Tantalus
Greek · demigod · heroic age · demigod
Demigod — son of Zeus by the nymph Plouto, king of Sipylus in Lydia, founder of the accursed Pelopid house. Admitted to the gods' table, he transgressed: stealing nectar and ambrosia for mortals (Pindar) or butchering his son Pelops and serving him to the gods to test their omniscience (the older tradition the gods reject — only Demeter, grieving Persephone, eats the shoulder). Damned to the proverbial 'tantalizing' torment in Hades. Formerly barred by the strict parentage rule (a nymph-born son of Zeus); now admissible and the demigod root from which the whole House of Atreus descends.
Parentage
Children
Domains
- kingship
- hubris
- wealth
Powers
- Fellowship at the gods' table
Epithets
- Τανταλίδαι