Adamastor, noun

/ædəˈmæstə/
Origin:
GreekShow more From Greek adamastos untamed, wild.
A mythological giant spirit inhabiting Table Mountain and symbolizing the confrontation between Europe and Africa.
Note:
The figure of Adamastor was adopted from Graeco-Roman mythology, and was believed by the early Portuguese explorers to brood over the Cape of Storms.
1823 J.E.V. Arago Narr. of Voy. round WorldWhen reflecting on the numerous victims whom this sea has engulphed, I cannot read without the liveliest emotion the episode of the giant Adamastor, in the poem of Camoens.
1877 W.J. Mickle tr. of L. De Camoen’s Lusiad 133After a voyage of five months, with continued storms, they arrive in the latitude of the Cape. Apparition of Adamastor, the giant of the Cape of Storms.
1910 D. Fairbridge That Which Hath Been (1913) 18A wild south-easter succeeded the night of calm...‘It is Adamastor,’ said Bergh, ‘the spirit of Table Mountain greets his Excellency and shrieks a welcome.’
1930 R. Campbell Adamastor (1950) 34The low sun whitens on the flying squalls. Against the cliffs the long grey surge is rolled, where Adamastor from his marble halls threatens the sons of Lusas as of old.
1941 C.W. De Kiewiet Hist. of S. Afr. 2The Portuguese had regarded the Cape with feelings of suspicion and superstition...To them it was the cape of Adamastor, the vengeful spirit of storms who in the Lusiad had appeared at dead of night to Vasco da Gama, predicting the woes that would befall those that sailed on to India.
1958 F.G. Butler in R.M. Macnab Poets in S. Afr. 5Look on Africa, leap through the line..of her coasts, inland from Adamastor’s roar.
1973 S. Gray Writers’ Territory 181Da Gama anthropomorphoses Table Mountain..into the shape of Adamastor, the giant who personifies the spirit of the Cape for any sailor running into a south-easter there on a stormy night.
1988 G. Cornwell in NELM News May 1Camoen’s portrayal of Da Gama’s encounter with Adamastor..a symbol of the confrontation between Europe and Africa in the often violent context of colonialism.
1991 F.G. Butler Local Habitation 147Apart from the superb creation of Adamastor, Africa itself did not touch him into song.
A mythological giant spirit inhabiting Table Mountain and symbolizing the confrontation between Europe and Africa.
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actuary, nounn.Adam fig, noun phrasen. phr.
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