Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 499 1 Sep 2021
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CILICIA, Tarsus. Caracalla. Caesar, AD 196-198. Æ (35mm, 19.99 g, 12h). Laureate head left / Hercules standing left, wrestling the giant Antaeus, whom he is lifting off the ground; to left, club draped with lion skin. SNG BN 1521 var. (position of Antaeus; same obv. die); SNG Levante 1057 var. (bust type). Green and brown patina, corrosion on obverse. Good Fine. Very rare.
Ex Leu Web Auction 146 (12 December 2020), lot 1044.
A giant of Libya and the son of Poseidon and Gaia (the earth goddess), Antaeus would challenge travelers to wrestling matches, easily killing his opponents and collecting their bones to construct a temple to his father. It was en route to the Garden of Hesperides to complete his eleventh labor that Hercules met Antaeus. A wrestling match ensued, but Hercules was unable to finish his opponent as Antaeus regained his strength each time the hero threw him to the ground. Realizing Antaeus' strength waned as the he left the earth (i.e., the protective realm of his mother), Hercules lifted the giant aloft while crushing him to death.
Ex Leu Web Auction 146 (12 December 2020), lot 1044.
A giant of Libya and the son of Poseidon and Gaia (the earth goddess), Antaeus would challenge travelers to wrestling matches, easily killing his opponents and collecting their bones to construct a temple to his father. It was en route to the Garden of Hesperides to complete his eleventh labor that Hercules met Antaeus. A wrestling match ensued, but Hercules was unable to finish his opponent as Antaeus regained his strength each time the hero threw him to the ground. Realizing Antaeus' strength waned as the he left the earth (i.e., the protective realm of his mother), Hercules lifted the giant aloft while crushing him to death.