TANTALUS

In Greek Mvthology, a king of Lydia, Phrygia, or Paphlagonia, according to different authors, whose punishment in the infernal regions is well known to cla ical readers. He was condemned to be plunged in water, and have delicious fruits hanging continually over his head, without the power of satisfying either thirst or hunger. His crime is differently represented. According to some, he served to the gods at a feast the limbs of his own son Pelops; according to others, he revealed the mystery of the gods, of whom he was high priest; while others attribute to him the vices of pride and too great wealth. (For a learned interpretation of the myth, see Bryant's A7icient Mythology, i. 364.) [s. 1220]