TANTALUS

TANTALUS, in the Greek mythology a Lydian king, who, being admitted from blood relationship to the banquets of the gods, incurred their displeasure by betraying their secrets, and was consigned to the nether world and compelled to suffer the constant pangs of hunger and thirst, though he stood up to the chin in water, and had ever before him the offer of the richest fruits, both of which receded from him as he attempted to reach them, while a huge rock hung over him, ever threatening to fall and crush him with its weight.