Antaeus: The Secret Source of His Strength

Antaeus, in Greek mythology, was a giant, the son of the sea god Poseidon and Gaia, the earth goddess. He lived in Libya or Morocco, and made all travelers fight with him. After he had defeated and killed them, he decorated his father's temple with their corpses.

Antaeus was invulnerable as long as he kept in touch with his mother (that is, the ground), but Heracles, when he was passing through Libya in his search for the golden apples, discovered the source of his strength, fought with him, and choked him to death by lifting him to his shoulders. When Heracles had murdered Antaeus, he slept with Tinge, Antaeus's wife and the eponym of the city of Tangiers. She gave birth to a son, Sophax, who founded the city of Tingis (modern Tangiers) in honor of his mother. Sophax ruled in Mauritania. This Sophax had a son, Diodorus, who extended his father's empire and founded the dynasty of the Mauritanian kings.