ANAX & ASTERIOS

ANAX and ASTERIOS (Asterius) were father and son giants of the island of Lade near Miletos in Lydia, Anatolia. They stood about 15 feet tall.

The pair were probably connected with the other giants of Lydian myth--Damasen, Atlas, and Hyllos.

PARENTS OF ANAX

GAIA (Pausanias 1.35.6)

PARENTS OF ASTERIOS

ANAX (above) (Pausanias 1.35.6)

ENCYCLOPEDIA

ANAX (Anax). A giant, son of Uranus and Gaea, and father of Asterius. The legends of Miletus, which for two generations bore the name of Anactoria, described Anax as king of Anactoria ; but in the reign of his son the town and territory were conquered by the Cretan Miletus, who changed the name Anactoria into Miletus. (Paus. i. 35. § 5, vii. 2. § 3.)

ASTE′RIUS (Asterios), a son of Anax and grandson of Ge. According to a Milesian legend, he was buried in the small island of Lade, and his body measured ten cubits in length. (Paus. i. 35. § 5, vii. 2. § 3.)

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 35. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Before the city of the Milesians [Miletus in Lydian Ionia] is an island called Lade, and from it certain islets are detached. One of these they call the islet of Asterios (Asterius), and say that Asterios was buried in it, and that Asterios was the son of Anax, and Anax the son of Ge (Gaea, the Earth). Now the corpse is not less than ten cubits. [Pausanias then describes the Lydian giants Geryon and Hyllos.]"
[N.B. A cubit is about 45cm or 1 1/2 feet, so the giant was about 4 1/4 meters or 15 feet tall.]

SOURCES

GREEK

• Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.