HeraclesAntaeus. Heracles and Antaeus. While traveling through Africa before (or after) obtaining the golden apples of the Hesperides, the eleventh of his labors, Heracles (Hercules) encountered the Libyan giant Antaeus, son of Poseidon and Gaia (Earth). The giant challenged all who entered his territory to a wrestling match. He was thought to be invincible because every time he came in contact with the earth, his mother, his strength was renewed. Heracles was able to overcome Antaeus by holding him aloft and crushing him to death. Antaeus' "earthliness" leads in medieval allegorizations toward rendering Heracles as his opposite, a hero endowed with heaven-sent virtue.