Editing Atreus (section)

=== Tantalus ===
The 'House of Atreus' begins with [[Tantalus]]. Tantalus, the son of Zeus and the maiden [[Pluto (mother of Tantalus)|Pluto]], enjoyed cordial relations with the gods until he decided to slay his son [[Pelops]] and feed him to the gods as a test of their omniscience. Most of the gods, as they sat down to dinner with Tantalus, immediately understood what had happened, and, because they knew the nature of the meat they were served, were appalled and did not partake. But [[Demeter]], who was distracted due to the abduction by [[Hades]] of her daughter [[Persephone]], obliviously ate Pelops's shoulder. The gods threw Tantalus into the [[Greek underworld|underworld]] to spend eternity standing in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reaches for the fruit, the branches raise his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bends down to get a drink, the water recedes before he can drink. Thus is derived the word "[[wikt:tantalizing|tantalizing]]" in English. The gods brought Pelops back to life, replacing the bone in his shoulder with a bit of ivory with the help of Hephaestus, thus marking the family forever afterwards.