In the distant kingdom of Phrygia reigned Tantalus-son of Zeus and princess Pluto, due to his noble lineage, he had privileges at Olympus, he was allowed to share a table with the gods at their banquets and in his privileged position, he could hear the conversations and plots of the gods, although he was entitled to the hospitality of the gods when visiting Olympus, he on the other hand, did not respect his hosts and so after leaving Olympus, Tantalus spread the secrets of the gods which he had listened to during the banquets and another time, he even dared to steal some nectar and ambrosia(food of the gods) from the gods table, this was food that granted immortality and hence it was limited to be taken by the gods.
Due to their omniscience, the gods knew what Tantalus was doing, however, because they enjoyed his company, they ignored his actions and did not punish him. Tantalus wanted to repay the hospitality of the gods with a banquet at his palace. Zeus, Hermes and Demeter accepted the invitation and so the king helped in the preparations for the banquet, he wanted the event to be perfect so that the gods would give him even more blessings, he then called his son and told him that he would have the rare privilege of sharing a table with the gods of Olympus and his son was excited and thanked his father as he would be able to, just like his father be at the presence of his grandfather Zeus and so he walked radiantly towards his room to prepare himself for the banquet.
Tantalus called the cook and told him to prepare the most splendorous meal and then the king whispered something into the cook's ear, and the cook couldn't hide his concern. The gods arrived at the palace, and they were received with all reverence. The banquet began and the food began to be served, the guests talked about the most diverse subjects and then Zeus asked the question, "Where is my grandson? you said he would be among us", and Tantalus told Zeus his father not to worry as soon he would be at the table with them, little did anyone know that they weren't on the same page as Tantalus.
The moment of the main course arrived, and the cook brought a beautiful stew to the table and the aroma of the stew was unmatchable, the goddess Demeter who had been in a deep sorrow due to the fact that her daughter Persephone was now in the kingdom of Hades (kidnapped by Hades), Demeter devoured the stew to slightly improve her mood. Tantalus served the stew to Zeus and Hermes and the 2 gods exchanged suspicious looks, Tantalus then asked in a proud manner if they liked his offering to the gods and then Zeus bursted out in anger saying, "You degenerate creature how dare you offer human flesh to the gods" and the deranged King still proud of himself explained that it wasn't a mere human sacrifice but rather the greatest sacrifice. He proudly announced the fact that he was offering them the flesh of his first-born son. Demeter who had already eaten a large piece of flesh felt sick.
Zeus then said, "We have been complacent with your crimes in the past, but this deserves to be punished in an exemplary way" and so Tantalus was sent to Tartarus where he would suffer a terrible punishment. He was placed in a lake surrounded by fruit trees and the water covered him up to his chin and the fruits hung within reach of his hands, however, Tantalus constantly felt a terrible hunger and thirst, whenever he reached down in order to get a drink of water from the lake, the lake water would also drop thus preventing him from quenching his thirst and when the hunger appeared he would try to reach the fruits that hung over his head but the wind would push the branches and the fruit away and then the gods decided to resurrect his innocent son and they made him even more beautiful than before however, one of his shoulders was missing and it was what was devoured by the goddess Demeter and so Zeus asked Hephaestus to create an Ivory shoulder for his grandson, back to life and whole, he became king, meanwhile his father suffered eternal punishment in Tartarus with the objects of his desperate desire so close and yet so far away.