine(in French)
- ^Strabo,17.3.8 noted in D.W. Roller,The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene,2003:54 and 154, and by Fox 2008:182.
- ^Pliny the Elder,Naturalis Historia5.2–3
- ^Plutarch,Life of Sertorius9.4
- ^Scholiaon Pindar,Pythian Odes9, 185, referring toPherecydes,Pisander of Camirusand other unspecified writers
- ^Matthew S. Gordon; Chase F. Robinson; Everett K. Rowson; Michael Fishbein, eds. (2017).The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (Volume 1): An English Translation.Brill. p. 182.ISBN9789004364141.
References
edit- Apollodorus,The Librarywith an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.
- Diodorus Siculus,The Library of Historytranslated byCharles Henry Oldfather.Twelve volumes.Loeb Classical Library.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8.Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Diodorus Siculus,Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2.Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus,Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginustranslated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- John Tzetzes,Book of Histories,Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.Online version at theoi.com
- Pausanias,Description of Greecewith an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.ISBN0-674-99328-4.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias,Graeciae Descriptio.3 vols.Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Philostratus the Elder.Imagines,translated by Arthur Fairbanks (1864-1944). Loeb Classical Library Volume 256. London: William Heinemann, 1931.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Philostratus the Lemnian (Philostratus Major),Flavii Philostrati Opera. Vol 2.Carl Ludwig Kayser. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1871.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pliny the Elder,The Natural History.John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pliny the Elder,Naturalis Historia.Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906.Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Papinius Statius,The Thebaidtranslated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Publius Papinius Statius,The Thebaid. Vol I-II.John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928.Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Quintus Smyrnaeus,The Fall of Troytranslated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913.Online version at theoi.com
- Quintus Smyrnaeus,The Fall of Troy.Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Strabo,The Geography of Strabo.Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Strabo,Geographicaedited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Further reading
edit- .Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 2 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 88.
- ..1914.
"Antaeus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.Vol. 1. 1870.- Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 2 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 100.
