Tantalus, king of Phrygia

Tantalus

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For other uses, see Tantalus (disambiguation).

Tántalo, by GoyaIn Greek mythology Tantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus[1] and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" (brotoi).[2] Other versions name his father as Tmolus "wreathed with oak,"[3] 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. The association of Tantalus with the underworld is underscored by the names of his mother Plouto ("riches", as in gold and other mineral wealth), and grandmother, Chthonia ("earth").

His children were Pelops—eponym of the Peloponnesus— Niobe, and Broteas. The identity of his wife is variously given: Dione, whose name simply means "The Goddess," perhaps the Pleiad with that name; or Eurythemista, a daughter of the river-god 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.

Tantalus' grave-sanctuary stood on Sipylus.[7] But hero's honours were paid him at Argos, where local tradition claimed to possess his bones.[8] On Lesbos, there was another hero-shrine in the little settlement of Polion and a mountain named for Tantalos.[9]

(Tantalus "Everything2.com)

(person) by theboy Thu Dec 05 2002 at 14:26:08

In ancient Greece, woe betide anyone who got on the wrong side of the Gods. Those who did tended to pay a hefty price for their foolhardiness, but few paid as deeply as Tantalus.

The son of Zeus, Tantalus was the extremely wealthy king of Sipylus, or Phrygia, or Paphlagonia, depending on which account you read. What is generally agreed on, though, is that his kingdom was somewhere in Asia Minor. Old Zeus could be the nepotistic sort when it favoured him, and allowed Tantalus to dine with the Gods. Sadly for Tantalus, his mortal fallibility got the better of him.

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Ancestry. com .Webs Roots:

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The PEDIGREE of

Tantalus (King) of PHRYGIA

HM George I's Ancestor. Poss. Jullus of Rome's 10-Great Grandfather.

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Wife/Partner:         Dione the HYADE 

Child:         Pelops (King) of PISA and/or MYCENE 

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Possible Child:         Niobe (Queen) of THEBES 

Alternative Father of Possible Child:         Assaon of THEBES 

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______ ______ ______ ______ _____ _____ _____ _____ ____ ___ ___

   / -- Erebus (Primordial GOD)   + ====> [ 2]  

  / -- Aether (the Upper Sky; Primordial GOD)  

  /   \ -- Nyx (Nox), GODDESS of Night   + ====> [ 6]  

 / -- Uranus (1st Ruler GOD of the Universe)  

 |  \ -- Hemera (GODDESS)   + ====> [ 6]  

 /     | or: her daughter Gaia, q.v.  

/ -- Cronos (Kronos) the TITAN  

/   \ -- Gaia (Gaea) the Earth GODDESS   + ====> [ 8]  

/ -- Zeus the OLYMPIAN (Crete (hidden in a cave))

| \ / -- Uranus (1st Ruler GOD of the Universe) + ====> [ 8]

| \ -- Rhea (Rheia) the TITAN

/ \ -- Gaia (Gaea) the Earth GODDESS + ====> [ 8]

- Tantalus (King) of PHRYGIA

\ / -- Cronos (Kronos) the TITAN + ====> [ 9]

| / -- Pluto, the GOD of Inferno (UNDERWORLD)

| / \ -- Rhea (Rheia) the TITAN + ====> [ 9]

\ -- poss. daughter of Pluto

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 His (poss.) Grandchildren:        Eurydice (Lysidice) of PISA   ;   Pittheus (King) of TROEZEN   ;   Alcathous (King) of MEGARA   ;   Atreus (King) of MYCENAE   ;   Thyestes (King) of MYCENAE   ;   Astydamia of PISA   ;   Meliboea (Chloris) of THEBES 

Phrygia

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Location of Phrygia - traditional region (yellow) - expanded kingdom (orange line) This article needs additional citations for verification.

Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

In antiquity, Phrygia (Greek: Φρυγία) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians (Phruges or Phryges) initially lived in the Southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges(/Briges), changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the Hellespont.

During the floruit of the city-state of Troy, a part of the Bryges emigrated to Anatolia as Trojan allies or under the protection of Troy.[citation needed] The Trojan language did not survive; consequently, its exact relationship to the Phrygian language and the affinity of Phrygian society to that of Troy remain open questions. Similarly, the date of migration and the relationship of the Phrygians to the Hittite empire are unknown. They are, however, often considered part of a "Thraco-Phrygian" group. A conventional date of c. 1200 BC often is used, at the very end of the empire. It is certain that Phrygia was constituted on Hittite land, and yet not at the very center of Hittite power in the big bend of the Halys River, where Ankara now is.

