Anatomy of the Human Body. William Cheselden, 1712.

“This table is done after the famous statue of Hercules and Antaeus” - William Cheselden from “The Anatomy of the Human Body”, 1712.

In Greek and Berber mythology, Antaeus was a giant who lived in the interior of the Libyan desert. He was the son of Poseidon and Gaia, and would challenge passers-by to wrestling matches. He would kill them and collect their skulls to build a temple to his father (Poseidon). So long as he was in contact with the ground (his mother earth), no one could defeat his immense strength. If, somehow, someone could get him off the ground, his strength was again that of a mortal, and he could be defeated.