Electra Research

TANTALUS
Greek myths never cease to amaze me. The story of Tantalus, is that he is a favored son of Zeus. He would be privelged to dine with the gods. But was punished (depending on the myth) because he either served his son Pelops to the Gods, or shared the secrets of what he found in the dinner table with others. His punishment was to stand in water neck high, and never be able to quench his thirt. When he would try to drink the water, it would vanish. Fruit hung above him, yet when he reached for it, the fruit would become unreachable. The story is very interesting and amaingly creative.
     This story is relevant to Electra, because Agamemnon's  huge family tree of reaches Tantalus. Pelops is Tantalus son, who gave birth to Atreus, who is the father of Agamemnon. And Agamemnon is the father of Electra, so Tantalus is baically her great great great grandfather.

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/aeschylus/houseofatreus.htm Family Tree

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Tantalus.htm Tantalus