Torment of tantalum, the meaning of the phraseological unit and the origin briefly. "Tantalum Torments"

3. This makes my loins tremble; pangs seized me like the pangs of a woman giving birth. I'm excited by what I'm hearing; I'm confused by what I see. 4. My heart trembles; trembling hits me; My joyful night turned into horror for me. I'm excited... - can be translated as: "I'm so excited,

Tantalum flour(meaning) - unbearable torment caused by contemplation of the proximity of the desired goal and the consciousness of powerlessness, the impossibility of achieving it (Explanatory Dictionary, 1935-1940).

According to ancient Greek myth, King Tantalus of Phrygia was a favorite of the gods and was often invited to their feasts. But, being proud, he offended the gods. For this, as punishment, he was sent to Tartarus, where he stands up to his neck in water, but cannot get drunk. The water recedes from him as soon as he lowers his head to drink. Luxurious fruits hanging above his head deviate from his hands. Therefore, he is forever doomed to experience unbearable pangs of hunger and thirst.

"Later I saw Tantalus, executed with a terrible execution:
In the bright lake he stood up to his neck in water and, languid,
With a burning thirst, he tried in vain to choke on water.
585 Just now he bowed his head to her, hoping to get drunk,
She ran away noisily; below under your feet it appeared
Black bottom, and it was drained in an instant by the demon.
Many fruitful trees grew above his head,
Apple trees, and pears, and pomegranates, abundant in golden fruits,
590 Also sweet fig trees and olive trees, blooming luxuriously.
Tormented by hunger, as soon as he stretched out his hand to the fruits,
At once all the branches of the trees rose darkly towards the clouds."

The myth of Tantalus according to Kuhn N.A.

IN "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece" describes the story of Tantalus (based on Homer's poem "Odyssey"):

“In Lydia, near Mount Sipila, there was a rich city, called by the name of Mount Sipila. In this city, the favorite of the gods, the son of Zeus Tantalus, ruled. The gods rewarded him with everything in abundance. There was no one on earth who was richer and happier than King Sipila , Tantalus. The richest gold mines on Mount Sipile gave him innumerable wealth. No one had such fertile fields, no one brought such beautiful fruits to the gardens and vineyards. Huge herds of fine-fleeced sheep, steep-horned bulls, and cows grazed in the meadows of Tantalus, the favorite of the gods. and herds of horses fast as the wind. King Tantalus had an abundance of everything. He could have lived in happiness and contentment until old age, but excessive pride and crime ruined him.

The gods looked at their favorite Tantalus as their equal. The Olympians often came to the golden halls of Tantalus and feasted merrily with him. Even to the bright Olympus, where no mortal ascends, Tantalus more than once ascended at the call of the gods. There he took part in the council of the gods and feasted at the same table with them in the palace of his father, the thunderer Zeus. Tantalus became proud from such great happiness. He began to consider himself equal to even the cloud-killer Zeus himself. Often, returning from Olympus, Tantalus took with him the food of the gods - ambrosia and nectar - and gave them to his mortal friends, feasting with them in his palace. Even those decisions that the gods made when conferring on bright Olympus about the fate of the world, Tantalus informed people; he did not keep the secrets that his father Zeus confided to him. One day, during a feast on Olympus, the great son Cronus turned to Tantalus and said to him:

My son, I will fulfill whatever you wish, ask me for whatever you want. Out of love for you, I will fulfill any of your requests.

But Tantalus, forgetting that he was only a mortal, proudly answered his father, the aegis-powerful Zeus:

I don't need your favors. I don't need anything. The lot that has befallen me is more beautiful than the lot of the immortal gods.

The Thunderer did not answer his son. He frowned menacingly, but restrained his anger. He still loved his son, despite his arrogance. Soon Tantalus twice cruelly insulted the immortal gods. Only then did Zeus punish the arrogant one.

In Crete, the homeland of the Thunderer, there was a golden dog. She once guarded the newborn Zeus and the wonderful goat Amalthea who fed him. When Zeus grew up and took away the power over the world from Cronus, he left this dog in Crete to guard his sanctuary. The king of Ephesus, Pandareus, seduced by the beauty and strength of this dog, secretly came to Crete and took it away on his ship from Crete. But where to hide this wonderful animal? Pandarey thought about this for a long time during his journey across the sea and finally decided to give the golden dog to Tantalus for safekeeping. King Sipila hid the wonderful animal from the gods. Zeus was angry. He called his son, the messenger of the gods Hermes, and sent him to Tantalus to demand the return of the golden dog. In the blink of an eye, fast Hermes rushed from Olympus to Sipylus, appeared before Tantalus and said to him:

The king of Ephesus, Pandareus, stole a golden dog from the sanctuary of Zeus in Crete and gave it to you for safekeeping. The gods of Olympus know everything, mortals cannot hide anything from them! Return the dog to Zeus. Beware of incurring the wrath of the Thunderer!

Tantalus answered the messenger of the gods this way:

It is in vain that you threaten me with the wrath of Zeus. I have not seen a golden dog. The gods are wrong, I don’t have it.

Tantalus swore a terrible oath that he was telling the truth. With this oath he angered Zeus even more. This was the first insult inflicted by Tantalus on the gods. But even now the Thunderer did not punish him.

