TANTALOS Despatched to Tartaros by Zeus for his cruelty to his own son, Tantalos had to suffer the unceasing dread of being crushed by a huge rock which hung suspended above his head, he standing up to the throat in water, possessed of a terrible thirst that he could never quench, and a gnawing hungerthat he tried to assuage with the tempting fruits that hung above his head, but withdrewas soon as he reached for them.