The Pillars of Heracles beyond the garden of the Hisperadies - The mythical boundary of the known world

Heracles and Antaeus, son of the Earth Goddess Gaia, wrestle to see if Heracles will secure the Golden Apples.

Antaeus, who obtains his strength from the earth fears he is losing strength has Heracles hoists him in the air.

Heracles holds Antaeus aloft in a deadly tight bear hug

Antaeus is held aloft and away from the earth and his source of strength

While Heracles wears sandals, Antaeus feet remain bare so that he can absorb power from his earth mother, Gaia

A close-up of Antaeus' shoeless foot

A detail of Heracles legs and Antaeus' right foot

Before the day is over, Heracles will triumph, obtain three golden apples and complete his 11th Labor

After throwing Antaeus to earth several times, Heracles finally realizes the gigante obtains his strength from the soil.

Heracles, the eartly son of the might Zeus employs the strength of the gods to hold Antaeus aloft in a death grip

A detail of Heracles torso

The ancient Greeks called a loincloth a perizoma (περίζωμα) or a zoma. The Romans called it a subligaculum or subligar.

A detail of Heracles legs

A lizard eyes a fly for lunch while a bee suckles nectar from a blossom

The Sunbird is the Middle Eastern cousin to the Western Hummingbird

Detail of the Sunbird

Bee's fluttering about blossoms for nectar

Detail of the lower right corner of the painting

This image is supplied to provide scale to the work.