Sisyphus

Sisyphus was the founder and king of Corinth, renowned as the most cunning mortal who ever lived. His cleverness, however, crossed the line from wisdom into defiance of the gods. He betrayed Zeus's secret affair with the river nymph Aegina to her father, earning the king of the gods' wrath.

When Thanatos came to take Sisyphus to the underworld, Sisyphus tricked Death himself, binding him in chains. With Death imprisoned, no mortal anywhere could die. Ares eventually freed Thanatos, and Sisyphus was dragged below. But he had instructed his wife not to perform funeral rites, then convinced Persephone to let him return to the living to scold his "neglectful" wife. Once free, he refused to return.

Hermes finally hauled Sisyphus back to the underworld permanently. His punishment became mythology's most famous image of futility: for eternity, Sisyphus must push an enormous boulder up a steep hill. Each time he nears the summit, the boulder rolls back to the bottom, and he must begin again.