Another Mythical Image of Mazeppism

In the Greek lore concerning Herakles, we are told that the hero encounters the fearsome figure of Antaeus in Libya. The Mazeppist has fond feelings for Herakles due to his appropriation by the ancient Cynics as a symbol of the struggle to maintain one's integrity in a world of pretense and self-deceit. But Antaeus also occupies a place of honor in the Mazeppist imaginary for, as Herakles discovered the hard way, the source of Antaeus's super-human strength was the earth. Therefore, the only way to defeat the Libyan hero was to lift him off the ground. So also with the heroes of Mazeppist humanism.

(Image at left is Blake's Antaeus from Dante's Commedia)