In the Old Testament, an Israelite by the name of Jonah was called upon by God to be a prophet. Jonah refused to carry out God’s mission and instead set out on a sea voyage, however; God raised a great storm in anger of Jonah’s disobedience. The sailors threw Jonah overboard in hopes to save the ship as well as their own lives. It was then that a “great fish” swallowed Jonah, saving him from drowning. He resided in the creature for three days until it “vomited out Jonah upon the dry land”. Jonah took up the prophetic mission in thanks to God for sparing his life.

Tantalus was not only the son of Zeus, but honored by gods beyond all mortal children of Zeus. He was able to eat at their table, drink their nectar, and eat their ambrosia. The gods came to dinner at Tantalus’s house. Driven by his hatred of the gods, Tantalus sought to “bring them to the horrors of cannibalism”. Tantalus chopped his son, Pelops, limb by limb, boiled him in a large cauldron, and served him to the gods thinking that fooling them would be easy. The gods knew right away and punished Tantalus by placing him in a pool in the underworld. The water came up to his chin, and there was a tree hanging overhead with succulent fruit. Whenever Tantalus went to take a drink from the pool, the water would drain into the ground and refill as he stood. Also, whenever he went to grasp a piece of fruit a strong wind would blow the branch just out of his reach.