Antaeus
giant in Greek and Amazigh (Berber) mythology
Antaeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀνταῖος, romanized: Antaîos, lit. 'opponent', derived from ἀντάω, antáō, 'I face, I oppose'), known to the Berbers as Anti, was a figure in Berber and Greek mythology. He was famed for his defeat by Heracles as part of the Labours of Heracles.
Family
In Greek sources, he was the son of Poseidon and Gaia, who lived in the interior desert of Libya. According to the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, his wife was the goddess Tinjis, for whom it was claimed that the city of Tangier in Morocco was named (though it could be the other way around). Another daughter, Iphinoe, consorted with Heracles.
Mythology
Antaeus would challenge all passers-by to wrestling matches and remained invincible as long as he remained in contact with his mother, the earth. As Greek wrestling, like its modern equivalent, typically attempted to force opponents to the ground, he always won, killing his opponents. He built a temple to his father using their skulls. Antaeus fought Heracles as he was on his way to the Garden of Hesperides as his 11th Labour. Heracles realized that he could not beat Antaeus by throwing or pinning him.
The public source identifies “Antaeus” as giant in Greek and Amazigh (Berber) mythology. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Antaeus, giant and Greek.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q272006. VIAF identifies the subject as 15929217. The Library of Congress control number is no2017065730. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Antaeus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.