cw sexual assault
So the town of Sodom hears that there are two angels at Lot's house, so they go over and say "hey, we want to rape your guests". Then Lot goes "no, rape my daughters instead", to which they respond "no, we want to rape the guests". Then God goes "you know what? I'm barbecuing the city and the one next door, Lot, you and your family leave, but don't look back". Then Lot's wife does look back, so she gets turned into a seasoning.
like... the fuck?
Sacred Hospitality was fucking important back in the day, and a lot of these weird religious parables are ultimately just long-form ways of saying "if someone shows up to your house, give them food, water, and shelter for the night." If you live in a society where going to town to sell wool and buy some supplies is a days-long journey, then you'd better hammer it into everyone's skulls that you should help one another out with that process lest your Bronze Age civilization implode.
There's this Greek myth I like a lot about Zeus going down to hang out and check on things, but he wants the unvarnished truth, so he disguises himself as a beggar. The first few people he approaches refuse him, so he continues on until he comes to a little homestead where an elderly couple live. Despite his meager trappings, they invite him into their home and, though they apologize for not having much to share, they pour him wine from their jar and feed him what they have. The evening goes on and on, all of them having a good time, as it seems this beggar is quite the conversationalist. As the shadows grow longer and as the humble couple pour round after round of wine, it slowly becomes apparent that the jar is still half full, even though it must have been emptied twice-over by this point.
I can't remember if the wife realizes something is afoot or if Zeus just reveals himself once he's satisfied, but one way or another he takes his true form and while the couple reel, thanks them for being the first on his travels to offer him hospitality. Zeus then offers them a boon of their choosing. These are simple, poor folk, but though they could ask for riches or bountiful land, they explain that they really have all that they need and are content. Zeus demands that there must be something they lack, so the couple say that there is one thing they are concerned about: should one of them die before the other, it would surely be very painful for the one still alive. They then ask Zeus that both of them should die on the same day, so that they never have to be apart. Zeus agrees.
Some years later, the one of them falls and dies in the morning near their house. Upon witnessing it, the other runs to their body and upon realizing what's happened, dies on the same spot. From where the two lay, a tree begins to grow. As the tree grows, it reveals that it is a tree with two trunks that twist together around and around each other, and in this way the couple remain together after death.