Irlandos at 11:51, January 18, 2007

2007-01-18T11:51:45Z

New page

In [[Greek mythology]] '''Tantalus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] Τάνταλος) was a son of [[Zeus]]<ref>[[Euripides]], ''Orestes''.</ref> and the nymph [[Plouto]] ("riches")<ref>Plouto is not to be confused with the god of the underworld. Lydia was rich in gold.</ref> Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son [[Broteas]] whose very name signifies "mortals" (''brotoi'')<ref>Noted by Kerenyi 1959:57.</ref> Other versions name his father as [[Tmolus]] "wreathed with oak,"<ref>A scholium on Euripides.</ref> son of [[Sipylus]], a king of Lydia. Both Tmolus and [[Mount Sipylus]] are names of mountains in ancient Lydia. Thus, like other Greek heroes such as [[Theseus]], or the [[Dioskouroi]], Tantalus had both a hidden, divine sire and a mortal one. Tantalus' mortal mountain-fathers placed him in Lydia; otherwise he might be located in Phrygia (Strabo, xii.8.21) or Paphlagonia, all in [[Asia Minor]]. Tantalus became one of the inhabitants of [[Tartarus]], the deepest portion of the Underworld, reserved for the punishment of evildoers.

His children were [[Pelops]]—eponym of the [[Peloponnesus]]—the unfortunate [[Niobe]], and [[Broteas]]. The identity of his wife is variously given: [[Dione (mythology)|Dione]], whose name simply means "The Goddess," perhaps the [[Pleiades|Pleiad]] with that name; or Eurythemista, a daughter of the river-god [[Scamander|Xanthus]]; or Euryanassa, daughter of [[Pactolus]], another river-god, both of them in [[Anatolia]]; or Clytia, the child of Amphidamantes (Graves 1960, section 108). Tantalus, through [[Pelops]] was the founder of the [[House of Atreus]].

The geographer Strabo, quoting earlier sources, states that the wealth of Tantalus was derived from the mines of Phrygia and Mount Sipylus. Near Mount Sipylys, archaeological features associated with Tantalus and his house since Antiquity are, in fact, [[Hittites|Hittite]]. On Mount Yamanlar some two km east of Akpınar are two monuments mentioned by Pausanias: the [[tholos]] tomb of Tantalus (Christianized as "Saint Charalambos' tomb") <ref>Various sites called the "tomb of Tantalus" have been shown to travellers since the time of Pausanias; the most accessible today is in İzmir ([[Smyrna]]), a monumental work that is actually the tomb of a sixth-century ruler.</ref> and the "throne of Pelops," in fact a rocky altar. A more famous rock-cut carving mentioned by Pausanias is the [[Great Mother of the Gods]] ([[Cybele]] to the Greeks), said to have been carved by [[Broteas]], but in fact Hittite.

==Story of Tantalus==

Tantalus is known for having been welcomed to Zeus' table in [[Olympus]], like [[Ixion]]. There he too misbehaved, stole [[ambrosia]], brought it back to his people,<ref>[[Pindar]], TFirst Olympian Ode.</ref> and revealed the secrets of the gods<ref>Euripides, ''Orestes'', 10.</ref>.

He also offered up his son, [[Pelops]], as a sacrifice to the gods. He cut [[Pelops]] up, boiled him, and served him up as food for the gods.

The gods were said to be aware of his plan for their feast, so they didn't touch the offering; only [[Demeter]], disturbed by the rape of her daughter [[Persephone]], "did not realize what it was" and ate of the boy's shoulder. Fate, ordered by Zeus, brought the boy to life again (she collected the parts of the body and boiled them in a sacred cauldron), rebuilding his shoulder with one wrought of ivory made by [[Hephaestos]] and presented by Demeter.

The revived [[Pelops]] was kidnapped by [[Poseidon]] and taken to Olympus to be the god's eromenos. Later, Zeus threw [[Pelops]] out of Olympus due to his anger at Tantalus.

The Greeks of classical times claimed to be horrified by Tantalus' doings, cannibalism, human sacrifice and parricide were atrocities and taboo. Tantalus was the founder of the cursed [[House of Atreus]] in which variations on these atrocities continued. Misfortunes also occurred as a result of these acts, making the house the subject of many Greek Tragedies.