Subsequently the state of Phrygia arose in the 8th century BC with its capital at Gordium. During this period, the Phrygians extended eastward and encroached upon the kingdom of Urartu, the descendants of the Hurrians, a former rival of the Hittites.

Meanwhile the Phrygian kingdom was overwhelmed by Iranian Cimmerian invaders c. 690 BC, then briefly conquered by its neighbor Lydia, before it passed successively into the Persian Empire of Cyrus and the empire of Alexander and his successors, was taken by the Attalids of Pergamon, and eventually became part of the Roman Empire. The Phrygian language survived until about the 6th century AD,[citation needed] when it finally gave way to Greek.

Tantalus is known for having been welcomed to Zeus' table in Olympus, like Ixion. There he too misbehaved, stole ambrosia and nectar, brought it back to his people,[5] and revealed the secrets of the gods.[6] Tantalus 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, distraught by the loss of her daughter, Persephone, did not realize what it was and ate part of the boy's shoulder. Clotho, one of the three Fates, 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 Hephaestus and presented by Demeter.

The revived Pelops was kidnapped by Poseidon and taken to Olympus. Later, Zeus threw Pelops out of Olympus due to his anger at Tantalus. The Greeks of classical times claimed to be horrified by Tantalus's 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's grave-sanctuary stood on Sipylus.[7] But his's honours were paid him at Argos, where local tradition claimed to possess his bones.[8] On Lesbos, there was another hero-shrine in the little settlement of Polion and a mountain named for Tantalos.[9]

Tantalus's punishment, now proverbial for temptation without satisfaction (the source of the English word "tantalise" - US "tantalize"[10]), 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.[11] In a different story, Tantalus was blamed for indirectly having stolen the dog made of gold created by Hephaestus (god of metals and smithing) for Rhea to watch over infant Zeus. Tantalus's friend Pandareus stole the dog and gave it to Tantalus for safekeeping. When asked later by Pandareus to return the dog, Tantalus denied that he had the dog, saying he "had neither seen nor heard of a golden dog." According to Robert Graves, this incident is why an enormous stone hangs over Tantalus's head. Others state that it was Tantalus who stole the dog, and gave it to Pandareus for safekeeping.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantalus; 9/1/09

Historical background

There may have been a historical Tantalus - possibly the ruler of an Anatolian city named "Tantalís",[2] "the city of Tantalus", or of a city named "Sipylus" Pausanias reports that there was a port under his name and a sepulchre of him "by no means obscure", in the same region.

Tantalus is referred to as "Phrygian" and sometimes even as "King of Phrygia", although his city was located in the western extremity of Anatolia where Lydia was to emerge as a state before the beginning of the first millennium BCE, and not in the traditional heartland of Phrygia, situated more inland. References to his son as "Pelops the Lydian" led some scholars to the conclusion that there would be good grounds for believing that he belonged to a primordial house of Lydia.

Other versions name his father as Tmolus, the name of a king of Lydia and, like Sipylus, of another mountain in ancient Lydia. The location of Tantalus' mortal mountain-fathers generally placed him in Lydia; and more seldom in Phrygia or Paphlagonia, all in Asia Minor.

The identity of his wife is variously given: generally as Dione, but whose name may simply mean "The Goddess," or perhaps as the Pleiad with that name; or as Eurythemista, a daughter of the river-god Xanthus; or Euryanassa, daughter of Pactolus, another river-god, both of them in Anatolia; or Clytia, the child of Amphidamantes . Tantalus, through Pelops, was the founder of the House of Atreus which was named after his grandson. Tantalus was also the Great-grandfather of Agamemnon

The geographer Strabo, quoting earlier sources, states that the wealth of Tantalus was derived from the mines of Phrygia and Mount Sipylus. Near Mount Sipylus archaeological features that have been associated with Tantalus and his house since Antiquity. Near Mount Yamanlar in İzmir (ancient Smyrna), where the Lake Karagöl (Lake Tantalus) associated with the accounts surrounding him is found, is a monument mentioned by Pausanias: the tholos "tomb of Tantalus" (later Christianized as "Saint Charalambos' tomb") and another one in Mount Sipylus, and where a "throne of Pelops", an altar or bench carved in rock and conjecturally associated with his son is found. A more famous momument, a full-faced statue carved in rock mentioned by Pausanias is a statue of Cybele, said by Pausianias to have been carved by Broteas is in fact Hittite.

Further afield, based on a similarity between the names Tantalus and Hantili, it has been suggested that the name Tantalus may have derived from that of these two Hittite kings.