Tantalus
King invited to dine with the gods who stole nectar and ambrosia and served his son Pelops as a stew to test divine omniscience.
The Legend of Tantalus
He fed his own son to the gods to see if they could tell human flesh from divine food — and Demeter actually ate a piece. Tantalus was honored above all mortals: he dined on Olympus with Zeus. He abused this by stealing nectar and ambrosia, revealing divine secrets, and finally butchering his son Pelops and serving him as a feast. Every god recognized the meat except grief-stricken Demeter, who ate a shoulder. Zeus restored Pelops to life with an ivory shoulder replacement. Tantalus was sent to Tartarus, standing in water that receded when he tried to drink, beneath fruit that withdrew when he reached. His punishment gives us the word tantalize.
Parents
Zeus
Children
Pelops, Niobe
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word tantalize — to torment with something unreachable — comes directly from Tantalus's punishment.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Tantalus
🗡 heroKing punished with eternal hunger and thirst
A king who offended the gods by serving them his own son as a meal. His punishment in Tartarus — standing in water that recedes when he tries to drink, beneath fruit that pulls away when he reaches for it — gave us the word "tantalize."
Erysichthon
🗡 heropunishment
A Thessalian king cursed by Demeter with insatiable hunger after destroying her sacred grove — he devoured everything he owned, then consumed himself.
Tityos
🗡 heropunishment
Giant who attempted to rape Leto and was condemned to have two vultures eat his regenerating liver in Tartarus forever.
Ixion
🗡 heropunishment
First human murderer of kin, who attempted to seduce Hera and was bound to an eternally spinning wheel of fire.
Pelops
🗡 heroFounder of the Peloponnese dynasty
Pelops was the prince served as food to the gods by his father Tantalus, restored to life with an ivory shoulder, and founder of the cursed dynasty that ruled Mycenae.
Thyestes
🗡 herocurse
Brother of Atreus who seduced his sister-in-law and was tricked into eating his own children at the feast of Atreus.
Atreus
🗡 herovengeance
King of Mycenae who murdered his nephews and fed them to his brother Thyestes, establishing the bloodiest family curse in myth.
Tantalize
💭 conceptTemptation, frustration, torment by proximity
To torment with something desired but just out of reach, from King Tantalus and his eternal punishment.
Tityos
🗡 heroGiant punished for assaulting Leto
Tityos was a giant whose attempt to assault Leto earned him one of the underworld's most graphic eternal punishments — two vultures feeding on his liver.
Itys
🗡 herotragedy
Young son of Tereus and Procne murdered by his own mother and served as food to his father in revenge for Philomela's rape.
Procne
🗡 herovengeance
Athenian princess married to Tereus who killed her own son Itys to avenge her sister Philomela's rape.
Prometheus
🏔 titanTitan champion of humanity
The Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, suffering eternal punishment for the gift.