Tantalus' grave-sanctuary stood on Sipylos <ref>Pausanias 2.22.3.</ref>. But hero's honours were paid him at [[Argos]], where local tradition claimed to possess his bones. <ref>Pausanias 2.22.2.</ref> On [[Lesbos]] there was another hero-shrine in the little settlement of Polion and a mountain named for Tantalos<ref>[[Stephen of Byzantium]], noted by Kerenyi 1959:57, note 218.</ref>

Tantalus' punishment, now proverbial for temptation without satisfaction, was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. Over his head towers a threatening stone, like that of [[Sisyphus]].<ref>This detail was added to the myth by the painter [[Polygnotus]], according to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (10.31.12), noted in Kerenyi 1959:61. </ref> It is from this story that the word ''tantalizing'' comes.<ref> [http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tantalize]</ref>

In an unrelated story, Tantalus was blamed for having stolen the dog of [[Hephaestus]], god of metals (alternatively, he convinced his friend, [[Pandareus]] to do so).

==Interpretations of the Tantalus figure==

The tale of Tantalus reaffirms that human sacrifice and parricide are taboo in Ancient and Classical Greek culture.

Human sacrifice may have been offered in earlier times, especially to Demeter.

Alternatively, Tantalus can be seen as a [[Prometheus|Promethean]] figure who divulges divine secrets to mortals. He presides over sacred initiations consisting of mystic death and transfiguration. His dismemberment of [[Pelops]] and Pelops' resurrection can be seen as an archetypal shamanic initiation.

==Other characters with the same name==

There are two other characters named Tantalus in Greek mythology, both minor figures and both descendants of the above Tantalus. Broteas is said to have had a son named Tantalus, who ruled over the city of [[Pisa (Greece)|Pisa]] in the [[Peloponnesus]]. This Tantalus was the first husband of [[Clytemnestra]]. He was slain by [[Agamemnon]], King of [[Mycenae]], who made Clytemnestra his wife. The third Tantalus was a son of [[Thyestes]], who was murdered by his uncle [[Atreus]], and fed to his unsuspecting father, [[Thyestes]].

==Notes==

<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>

==Sources and references==
*[[Homer]], [[Odyssey]] XI, 582-92
*[[Apollodorus]], [[Bibliotheke]] III, v, 6
*Apollodorus, [[Epitome]] II,1-3
*Ovid, Metamorphoses IV, 458-9; VI, 172- 76 & 403-11.
*Robert Graves, ''The Greek Myths'' 1960, 1992. section 108, etc.
*Karl Kerenyi, 1959. ''The Heroes of the Greeks'' pp 57-61 ''et passim''
*[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/T/TA/TANTALUS.htm ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' 1911:] "Tantalus"

==External links==
* [http://www.haidukpress.com/tantalus/index.html The story of Tantalus, fully developed] compiled from selected primary sources to highlight the shamanic and promethean aspects of the story. By Pindar's time this view would have been rejected.

== Spoken-word myths - audio files ==

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|-
! style="background:#ffdead;" | The Tantalus myth as told by story tellers
|-
|[[Media:Zeus and Tantalus, with Poseidon and Pelops - wiki.ogg|1. ''Zeus and Tantalus,'' (including Pelops and Poseidon), read by Timothy Carter]]
|-
|'''Bibliography of reconstruction:''' [[Homer]], ''Odyssey,'' 11.567 (7th c. BCE); [[Pindar]], ''Olympian Odes,'' 1 (476 BCE); [[Euripides]], ''[[Orestes]],'' 12-16 (408 BCE); [[Apollodorus]], ''Epitomes'' 2: 1-9 (140 BCE); [[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses,'' VI: 213, 458 (8 CE); [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fables,'' 82: Tantalus; 83: Pelops (1st c. CE); [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece,'' 2.22.3 (160 - 176 CE)
|-
|}

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Greek mythology]]

Tantalus - Revision history

Irlandos at 11:51, January 18, 2007