Tantalus (mythology)

For other uses, see Tantalus (disambiguation).

Tantalus (Ancient Greek: Τάνταλος Tántalos) is the name of several figures in Greek mythology, including:

  • Tantalus, king of Lydia, a son of Zeus, was favored by the gods but made the fatal mistake of sacrificing his son Pelops to the Olympians, who hated human sacrifice and cannibalism. Zeus sentenced Tantalus to eternal torment in Tartarus, and the gods brought Pelops back to life.[1]
  • Tantalus, son of Thyestes who was slain along with his brother Pleisthenes by their uncle Atreus.[2]
  • Tantalus, one of the Niobids, children of King Amphion of Thebes and Niobe, daughter of Tantalus.[3]
  1. ^ Pindar, Olympian Ode 1.24–38, 9.9; Strabo, 1.3.17; Pausanias, 5.1.6 & 9.5.7
  2. ^ Tzetzes, Chiliades 1.18 line 464-465
  3. ^ Apollodorus, 3.5.6