Tantalus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Tantalus

21 passages from 10 ancient authors that tell of Tantalus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Tantalus was the son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto in Greek mythology, who was punished after death in Tartarus. With his wife, who may have been Dione... For the story in one place, read our article on Tantalus.

Homer (1)

Homer, Odyssey 11.568–640Minos, Orion and the great sinnersOdysseus sees Minos judging the dead with a golden sceptre, and Orion driving wild beasts across a meadow. He sees Tityos, Tantalus and Sisyphus in their torments, and then the ghost of Heracles, while Heracles himself is among the gods. Heracles speaks of his labours and of the dog of Hades, and Odysseus waits for more heroes, but the ghosts flock round him with a great cry, and he returns to the ship in fear.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.2.1–16Tantalus, Pelops and the house of AtreusThe Epitome describes the punishment of Tantalus in Hades, Pelops' revival after being boiled at the gods' banquet, and his winning of Hippodamia from Oenomaus with the help of the charioteer Myrtilus, whom he then drowns. It follows the sons of Pelops: Atreus and Thyestes quarrel over the kingdom of Mycenae because of the golden lamb, Atreus serves Thyestes his own sons, and Aegisthus, born to Thyestes by his daughter, kills Atreus. It ends with Agamemnon, Menelaus and the children of Agamemnon.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.1–116Olympian 1: for Hieron — Pelops and TantalusPindar opens with the praise of water and gold and of the Olympic games as the greatest of contests, and hails Hieron of Syracuse, victor with the horse Pherenicus. He rejects the tale that the gods ate the flesh of Pelops, and tells instead how Poseidon, in love, carried the boy off to Olympus after the banquet of Tantalus, and how Tantalus is punished for stealing nectar and ambrosia with a rock hanging over his head. Pelops later prays to Poseidon, overcomes Oenomaüs in the chariot race and wins Hippodameia. The ode ends with a prayer that Hieron keep his greatness and that Pindar be the foremost poet among Hellenes.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1448–1576Kommos: the lament for Agamemnon and the Fiend of the houseThe Chorus mourn the king and blame Helen for the deaths at Troy, and Clytaemestra says that the Fiend of the house, which has fed on the family of Tantalus, has done the deed through her. The elders ask who will bury Agamemnon, and she says that she will not allow them to mourn him, and that Iphigenia will meet him at the river of sorrows. The Chorus say that they are in doubt, and that the blow will be repaid with a blow.

Sophocles (1)

Sophocles, Antigone 781–882Third stasimon: the ode to Eros, and Antigone's lamentThe Chorus sing of the power of Love, which drives even just men to ruin, and then, seeing Antigone led out, weep for her. Antigone compares her fate to that of the daughter of Tantalus turned to stone, and the Chorus say that she is paying for a crime of her father's. She mourns the doom of the house of Labdacus, and says that she goes unwept and unwed to share the home of her parents.

Euripides (6)

Euripides, Orestes 1–70Prologue: Electra tells of the house of Atreus and Orestes' illnessElectra tells of the curse on the house from Tantalus and Atreus down to Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She says that Orestes killed his mother at Apollo's command and now lies sick and tormented by the Furies. She says that Argos will decide today whether they are to be stoned, and that her one hope is Menelaus, who has just landed with Helen.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 939–988Second episode: Orestes tells of the trial at Athens and Apollo's oracleOrestes tells of the beginning of his troubles: that he killed his mother at Apollo's command, was pursued by the Furies, and was tried at Athens by the gods, and that some of them accepted the verdict while the others still pursued him. He says that the oracle told him to bring the image of Artemis from the land of the Taurians to Athens, and the Chorus says that a terrible anger from the gods has boiled up against the race of Tantalus.
Euripides, Helen 842–893Fifth episode: Menelaus' resolve; Theonoe enters and speaks of the gods' disputeMenelaus says that he will kill Helen on the tomb and then himself, but first fight for her. The Chorus prays for the race of Tantalus, and Theonoe comes out with torch-bearers to purify the air. She tells them that she knows that Menelaus is here, that Hera and Aphrodite are in conflict over him, and that she must decide whether to tell her brother.
Euripides, Orestes 316–379First choral song; Menelaus arrives at the palaceThe Chorus calls on the avenging goddesses to let Orestes forget his frenzy, and laments the instability of the house of Tantalus. Menelaus arrives, glad to see his home but grieved, and tells how he learned of Agamemnon's death from Glaucus at sea. He asks the Chorus where Orestes is.
Euripides, Orestes 960–1012Electra's dirge for the house of PelopsElectra takes up a dirge, beating her head and calling the vote of the citizens a murdering one. She laments the fall of the race of Pelops and wishes she could reach the rock where Tantalus hangs. She recalls the curse that began with Myrtilus, the golden lamb sent by Hermes, and the changing of the sun's course.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1146–1210Fourth episode: Clytemnestra's speech against the sacrificeClytemnestra says that she knows all, and reminds him that he took her by killing Tantalus, her former husband, and dashing her baby on the ground, and that she has been a blameless wife to him. She asks what prayer he will utter when he has slain their daughter, and says that if a child is to be killed, Menelaus should have slain Hermione.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.71.1–4.75.6Asclepius, Aeacus, Pelops and the kings of TroyThe historian gives the birth and healing art of Asclepius and the descendants of Asopus' daughters, including Aeacus and his sons Peleus and Telamon. He then tells of Oenomaüs and the chariot race by which Pelops wins Hippodameia, and of Tantalus, and ends with the first kings of Troy, from Teucrus and Dardanus down to Priam.

