Tantalus is tormented by the fruit hanging just beyond his grasp |
Tantalus
Source of the word ‘tantalise’: Tantalus was punished by the gods with perpetual temptation
Tantalus’ story tells of the catastrophic fall from divine favour.
A son of Zeus and the king of Sipylus, the mortal Tantalus was intimate with the gods. He was even allowed to feast upon ambrosia. So when he offended the gods his punishment reflected the extent of his fall from grace.
The crime
There are three different accounts of how he angered the gods:
1. Tantalus stole ambrosia from the gods and gave it to other mortals.
2. Tantalus shared the gods’ secrets with other mortals.
3. The most famous story: Tantalus prepared a banquet for the gods in which he served his son Pelops’ dismembered body. Accounts vary as to whether he was trying to please the gods by offering them something so precious, or whether he was trying to trick them and test their powers of observation. The gods were, nevertheless, infuriated. They restored Pelops to life (replacing a shoulder that Demeter had eaten with ivory) and committed Tantalus to the underworld for eternal punishment.
The punishment
Tantalus was imprisoned in Tartarus (the deepest realm of the underworld) and tortured with perpetual hunger and thirst.
He was immersed up to his neck in water, but it seeped away whenever he tried to drink. Ripe fruits grew on the tree above him, but the wind blew the branches away whenever he reached for them. Hence the word ‘tantalise’.