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Tantalus

Tantalus

Bedtime and campfire stories from way, way back in the day

Check out the full version in Fabulae by Hyginius:

Tantalus, son of Jove and Pluto, begat Pelops by Dione. Jupiter was accustomed to confide his plans to Tantalus and admit him to the banquets of the gods, but Tantalus reported the plans to men. Because of this, he is said to stand in water up to his waist in the Land of the Dead, yet always to be thirsty, and when he wants to take a drink of water, it recedes. Apples, too, hang above his head, and when he wants to gather them, the branches, moved by the wind, recede. A huge stone, too, hangs above his head, and he is constantly afraid it will fall on him.