1000 Classical Characters Briefly Described

Who was Iphigenia? What did Cincinnatus do? A thousand gods, heroes and tyrants of the classical world, each explained in the time it takes to read a text message.

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Tantalus

A king of Lydia, father of Niobe and Pelops. He is represented by the poets as being, in the infernal regions, placed in a pool of water, which receded from him whenever he attempted to drink, thus causing him to suffer perpetual thirst; hence the origin of the term "tantalizing."

Tarentum, called Taras. An important city in Italy (called Taranto by the Greeks), situated on the western coast of the peninsula of Calabria, and on a bay of the sea, about one hundred stadia in circuit, forming an excellent harbor, and being a portion of the great gulf of Tarentum.

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