Wednesday, April 23, 2014

T is for Tantalus Tortured in Tartarus

Day 20 of Blogging from A to Z.  Today’s letter is T

T is for Tantalus Tortured in Tartarus

tantalus tortured
tipple and taste beyond reach
hubris’ consequence

As capricious as the ancient gods were, they meted out some well deserved punishments. Unlike today, when we have a shooter of children on film and still
call him the alleged shooter.

Ah Zeus, where are you when we need you.

© Perle Champion


The punishment of Tantalus in Tartarus is to stand knee deep in water but be unable to slake his thirst because whenever he bends down, the water vanishes. Over his head hangs fruit, but whenever he reaches for it, it goes just beyond his reach. From this punishment Tantalus is familiar to us in the word tantalize.

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