View a FREE sample

1. Discuss the backstory of the House of Pelops.

Tantalus is the son of Zeus and, thus, has inherited some of the arrogance that goes along with being a god. In an attempt to both honor the gods and to test their infallibility and knowledge, Tantalus kills his son, Pelops, and serves him as part of a feast for the Olympians. The gods, enraged, restore Pelops to life and sentence Tantalus to a harsh sentence for the afterlife. However, Pelops is just as corrupt as his father and wins a kingdom and a wife by arranging for the death of the king. It is this crown that is the source of the struggles between Thyestes and Atreus.

2. Over what is Tantalus agonizing in the afterlife and why?

Tantalus, because of his sacrifice of his son, Pelops, is tormented in the afterlife by constantly being surrounded by delicious food and beverages that disappear when he comes near. He has been summoned to Earth to look in on the sins of his grandsons. Although he argues that he is not meant to mete out punishment and that it is unfair to manipulate his family into evil, he is eventually forced to unleash his madness and chaos upon his family.

(read all 60 Short Essay Questions and Answers)

This section contains 4,845 words (approx. 17 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample