Wicked Men and Vengeful Gods

Greek myths are abound with wicked men, doing wicked things and being punished for their wicked ways. Invariably in their tales these men incur the wrath of the gods and are doomed to a punishment that while cruel, has some sort of ironic twist to it.

Dionysus fromBritish Museum

Everyone knows of the tale of King Midas who upon winning a favour from Dionysus for looking after Silenus, one of his companions, wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. However no longer able to drink or eat as "everything he touched turned to gold" it was only after he embraced his daughter and she turned into a gold statue that he pleaded for the wish to be removed. While not necessarily wicked, the tale of Midas is a cautionary one on being careful what you wish for. 

However, here are three tales of wicked men, who were punished for their actions in three unique ways. 

Tantalus

Tantalus was a friend of Zeus and dined with the gods, however he abused the honour by stealing ambrosia and nectar, the food of the gods, and giving it to his friends on earth. He then pushed the gods further by testing their all knowing nature. 

Tantalus killed his own son, Pelops, and served him for dinner. It was forbidden for gods to eat human flesh, however they knew at once it was human flesh on their plates and for his crimes, Tantalus was sent to Tartarus by Zeus.

His punishment was fitting to his crime. Tantalus was forced to stand in a pool of water with fruit hanging just out of reach. If he tried to slake his thirst the water of the pool lowered and if he tried to reach for the fruit, the branch would lift the fruit away from him.

As such he was doomed to stand there, eternally tormented by hunger and thirst. 

Sisyphus

Sisyphus by Titian

Sisyphus was a particularly wicked man. Seducing his niece, he stole his brothers throne and betrayed Zeus's secrets. For his crime Zeus ordered Hades to take Sisyphus to Tartarus. Sisyphus slyly asked Hades to show him how the chains worked. Sisyphus quickly bound Hades in his own chains and took him prisoner. 

This created all sorts of problems as none of the dead could move to the underworld without Hades as a guide. Ares swiftly rescued Hades and Sisyphus was taken to Tartarus. There he was made to roll a boulder up a steep hill, upon reaching the top the boulder would roll back to the bottom. 

As such he was doomed to an endless task.

Ixion

Ixion was a murderer, having killed his future father-in-law. Zeus in a moment of generosity was prepared to forgive him, but instead of being grateful for a second chance, Ixion planned to carry off Hera, Zeus's wife. 

Zeus was not prepared to believe that one man could be so wicked and so made a cloud double of his wife. To his dismay Ixion stole this cloud double woman proving how wicked he really was. 

As punishment Zeus ordered Hermes to tie Ixion to a wheel of fire and sent him spinning around the sky. 

As such he was doomed to endless torment of pain for having angered the gods. 

These tales are of course tales told to teach a morale, no matter how clever you think you are, you will always get your comeuppance in the end. It's the gods will. 

If you have a favourite Greek myth of a wicked man being punished for his crimes why not tell it to us in the comments below. 

Thanks for Reading

James