Tantalus (Tantalos) was the son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. He may have been the king of Lydia, or Phrygia. He was father to Pelops, Broteas and Niobe. All three children feature in mythology, however Pelops and his descents are the focus of this article.
Tantalus was one of the few mortals who had the honour of joining the gods at their feasts on mount Olympus. He abused their hospitality, firstly by stealing ambrosia (food of the gods) and nectar (drink of the gods) and offering it to mortals. His greatest crime was to kill Pelops and offer him in a pie to the gods. All the gods except Demeter realised that the pie contained human flesh. Demeter had spent months searching for Persephone, her daughter who had been abducted by Hades, therefore she was so consumed by grief she ate part of Pelop's shoulder without realising. Zeus told Clotho, one of the three fates who controlled the span of mortal lives to bring Pelops back to life. Hephaestus (Hephaistos) made a new ivory shoulder to replace the missing shoulder.
Tantalus did not escape punishment for this crime against the gods. He was thrown into Tartarus, the darkest and furthest region of the underworld. Here he was constantly tortured in a fitting punishment for his crime. He stood in a pool of water that reached up to his waist and above him dangled fruits that grew on a tree. He was constantly hungry and thirsty, however every time he bent down to drink the water it vanished into the ground and every time he tried to take the fruit the branch that they grew from moved higher making them just out of reach. This would be Tantalus' eternal punishment.
Pelops grew up to become a hero. He decided to court Hippodamia, the daughter of king Oenomaus. Oenomaus would not allow any suitor to marry his daughter until he had participated in a chariot race against the king. If they lost, they were executed. If they won they would be able to marry Hippodamia. Oenomaus had the advantage of special winged horses (a gift from Poseidon) that were almost unbeatable. In stories suggest that Oenomaus was so protective of his daughter because he had committed incest with her. Pelops bribed Myrtilus, the charioteer of Oenomaus and changed the chariot lynch pins for wax replicas. As Oenomaus raced his chariot, the wax pins melted and he was thrown to his death. Pelops won Hippodamia. He later killed Myrtilus after he tried to rape Hippodamia. As Myrtilus was dying he cursed Pelops and his descendants.
Pelops and Hippodamia had two sons; Atreus and Thyestes. He also had a bastard son called Chrysippus. Chrysippus was believed to be the favourite son and possible inheritor of Pelops' throne. Hippodamia urged her sons to get rid of Chrysippus. Atreus and Thyestes threw Chrysippus down a well, killing him. Pelops exiled Hippodamia, Atreus and Thyestes. Hippdomia hung herself, Atreus and Thyestes then settled in Mycenae in the Peloponnese region of Greece.
The two brothers then tried to outwit each other for the throne of Mycenae. Atreus promised Artemis he would sacrifice his best lamb to the goddess. He discovered a golden lamb, therefore he hid it from the goddess and gave it as a present to his wife, Aerope. She gave it to Thyestes, her secret lover. He produced the lamb, declaring that the owner of it should be king. Atreus accepted this until he discovered his wife's adultery with his brother. They continued to quarrel over ownership of the throne. Finally Atreus invited Thyestes to a feast as a token of friendship. Thyestes accepted the offer and started to eat the food before him. What he did not know was that the meat he ate was the butchered bodies of his children. As soon as he realised what Atreus had done, he cursed his brother and his descendents. The only child to survive was Aegisthus.
Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus. Menelaus would later marry Helen of Sparta after she had been courted by most of the high ranking men of Greece. They all swore an oath to protect her before she married, so when she was abducted by Paris and taken back to Troy, Agamemnon and Menelaus gathered the Greeks together and made war on the Trojans. Agamemnon had married Clytaemestra, the sister of Helen. She was appalled when Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenaia, their daughter. Iphigenaia had been sacrificed to Artemis so that she would send a favourable wind and allow the Greeks to set sail for Troy. Clytaemestra swore revenge for her daughter's death.
While Agamemnon was at war, she took herself Aegisthus as her lover. Aegisthus wished to avenge the death of his siblings, Clytaemestra the death of her daughter therefore they both plotted the downfall of Agamemnon. When Agamemnon returned home victorious from Troy, he was almost immediately killed by either Clytaemestra or Aegisthus (various stories suggest either of them actively murdering Agamemnon).
Clytaemestra and Aegisthus both ruled Mycenae and expelled Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. Orestes returned to avenge his father's murder a number of years later, encouraged by his sister Electra who had remained in Mycenae. Orestes murdered both Aegisthus and his mother. Their furies then pursued him for his blood guilt.
Finally, the god intervened. Apollo defended Orestes and the furies acted as prosecutor in a court style discussion of Orestes' actions. The outcome overseen by Athene was that the curse that had blighted the descendants of Tantalus should finally be lifted. The furies were ordered to become the Eumenides, or the kindly ones, meaning they should leave Orestes and his descendants alone.
Orestes regained the throne of Mycenae, killing Alete, the son of Aegisthus. This final murder would ensure that there was no one left to continue the family blood feud.
For more Greek mythology please visit http://www.mythologyhellenic.com
Jane Sproston was a teacher of Classical Civilisation and Classical Greek in a number of secondary schools. She is also an examiner of Classical Civilisation for a major examination board. Her website is http://www.mythologyhellenic.com
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