Antæʹos

in Greek mythology, was a gigantic wrestler, whose strength was invincible so long as he touched the earth; and every time he was lifted from it, was renewed by touching it again. (See Maleʹgar.)

“As once Antæos, on the Libyan strand,

More flerce recovered when he reached the sand.”

Hoole’s Ariosto, book iv.

It was Hercules who succeeded in killing this charmed giant. He

“Lifts proud Antæos from his mother’s plains,

And with strong grasp the struggling giant strains;

Back falls his panting head and clammy hair,

Writhe his weak limbs and flits his life in air.”

Darwin: Economy of Vegetation.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.