What (who) is tantalize$81643$ - definition
![''Karagöl'' ("The black lake") in [[Mount Yamanlar]], [[İzmir]], [[Turkey]], associated with the accounts surrounding Tantalus and named after him as Lake Tantalus](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Mount Yamanlar Karagol IzmirTurkey.jpg?width=200 "''Karagöl'' (\"The black lake\") in [[Mount Yamanlar]], [[İzmir]], [[Turkey]], associated with the accounts surrounding Tantalus and named after him as Lake Tantalus")
![[[Engraving]] by [[Hendrik Goltzius]] and C. Cornelius (1588)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Tantalus by HGoltzius CCornelius 1588.jpg?width=200 "[[Engraving]] by [[Hendrik Goltzius]] and C. Cornelius (1588)")
![[[Etching]] by [[Francisco Goya]] (1797)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Francisco de Goya Tantalo.jpg?width=200 "[[Etching]] by [[Francisco Goya]] (1797)")
Wikipedia
Tantalus (Ancient Greek: Τάνταλος Tántalos) was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: he was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink. He was also called Atys.
He was the father of Pelops, Niobe and Broteas, and was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus, like other heroes in Greek mythology such as Theseus (his great-great-grandson) and the Dioskouroi, Tantalus had both a hidden, divine parent and a mortal one.
The Greeks used the proverb "Tantalean punishment" (Ancient Greek: Ταντάλειοι τιμωρίαι: Tantáleioi timōríai) in reference to those who have good things but are not permitted to enjoy them. His name and punishment are also the source of the English word tantalize, meaning to torment with the sight of something desired but out of reach; tease by arousing expectations that are repeatedly disappointed.
