Listed 6 sub titles with search on: Homeric world for destination: "SIPYLOS Ancient city LYDIA".
The son of Zeus by Pluto, father of Niobe and of Pelops. He served his son Pelops as meal to the gods and, as a result, he was punished in Hades by not to being able to eat or drink as the waters of the lake, where he was placed, always receded from him as soon as he attempted to drink them and the fruits in the trees were lifted by the wind every time he tried to reach them (Od. 11.582 etc.).
Tantalus, (Tantalos). The son of Zeus and Pluto. His wife is called by some Euryanassa, by others Taygete or Dione, and by others Clytia or Eupryto. He was the father of Pelops, Broteas, and Niobe. All traditions agree in stating that he was a wealthy king, but while some call him king of Lydia, others describe him as king of Argos or Corinth. Tantalus is particularly celebrated in ancient story for the terrible punishment inflicted upon him after his death in the lower world, the causes of which are differently stated by the ancient writers. According to the common account Zeus invited him to his table, and communicated his divine counsels to him. Tantalus divulged the secrets thus intrusted to him; and he was punished in the lower world by being afflicted with a raging thirst, and at the same time placed in the midst of a lake, the waters of which always receded from him as soon as he attempted to drink them. Over his head, moreover, hung branches of fruit, which receded in like manner when he stretched out his hand to reach them.. Another account says that there was suspended over his head a huge rock, ever threatening to crush him. Another tradition relates that, wishing to test the gods, he cut his son Pelops in pieces, boiled them and set them before the gods at a repast. A third account states that Tantalus stole nectar and ambrosia from the table of the gods and gave them to his friends; and a fourth relates the following story: Rhea caused the infant Zeus and his nurse to be guarded in Crete by a golden dog, whom Zeus afterwards appointed guardian of his temple in Crete. Pandareus stole this dog, and, carrying him to Mount Sipylus in Lydia, gave him to Tantalus to take care of. But when Pandareus demanded the dog back, Tantalus took an oath that he had never received it. Zeus thereupon changed Pandareus into a stone, and threw Tantalus down from Mount Sipylus. Others, again, relate that Hermes demanded the dog of Tantalus, and that the perjury was committed before Hermes. Zeus buried Tantalus under Mount Sipylus as a punishment; and there his tomb was shown in later times. The punishment of Tautalus was proverbial in ancient times, and from it the English language has borrowed the verb "to tantalize," that is, to hold out hopes or prospects which cannot be realized. The patronymic Tantalides is frequently given to the descendants of Tantalus. Hence we find not only his son Pelops, but also Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Orestes called by this name.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Tantalus : Perseus Encyclopedia
The Mt. Sipylos is mentioned by Homer (Il. 24.615).
According to Pausanias, there was a sanctuary dedicated to Mother Plastene, the Lake of Tantalus and his grave. On the peak of the mountain there was also the thone of Pelops (Paus. 5.13.7).
Sipylus (Sipulos), a mountain of Lydia between the river Hermus and
the town of Smyrna; it is a branch of Mount Tmolus, running in a northwestern
direction along the Hermus. It is a rugged, much torn mountain, which seems to
owe its present form to violent convulsions of the earth. The mountain is mentioned
even in the Iliad, and was rich in metal. (Hom. Il. xxiv. 615; Strab. i. p. 58,
xii. p. 579, xiv. p. 680.) On the eastern slope of the mountain, there once existed,
according to tradition, an ancient city, called Tantalis, afterwards Sipylus,
the capital of the Maeonians, which was believed to have been swallowed up by
an earthquake, and plunged into a crater, afterwards filled by a lake, which bore
the name of Sale or Saloe (Strab. i. p. 58, xii. p. 579; Steph. B. s. v.; Plin.
v. 31; Paus. vii. 24. § 7). Pliny relates that the spot once occupied by Sipylus
was successively occupied by other towns, which he calls Archaeopolis, Colpe and
Lebade. Pausanias (v. 13. § 4) calls the lake the marsh of Tantalus, and adds
that his tomb was conspicuous near it, and that the throne of Pelops was shown
on the summit of the mountain above the temple of (Cybele) Plastene. The tops
of the houses of Sipylus were believed to have been seen under the water for some
time after (Paus. vii. 24. § 7); and some modern travellers, mistaking the ruins
of old Smyrna for those of Sipylus, imagine that they have discovered both the
remains of Sipylus and the tomb of Tantalus. Chandler (Travels in Asia Minor,
p. 331) thought that a small lake of limpid water at the north-eastern foot of
Mount Sipylus, not far from a sepulchre cut in the rock, might be the lake Sale;
but Hamilton (Researches, i. p. 49, foll.) has shown that the lake must be sought
for in the marshy district of Manissa.
In speaking of Mount Sipylus, we cannot pass over the story of Niobe,
alluded to by the poets, who is said to have been metamorphosed into stone on
that mountain in her grief at the loss of her children. (Hom. Il. xxiv. 614; Soph.
Antig. 822; Ov. Met. vi. 310; Apollod. iii. 5; Paus. viii. 2. § 3.) Pausanias
(i. 21. § 5) relates that he himself went to Mount Sipylus and saw the figure
of Niobe formed out of the natural rock; when viewed close he saw only the rock
and precipices, but nothing resembling a woman either weeping or in any other
posture; but standing at a distance you fancied you saw a woman in tears and in
an attitude of grief. This phantom of Niobe, says Chandler (p. 331), whose observation
has been confirmed by subsequent travellers, may be defined as an effect of a
certain portion of light and shade on a part of Sipylus, perceivable at a particular
point of view. Mount Sipylus now bears the name of Saboundji Dagh or Sipuli Dagh.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Mt. Sipylus: Perseus Encyclopedia
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