Tantălus
（
Τάνταλος).
1.
The son of Zeus and Pluto. His wife is called by some Euryanassa, by others
Taÿgeté or Dioné, and by others Clytia or Eupryto. He was the
father of Pelops, Broteas, and Niobé. All traditions agree in stating that he was
a wealthy king, but while some call him king of Lydia, others describe him as king of Argos
or Corinth. Tantalus is particularly celebrated in ancient story for the terrible punishment
inflicted upon him after his death in the lower world, the causes of which are differently
stated by the ancient writers. According to the common account Zeus invited him to his table,
and communicated his divine counsels to him. Tantalus divulged the secrets thus intrusted to
him; and he was punished in the lower world by being afflicted with a raging thirst, and at
the same time placed in the midst of a lake, the waters of which always receded from him as
soon as he attempted to drink them. Over his head, moreover, hung branches of fruit, which
receded in like manner when he stretched out his hand to reach them. (Ovid.
Met. iv. 457;
Hor. Sat. i. 1,
68; Hygin.
Fab. 82). Another account says that there was suspended over his head
a huge rock, ever threatening to crush him (
Pind.
Olymp. i. 56). Another tradition relates that, wishing to test the
gods, he cut his son Pelops in pieces, boiled them and set them before the gods at a repast.
(See
Pelops.) A third account states that Tantalus
stole nectar and ambrosia from the table of the gods and gave them to his friends (
Olymp. i. 60); and a fourth relates the following story: Rhea caused
the infant Zeus and his nurse to be guarded in Crete by a golden dog, whom Zeus afterwards
appointed guardian of his temple in Crete. Pandareus stole this dog, and, carrying him to
Mount Sipylus in Lydia, gave him to Tantalus to take care of. But when Pandareus demanded the
dog back, Tantalus took an oath that he had never received it. Zeus thereupon changed
Pandareus into a stone, and threw Tantalus down from Mount Sipylus. Others, again, relate
that Hermes demanded the dog of Tantalus, and that the perjury was committed before Hermes.
Zeus buried Tantalus under Mount Sipylus as a punishment; and there his tomb was shown in
later times. The punishment of Tautalus was proverbial in ancient times, and from it the
English language has borrowed the verb “to
tantalize,” that is, to hold out hopes or prospects which cannot be realized. The
patronymic Tantalides is frequently given to the descendants of Tantalus. Hence we find not
only his son Pelops, but also Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Menelaüs, and Orestes
called by this name.
2.
Son of Thyestes, who was killed by Atreus. Others call him a son of Broteas. He was married
to Clytaemnestra before Agamemnon, and is said by some to have been killed by Agamemnon.
3.
Son of Amphion and Niobé.