Tantalus brought upon himself the punishment of the gods as the next, second insult to the gods and a terrible crime. When the Olympians gathered for a feast in the palace of Tantalus, he decided to test their omniscience. King Sipila did not believe in the omniscience of the Olympians. Tantalus prepared a terrible meal for the gods. He killed his son Pelops and served his meat to the gods during a feast under the guise of a wonderful dish. The gods immediately comprehended Tantalus's evil intent; none of them touched the terrible dish. Only the goddess Demeter, full of grief for her daughter Persephone, who was kidnapped from her, thinking only about her and not noticing anything around in her grief, ate the shoulder of young Pelops. The gods took a terrible dish, put all the meat and bones of Pelops in a cauldron and put it on a brightly blazing fire. Hermes, with his charms, again revived the boy. He appeared before the gods even more beautiful than he was before, the only thing missing was the shoulder that Demeter had eaten. By order of Zeus, the great Hephaestus immediately made a shoulder for Pelops from shiny ivory. Since then, all descendants of Pelops have a bright white spot on their right shoulder.

The crime of Tantalus overflowed the patience of the great king of gods and people, Zeus. The Thunderer overthrew Tantalus into the dark kingdom of his brother Hades; there he suffers a terrible punishment. Tormented by thirst and hunger, he stands in clear water. It reaches all the way to his chin. He only has to bend down to quench his painful thirst. But as soon as Tantalus bends down, the water disappears, and under his feet there is only dry black earth. The branches of fertile trees bend over Tantalus's head: juicy figs, ruddy apples, pomegranates, pears and olives hang low above his head; Heavy, ripe bunches of grapes almost touch his hair. Exhausted by hunger, Tantalus stretches out his hands for the beautiful fruits, but a gust of stormy wind blows in and carries away the fruitful branches. Not only hunger and thirst torment Tantalus, eternal fear squeezes his heart. A rock hangs over his head, barely holding on, threatening every minute to fall and crush Tantalus with its weight. This is how King Sipila, the son of Zeus Tantalus, suffers in the kingdom of the terrible Hades with eternal fear, hunger and thirst."

Tantalus, the son of Zeus, was rich and noble among people, a favorite of the gods. Dense fields, huge herds, rich mountain mines gave him and all his subjects everything that a person needed. People loved Tantalus, and the gods treated him as an equal. Often the gods appeared in his luxurious palace, feasted merrily, and talked about earthly and heavenly affairs. It even happened that the gods called Tantalus to their councils on Olympus.
Zeus himself especially distinguished Tantalus from his other children.

Tantalus became proud. More than once he told people what the gods talked about among themselves, what they decided about the fate of the world. Once he even brought nectar and ambrosia from Olympus to his fellow tribesmen, which the immortal gods ate. To his father, Zeus, who once invited his beloved son to fulfill any desire, he dared to answer:
- I don't need your favors. The lot that has befallen me is more beautiful than the lot of the immortals!
The father was darkened by his son's arrogance, but this time Zeus forgave him.
But Tantalus did not even think about pacifying his pride. Once, King Pandareus, a friend of Tantalus, arrived in Crete and secretly took away a wonderful golden dog. Tantalus knew that the Thunderer loved her very much; she once guarded the entrance to the cave where he grew up. Pandareus asked Tantalus to carefully hide the stolen animal in his place. He gladly fulfilled this request, rejoicing that he was able to fool the gods around his finger. And the fleet-footed Hermes, who rushed from the gods with a request to give up the dog, swore a terrible oath that he had not seen her, saying that the gods were mistaken in suspecting him.
Zeus was upset when he learned that his son was a deceiver. But this time I forgave him.
Soon Tantalus again decided to test the all-seeing gods, committing a terrible crime. One day he invited the Olympians to his celebration and served them a sumptuous meat dish. He thought that his immortal guests would not know that he ordered the roast to be made... from the meat of his own son Pelops, who he himself killed! Even the gods froze in horror at the sight of such blasphemy. Nobody touched the food. Only Demeter, absorbed in sadness about her missing daughter Persephone, thoughtlessly took one piece in oblivion.
Now Zeus's cup of patience is overflowing. The gods collected a terrible dish, put it in a cauldron, and put it on the fire. Hermes, at the request of the gods, revived the boy. Only the right shoulder, eaten by Demeter, had to be replaced with ivory. Since then, all descendants of Pelops have had a white spot on their shoulder. And cast down by the gods underground kingdom Aida Tantalus received a terrible punishment for his terrible misdeeds.
For centuries it stood in a transparent lake, resting among gardens. Trees with delicious fruits lightly touched his hair. Bunches of grapes swayed before my eyes. Crystal clean water the lake reaches his chin. But as soon as he, exhausted by thirst, bows his head, the water disappears, revealing black, dry earth. As soon as he, tormented by hunger, stretches out his hand to a tree branch, a gust of wind takes it so far away that he cannot reach it. And besides, the rock hanging over his head is holding on by some miracle, ready to crush the wicked at any moment.

People who know this story, by the words “tantalum torments” mean unbearable torment from the consciousness of the proximity of the goal and the impossibility of achieving it.