The
myth of Tantalus is one of the most ancient legends of Greece. It
was
probably an old story in the early seventh century BC when Homer
described
Odysseus' visit to the Underworld in THE ODYSSEY and it was used
freely
by poets throughout the Archaic Age. Tantalus may have been a real
king,
a wealthy ruler of either Lydia or Phrygia in Asia Minor; he was the
father
of Pelops, who gave his name to a major region of Greece, the
Peloponnese.
But Tantalus was no ordinary human being he: was Zeus'
favorite,
perhaps even his son.
Unlike
all other mortals, Tantalus was fortunate enough to be included
in
Zeus' exclusive for-deities-only banquets on Mount Olympus. At one
Olympian
feast he listened to the chatty, boisterous gods discussing their
affairs,
then went back to earth and told their secrets to mankind. In a
similar
versions of his crime, Tantalus attended such a celebration, stole
the
ambrosia and nectar that gave the gods their endless lives, then tried to
share
the heavenly food and drink with other mortals in order to give
mankind immortality.
In a final version on
the banquet theme the kind invited the Olympian
goddesses and gods to
dine at his home. To test their wisdom, he killed his
son Pelops and added
pieces of his flesh to a stew, then waited to see who
noticed. All of one
deity realized what Tantalus had done. Only Demeter, who
was mourning the loss
of her daughter, absentmindedly ate, nibbling a bit of
Pelops' shoulder.
Horrified when she realized what she had done, Demeter
replaced the shoulder
with an ivory one after Pelops was restored to life.
Tantalus was also
accused of larceny and dishonesty. Pandareus once
stole Zeus' beloved
golden dog and gave it to Tantalus, asking him to guard
it. When Zeus
discovered the theft, Tantalus refused to give the mastiff back,
claiming he knew
nothing about the animal. Hermes, messenger of the gods,
was sent to examine
the problem, the dog was found and Zeus crushed
Tantalus under a
mountain, ruining his kingdom forever.
Tantalus, Phrygum aut Lydiorum rex, magnis divitiis inter homines
clarus, diis
deabusque carus erat. Saepe ideo Iuppiter Tantalum senem in Olympum
vocabat
atque ad Superorum epulas admittebat. At ille Iovis deumque
consilia in caelo
audivit atque in terra hominibus declaravit; praeterea nectaris
atque ambrosiae
divinae furtum fecit. Ob
tanta facinora Iuppiter Tantalum ex Olympo pellit, in
inferos demittit, saeva poena punit: in stagno continenter stabit,
sed siti ardebit;
nam, si os ad aquam admovebit, aqua statim recedet; rami cum multis
et
iucundis pomis ante Tantali oculos
pendebunt, sed, si ille brachium sublevabit,
venti arboris ramos ad alias coeli nubes
extollent. Ideo sitis et famis supplicium
Tantalum in palude Stygia excrticial
semperque excruciabit. Praeterea
immensum saxum, perpetuae minae, in regis
capite impendet.