Antaeus was the Greek king and giant who fought Heracles and lost. His name is the root of the prefix of “anti,” meaning, “opponent,” or, “I face” or “I oppose.” In fact, people of the day called the guy, “Anti.” But, there’s a deeper meaning.

The huge fellow was king of what today is Libya and Antaeus wasn’t exactly a hospitable fellow, challenging all to a wrestling match. Prior to Heracles, the guy was undefeated. I’m guessing that tourism wasn’t big on The Bedouin Top 10 Reasons to Visit Libya because Antaeus killed every opponent, then used their skulls to build his palace in the North African desert.

“Geez, Antaeus. LOVE what you’ve done with the house! The grinning skulls make it look so homey!” the courtiers must have chirped.

Antaeus was son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Gaia, goddess of the earth, was his mother. Because of mom’s genes, the pre-Christian bully would get stronger and stronger, each time he touched the ground. When they battled, the madman and Greek demigod, Heracles, finally figured this out in their colossal battle by lifting Anteaus off the ground and crushing him to death in a bear hug.

The important lesson Anteaus left us with today?

We get strong — daily — when our feet touch the ground. Not carpet. Not linoleum. Not faux wood flooring. The ground. You know. That stuff with dirt on it most of us avoid?

This just hit me recently. It’s one of the reasons why I so love Santa Clarita. With the preponderance of the same, Taco........

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