Beschreibung:

ROMAN HERCULES AND ANTAEUS STATUETTE 1st century BC-1st century AD A silver figurine of two youthful nude wrestlers on a rectangular plinth base, possibly Hercules (Heracles) and Antaeus; one figure standing gripping his opponent's right arm at wrist and shoulder, the other on one knee with left arm extended to the base; the plinth hollow to the underside with later lead fill. 176 grams, 77mm (3"). Very fine condition, worn. Provenance Property of a gentleman; acquired in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Literature Cf. Rolland, H. Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 185. Footnotes Antaeus was a giant who was the son of Neptune and Gaea. 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 ther skulls of his defeated opponents. Antaeus fought Hercules as he was on his way to the Garden of Hesperides as his Eleventh Labour. Hercules realised that he could not beat Antaeus by throwing or pinning him. Instead, he held him aloft and then crushed him to death in a bear-hug. The scene is famously depicted on a Greek krater dating to the sixth century BC and now in the Louvre, and was a popular subject for Renaissance artists. The episode of Hercules defeating Antaeus is mentioned in the Metamorphoses by Ovid.