What is "tantalus"

Tantalus \Tan"ta*lus\, n. [L., from Gr. Ta`ntalos.] (Gr. Myth.)

1. A Phrygian king who was punished in the lower world by being placed in the midst of a lake whose waters reached to his chin but receded whenever he attempted to allay his thirst, while over his head hung branches laden with choice fruit which likewise receded whenever he stretched out his hand to grasp them.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A genus of wading birds comprising the wood ibises.

   Tantalus's cup (Physics), a philosophical toy, consisting of a cup, within which is the figure of a man, and within the figure a siphon, the longer arm of which passes down through the bottom of the cup, and allows the escape of any liquid that may be poured in, when it reaches as high as the bend of the siphon, which is just below the level of the mouth of the figure in the cup.

Greek Tantalos, king of Phrygia, perhaps literally "the Bearer" or "the Sufferer," by dissimilation from *tal-talos, a reduplication of PIE root *tele- "to bear, carry, support" (see extol), in reference to his long endurance, but Watkins finds this "unlikely." Compare tantalize.

n. 1 A stork of the genus ''Mycteria'' (formerly ''Tantalus''), especially the American wood ibis, ''Mycteria americana''. 2 A stand in which to lock up drink decanters while keeping them visible. 3 Something of an evasive or retreating nature, something consistently out of reach; a tantalising thing.

Tantalus (, Tántalos) was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his eternal 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 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 and the Dioskouroi, Tantalus had both a hidden, divine parent and a mortal one.

Tantalus is a Greek mythological figure who is bound in a pool of water in Tartarus, forever thirsty but never able to drink.

Tantalus may also refer to:

• Tantalus (son of Broteas), a Greek mythological figure, grandson of the more famous Tantalus
• Tantalus (son of Thyestes), a Greek mythological figure
• USS Tantalus (ARL-27), a United States Navy landing craft repair ship of World War II
• HMS Tantalus (P318), a British T-class submarine of World War II
• Tantalus (cabinet), a cabinet for displaying decanters but securing their contents
• Tantalus Media, an Australian video game development studio
• "The Torment of Tantalus" (Stargate SG-1), a 1997 TV series episode
• Tantalus, a prison colony in the 1966 Star Trek episode " Dagger of the Mind"

In Greek mythology Tantalus, not to be confused with his more famous grandfather and namesake ( Tantalus), who was also called Atys, was the son of Broteas. He ruled over the city of Lydia. He was the first husband of Clytemnestra and was slain by Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, a soldier in the Trojan War, who made Clytemnestra his wife. After he died, the Tantalid dynasty finished because Agron took the throne. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and Omphale, Atys's stepmother, and therefore, Tantalus II's second cousin once removed by marriage.

In Greek mythology, Tantalus was a son of Thyestes and a prince of southern Argolis. He was killed along with his brother Pleisthenes, by Thyestes's brother Atreus. Atreus killed his nephews because Thyestes seduced his wife, Aerope. Atreus was the king of Mycenae, and Thyestes ruled the south of Argolis.

Mount Tantalus (Puu-ohia), is an extinct cinder cone in the southern Koolau Range on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. It also has a summit crater, Tantalus Crater. The cinder cone formed after the demise of Koolau Volcano, during a time of rejuvenated stage volcanism in southeastern Oahu that also formed Punchbowl Crater, Diamond Head and Koko Head. Tantalus overlooks the modern city of Honolulu, which is built on top of Tantalus cinders.

A Tantalus is a small wooden cabinet containing two or three decanters. Its defining feature is that it has a lock and key. The aim of that is to stop unauthorised people drinking the contents (in particular, "servants and younger sons getting at the whisky"), while still allowing them to be on show. The name is a reference to the unsatisfied temptations of the Greek mythological character Tantalus.

The original patent in 1881 (UK Patent 58948) was by George Betjemann, a cabinet maker from the Netherlands. Betjemann & Sons had workshops at 34–42 Pentonville Road, London from the 1830s.

Very few Betjemann examples survive in complete condition, those that do are generally sold at auction for sums in the thousands of US dollars. Original Betjemann articles should have brass or silver plate stamps signifying their authenticity. Later models, in completely different styles, were also called "The Betjemann Tantalus" even though no cabinetry was present and were not made at the Pentonville works.

Betjemann was the grandfather of the poet John Betjeman, who in Summoned by Bells called it the source of the family fortune.