Tantalus
by Lisette Egipciaco
Tantalus was an immortal. He was an intimate friend of Zeus. In some stories he was one of his favorite sons, loved by all of the gods. He had a son, Pelops, and a daughter, Niobe. One day he decided that the gods would appreciate it if he were to sacrifice his son and serve him as food to them. He hoped that they wouldn't recognize what they were about to eat, but they did. They were insulted by this.
Another thing he did was that he stole the fruit of the gods, like nectar and gave it to human beings. Then he told the secrets he learned in heaven to men. And in another story he stole a golden dog from Zeus' temple. His punishment for this was that Zeus threw a mountain on top of him. He also got punished for everything else. For that he was simply turned over to Hades.
In Hades, he was placed in a pool of water up to his neck, and fruits hung from a tree above him. Whenever he got thirsty and he tried to drink some water, it disappeared. And whenever he got hungry and tried to grab fruits, the wind would blow them out of reach. There he suffered from hunger and thirst.
Tantalus is remembered in the word tantalize, which means to tempt with food or drink.
Source Book: The Heroes
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