Tantalean punishment
Ancient proverb for those unable to enjoy what they possess.
The phrase "Tantalean punishment" refers to the torment of Tantalus in Greek mythology, who was made to stand in water beneath a fruit tree with the food and drink always receding from his grasp.[1] The English word "tantalize" derives from this myth, meaning to torment with the sight of something desired but out of reach.[2] The proverb "Tantalean punishment" was used by ancient Greeks to describe individuals who possess desirable things yet are unable to enjoy them.[2]
Quick Facts
- Proverb in ancient greek
- Ταντάλειοι τιμωρίαι (Tantáleioi timōríai)
- English derivative
- tantalize
- Mythological figure
- Tantalus (also called Atys)
- Location of punishment
- Tartarus
- Punishment elements
- pool of water
- fruit tree with low branches
- fruit ever eluding grasp
- water always receding
- Alternative punishment variant
- stone suspended above his head
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Whenever Tantalus reached for fruit or tried to drink, the branches blew away and the water receded.[3] Pausanias reported that in the Knidian lesche, Tantalus was depicted enduring both the retreating food and the hanging rock.[4] The crime for which Tantalus was punished varies across sources, including revealing secrets of the gods, stealing ambrosia, or trying to trick the gods into eating his son.[1][5] Zeus and a woman named Pluto were generally considered Tantalus's parents.[6]
Pelops, Niobe, and Broteas were Tantalus's children.[7] Because of Pelops, Tantalus became the ancestor of the House of Atreus, a family line that suffered great misfortune and inspired numerous Greek tragedies.[7]
What the cited sources add
The golden dog had been given to Tantalus by Pandareus for safekeeping after it was stolen from the cave where Rhea hid Zeus.[8][9] Aeschylus's lost play Niobe featured Tantalus arriving at Thebes after his daughter's children were killed, trying to comfort her and escorting her home.[10][11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowler, "Early Greek Mythography Vol.2", Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 369 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Suida, s.v. tau.78; "Tantalize - Define Tantalize at Dictionary.com", dictionary.com; Pindar, Isthmian 8 10–12; Archilochus, fr.91.; Gantz, "Early Greek myth : a guide to literary and artistic sources", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 531 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Homer, Odyssey 11.582–92.; Gantz, "Early Greek myth : a guide to literary and artistic sources", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 531 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.31.12.; Apollodorus, Epitome E.2.; Gantz, "Early Greek myth : a guide to literary and artistic sources", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 534; Horace, Satires 1.1.61 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Euripides, Orestes v.7.; Gantz, "Early Greek myth : a guide to literary and artistic sources", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 533; Diodorus Siculus, Library, 4.73.1; Ovid, Ars Amatoria, 2.605–6.; Janka, "Ovid, Ars amatoria: Buch 2 Kommentar", C. Winter, 1997, p. 427–28; Apollodorus, Epitome E.2. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gantz, "Early Greek myth : a guide to literary and artistic sources", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 533; Junk, Tim (2006) s.v. Pluto <nowiki>[1</nowiki> Mother of Tantalus (by Zeus)], in Brill’s New Pauly Online.; Gantz, "Early Greek myth : a guide to literary and artistic sources", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 536; Scholium ad Euripides, Orestes 5.; Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.174; Hyginus, Fabulae 82 & 83; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 5; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 52; Pseudo-Plutarch, Parallela minora 33.; Scholia ad Euripides, en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.752 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 36. facts only, no text reused. topostext.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 36 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 9780674996298 ("Fragments"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
- Wikipedia, "Tantalus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Seaford 2005; Sommerstein, "Aeschylus: Fragments", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 153–4 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Tantalus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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