Ovid (3)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.146–312NiobeThe fate of Arachne spreads through Lydia, but Niobe, queen of Thebes, takes no warning, and rebukes the women who are honouring Leto (Latona), boasting of her own noble birth, her husband's power and her fourteen children. Leto, angered, calls on Apollo and Artemis (Diana), and Apollo kills Niobe's seven sons as they ride and wrestle, and Artemis her seven daughters in their mother's presence. Niobe, bereft of all, turns to stone, and is carried by a whirlwind to Mount Sipylus, where she weeps.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.1–85Orpheus and EurydiceHymen, called to the wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice, comes with a smoking torch and an ill omen, and Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus goes down to the underworld and sings before Hades (Pluto) and Persephone (Proserpina), and the shades, even the Furies, weep, and Tantalus, Ixion and Sisyphus forget their torments. He is allowed to lead Eurydice back on condition that he does not look back, but as they near the light he turns to see her, and she slips away. Orpheus then shuns women and gives his love to the young men of Thrace.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.313–411The Lycian peasants; Marsyas; PelopsAfter Niobe's fate men worship Leto (Latona) more zealously, and one recalls the peasants of Lycia, who refused Leto water to drink when she came, wandering with her twins, and who were turned into frogs. Another tells of the satyr Marsyas, who challenged Apollo to a contest on the pipes and was flayed alive for his presumption. Pelops, the brother of Niobe, mourns for her, and his ivory shoulder, which the gods made for him after Tantalus served him up at a banquet, is shown.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.22.1–9Argos: sanctuaries of Hera and Latona, the Dioscuri, Hecate and the gymnasium of CylarabesSouth of the Latona sanctuary Pausanias describes the temple of Flowery Hera and the grave of the Sea-Women, the sanctuary of Pelasgian Demeter, a bronze vessel said to hold the bones of Tantalus, and the shrine of Poseidon of the Dashing Wave. He then lists the grave of Argus, the temple of the Dioscuri, the sanctuary of Ilithyia founded by Helen, and the temple of Hecate with images by Scopas, Polyclitus and Naucydes. He ends with the tomb of Sacadas and the gymnasium of Cylarabes.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.18.1–9Argos: the road from Mycenae, the tomb of Thyestes and the kings of ArgosOn the road to Argos are a shrine of Perseus, the tomb of Thyestes with its ram, the sanctuary of Mysian Demeter, the river Inachus and an altar of the Sun. Pausanias explains the division of the Argive kingdom among the lines of Anaxagoras, Bias and Melampus, then the rule of Orestes and Tisamenus and the return of the Heraclids, who drove out Tisamenus and the descendants of Nestor.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.13.1–11Olympia: the Pelopium, the shoulder-blade of Pelops and the great altar of ZeusPausanias describes the Pelopium and its annual sacrifice of a black ram, with the rule against eating the sacrificial flesh and entering the temple of Zeus. He tells how the fisherman Damarmenus recovered Pelops’ shoulder-blade and notes traces of Pelops in Lydia. He then describes the altar of Olympian Zeus, built of ashes, its dimensions and the monthly plastering with Alpheus water.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.31.1–12Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of the underworld (4): Ajax, Meleager, Memnon, Penthesilea, Sisyphus and TantalusPausanias completes the underworld painting with the dicing group of Ajax, Palamedes and Thersites, Ulysses' enemies, and Meleager, with the rival accounts of his death. He describes Hector, Memnon with the birds called Memnonides, Sarpedon, Paris and Penthesilea, then the uninitiated carrying water in broken pitchers, Callisto, Nomia, Pero, Sisyphus and Tantalus.

Nonnus of Panopolis (2)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 18.0–86Book 18: Staphylos and Botrys welcome Dionysos to their palaceRumour spreads word of Dionysos, his gift of the vine and his war with the Indians, and the Assyrian king Staphylos comes with his son Botrys to meet him. Staphylos begs the god to be his guest, recalling how Zeus was once entertained by Lycaon, Tantalos and others, and Dionysos agrees. They drive through the Taurus to the palace, where Staphylos shows off the silver walls and jewelled decoration of his hall.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 48.328–473Book 48: Aura insults Artemis; Nemesis is sent against herBathing beside Artemis, Aura stares at the goddess and mocks her breasts and her claim to virginity, boasting of her own boyish strength. Artemis, furious, appeals to Nemesis for vengeance. Nemesis pursues Aura in her griffin car and strikes her with her whip, and Eros makes Dionysos mad with love for the girl.