TANTALUS

Tantalus is famous for spending eternity reaching for tempting fruit that always moved away from his grasp at the last moment. This was his punishment for a series of crimes that offended the gods.

Tantalus was the son of Zeus and the Oceanid

Pluto (not to be confused with the Roman god of the dead, who was also known as Pluto).Tantalus was a king, but different versions of the story disagree about where he ruled. Some say he lived at Sipylus and ruled the kingdom of Lydia (in modern Turkey); others say he was king of Phrygia or Paphlagonia (also in modern Turkey). Ancient Greek geographer Pausanias (143—176 CE) reported that Tantalus’s tomb was on Mount Sipylus, and modern archaeologists have identified various sites that might correspond to it. However, the myth of Tantalus does not reveal enough to connect the mythical Tantalus to a historical person.

According to the myth, Tantalus married twice and had several children. His daughter Niobe insulted the gods by claiming that her own children were more beautiful and worthy of praise than them. To punish her, the gods Leto, Apollo, and Artemis killed the children, and Niobe was turned into a stone that stood on Mount Sipylus.

Tragedy continued down Tantalus’s family line. His grandsons included Atreus and Thyestes, who feuded bitterly over the throne of Mycenae. This feud continued into the next generation when Aegisthus, son of Thyestes, murdered Agamemnon, son of Atreus. (Agamemnon was the commander of the Greek army that besieged the city ofTroy.)

Tantalus also upset the gods in various ways. As a son of Zeus, he was welcomed by the gods, who invited him to

Right: The myth of Tantalus was a common source for ancient artists.

King Tantalus is depicted reaching for fruit in this fourth-century-BCE vase painting.

Eat with them on Mount Olympus. At dinner, his table manners were terrible and offended the gods, and he could not resist stealing some of their food—nectar and ambrosia—and taking it to share with his human friends. He also gave away secrets that the gods had discussed over the meal.

Another of Tantalus’s crimes was described by some writers as being more serious. He held a feast for the gods—some claim to apologize for his earlier behavior— but he also decided to test whether the gods were as allknowing as people reputed them to be. He killed his own son, Pelops, then cooked him in a stew and served it up at

TANTALUS

The feast to see if the gods would notice. The gods did indeed know what had happened, and most of them refused to eat the stew. However, Demeter, goddess of crops, was in mourning for her daughter Persephone, who had been stolen away to the underworld. She absent-mindedly ate Pelops’s shoulder. The gods managed to bring the boy back to life, giving him an ivory shoulder to replace the one that had been eaten; but they never forgave Tantalus for his deceptive evil act.