THE LINEAGE OF TANTALUS: PELOPS, ATREUS AND AGAMEMNON

The lineages involved in the Trojan War include: the Tantalum lineage, the Trojan royal lineage, the Spartan lineage, the Maia lineage, the Deion lineage and the Asopos lineage.The lineage of Tantalus studied here embodies the aspiration of the seeker. It includes in particular Pelops, Atreus and Thyestes, Agamemnon and Menelaus.

Agamemnon with the priest Chryses attempting to ransom his daughter Chryseis - Louvre museum

Agamemnon with the priest Chryses attempting to ransom his daughter Chryseis – Louvre museum

To fully understand this web page, it is recommended to follow the progression given in the tab Greek myths interpretation. This progression follows the spiritual journey.
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The origins of Tantalus

See Family tree 15

In the genealogical diagrams used in this work, the lineage of Tantalus has been described in relation to the descendants of the Pleiad Sterope, although Apollodorus and Hyginus were the only one amongst the initiates of ancient Greece to have identified her as the mother or spouse of Oenomaus, father of Hippodamia.
However, if Tantalus is taken to be a primary symbol of aspiration, of a will for progress and/or of a need for evolution, his lineage can be placed neither within the path of the ascension of the planes of consciousness nor within that of purification and liberation. Aspiration, or the need for evolution, is in fact the motor force of all that lives with the purpose of uniting with the Source. In man in can express itself through action, through the heart or through the mind. But this is a need of the soul, and is therefore situated beyond the five categories of primary needs defined by Maslow: physiological or vital needs, needs for security, for love and belonging, for self-esteem, and for realisation or personal accomplishment, since it is a need of the soul.

Aspiration can lead to a variety of experiences of union with the Absolute, but both the liberation into spirit – the end of desire and ego – which is the result of a process of purification – and to an even greater extent the liberation of nature, remain tied to a progression within the mind till a certain point. Expressed by the fundamental movement of yoga of ascension and integration, this link constitutes quite a complex problem. In fact the seeker can progress quite far in a specific area even while leaving behind other parts of the being, which will eventually force him to turn back. In mythology this link is marked by unions between heroes and heroines of different lineages, by the participation of the heroes of these lineages in Panhellenic adventures or by ‘visits’ and gifts exchanged by characters from different lineages. The number of generations within each lineage adds an element of complexity to this problem.

Pindar describes Tantalus as one who is on familiar terms with the gods and even as an immortal, reflecting a seeker who is familiar with the powers of the overmind and who has possibly even attained a state of non-duality in the spirit. Marking the origin of the lineage, this accomplishment therefore presupposes a very advanced stage of mental progression.
However, the sacrifice of his only son offered to the gods shows that the researcher, although very dedicated, think to have reached the end of yoga since no more yoga work would be necessary (the death of the only son). There is then the need to go back to achieve a more complete mastery; it will be the union of Pelops and Hippodamia.

This is why the order of descendance described by Apollodorus and Hyginus, which is apparently drawn from ancient sources, seems coherent. It associates this remarkable aspiration to a great development of the higher mind, represented by the Pleiad Sterope, ‘a vision in lightening flashes’. Hence the mention of Hippodamia, ‘the mastery of vital force’, as a daughter of Oenomaus and Sterope or granddaughter of the god Ares and Sterope.
We can understand therefore that the seeker has to come down from the higher planes of the mind to complete purification which would then be started from the higher mind.
Sterope, a symbol of the higher mind pl