Tantalus (son of Thyestes)
In Greek mythology, Tantalus (Ancient Greek: Τάνταλος Tántalos) was a prince of the south of Argolis as son of King Thyestes. He was the brother of Pleisthenes, Pelopia and Aegisthus, and - according to Hyginus - also of Menelaus and Agamemnon.[1]
According to Hyginus, Tantalus and Pleisthenes were born to Thyestes and Aerope, wife of his brother Atreus. In revenge for his wife and brother's betrayal, Atreus famously killed and fed both Tantalus and Pleisthenes to their father.[2] The 2nd-century AD travel writer Pausanias describes them as the son of either Thyestes or Broteas (who is typically Tantalus's son).[3]
According to Tzetzes and Apollodorus, Tantalus lived to adulthood and became the first husband of the Spartan princess Clytemnestra. He was slain together with their newborn child by Agamemnon who married Clytemnestra after Tantalus' death,[4][5] against her will.[6]
See also
Note
- ↑
Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Tantalus (2)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
- ↑ Hyginus, Fabulae, 244-246
- ↑ Pausanias, 2.22.3.
- ↑ Tzetzes, Chiliades 1.18 line 464-465
- ↑ Apollodorus, Bibliotheke, Epitome 2.15-2.16
- ↑ Euripides, Iphigeneia in Aulis, 1146-1147
References
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, Volume I: Books 1–2 (Attica and Corinth), translated by W. H. S. Jones, Loeb Classical Library No. 93, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1918. ISBN 978-0-674-99104-0. Harvard University Press. Perseus Digital Library.
- Schwenn, Friedrich, "Tantalus (2)", in Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Band IV A, Halbband 2, edited by Wilhelm Kroll, Stuttgart, J. B. Metzler, 1932. Wikisource.
- Tzetzes, John, Book of Histories, Book I translated by Ana Untila from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com
Further reading
- Schwab, Gustav, Gods and Heroes, New York, Pantheon, 2001 [1946]. ISBN 0375714464. Internet Archive.