Sisyphus (King)
heroSisyphus was the craftiest mortal who ever lived — he cheated Death twice before Zeus condemned him to push a boulder uphill for eternity.
The Myth
Sisyphus tricked Thanatos (Death) by asking him to demonstrate the chains meant for him — then locked Death up, stopping all death on earth. After Ares freed Death, Sisyphus told his wife not to bury him, then complained to Persephone that his funeral rites were incomplete, getting permission to return to scold his wife. He refused to go back. Zeus finally caught him and condemned him to push a boulder up a hill in Tartarus — each time near the summit, it rolled back down. Camus made him the hero of absurdist philosophy: "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
Parents
Children
Glaucus, Ornytion
Symbols
Fun Fact
Camus' 1942 essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" turned this punishment into an existentialist manifesto — the defining text of absurdism.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Aeolus
godAeolus kept winds in a leather bag on his floating island.
Ares
godGod of the brutal, savage side of war. Unlike Athena's strategic warfare, Ares represented the raw...
Persephone
godDaughter of Demeter and queen of the underworld. Her annual return from Hades brings spring; her...
Sisyphus
heroThe cunning king of Corinth who cheated death twice, only to be condemned to an eternity of futile...
Tartarus
placeThe deepest abyss beneath the earth, as far below Hades as heaven is above earth. Tartarus was the...
Thanatos
conceptThe god and personification of peaceful death, twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep). Thanatos was not...