in Greek legend, son of Zeus or Tmolus (a ruler of Lydia) and Pluto (daughter of Cronus and Rhea) and the father of Niobe and Pelops. He was the king of Sipylus in Lydia (or of Phrygia) and was the intimate friend of the gods, to whose table he was admitted. The punishment of Tantalus in the underworld was occasioned by one of several crimes, according to various ancient authors: (1) He abused divine favour by revealing to mortals the secrets he had learned in heaven. (2) He offended the gods by killing his son Pelops and serving him to them, in order to test their power of observation. (3) He stole nectar and ambrosia, the food of the gods, from heaven and gave them to mortals, according to Pindar's first Olympian ode.

According to Homer's Odyssey, Book XI, in Hades Tantalus stood up to his neck in water, which flowed from him when he tried to drink it; over his head hung fruits that the wind wafted away whenever he tried to grasp them (hence the word tantalize). According to Pindar's first Olympian ode, a rock hung over his head ready to fall and crush him.