name this mythological character...?

Question

In what I believe is greek mythology- the man punished by the gods by being left next to water and food, but whenever he makes a move to eat or drink, it is always just barely out of reach...

Answer 1

That would be Tantalus. He was punished by the gods for seving them his son Pelops at a feast he hosted for them. The Greek gods abhored human sacrifice. As punishment he was placed waist deep in a pool of water. When ever he went to drink the water it receded away from him. There was a branch of fruit hanging just over his head, but when he reached for it, it moved just out of his reach.

Answer 2

Tantalus--was a former King whose punishment was to stand in the river Hades the fruit on the tree above him is always just out of reach and the water receded everytime he tried to drink.

Answer 3

The person that Jin described was Narcissus.

From wikipedia:

"Tantalus is known for having been welcomed to Zeus' table in Olympus, like Ixion. There he too misbehaved, stole ambrosia, brought it back to his people, and revealed the secrets of the gods.

He also offered up his son, Pelops, as a sacrifice to the gods. He cut Pelops up, boiled him, and served him up as food for the gods.

The gods were said to be aware of his plan for their feast, so they didn't touch the offering; only Demeter, disturbed by the rape of her daughter Persephone, "did not realize what it was" and ate of the boy's shoulder. Fate, ordered by Zeus, brought the boy to life again (she collected the parts of the body and boiled them in a sacred cauldron), rebuilding his shoulder with one wrought of ivory made by Hephaestos and presented by Demeter.

The revived Pelops was kidnapped by Poseidon and taken to Olympus to be the god's eromenos (an adolescent boy who was in a love (sexual or not) relationship with an adult man) . Later, Zeus threw Pelops out of Olympus due to his anger at Tantalus.

The Greeks of classical times claimed to be horrified by Tantalus' doings, cannibalism, human sacrifice and parricide were atrocities and taboo. Tantalus was the founder of the cursed House of Atreus in which variations on these atrocities continued. Misfortunes also occurred as a result of these acts, making the house the subject of many Greek Tragedies.

Tantalus' grave-sanctuary stood on Sipylos. But hero's honours were paid him at Argos, where local tradition claimed to possess his bones. On Lesbos there was another hero-shrine in the little settlement of Polion and a mountain named for Tantalos."

His punishment:
"Tantalus' punishment, now proverbial for temptation without satisfaction, was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. Over his head towers a threatening stone, like that of Sisyphus. It is from this story that the word tantalizing comes."

There you go.

Answer 4

There is a tale of a man who gazes into a pool of water and is infatuated by his own reflection, but does not know it is himself. He becomes so obsessed with his own reflection that he ignores everything else and becomes a slave to his own vanity until he eventually dies. I can't remember the title of the tale or the man's name though, it just sounded similar to what you were asking.

Answer 5

Tantalus, hence "tantalizing"

Answer 6

I think it was Tantalus

Or spelled similar..

Answer 7

i think is Tantalus

Answer 8

tantalus

Answer 9

Nazi's? KKK? Republicans? lol