Sisyphus (Punishment)
heroCleverest of mortals who cheated death twice and was condemned to push a boulder uphill in Tartarus forever.
The Myth
He tricked Death itself — chained Thanatos so no mortal could die, then talked his way out of the Underworld after dying. Sisyphus was king of Corinth and the craftiest human alive. He chained Thanatos (Death) himself, so no one could die until Ares freed Death. Then, when he did die, he instructed his wife to leave his body unburied. In the Underworld, he convinced Persephone to let him return to punish his wife for the disrespect — then simply refused to die again. Hermes had to drag him back. His punishment is the eternal boulder: he pushes it to the top of a hill, it rolls back down, repeat forever. Camus made him the existentialist hero: one must imagine Sisyphus happy.
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Symbols
Fun Fact
Camus's essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) argues Sisyphus is happy — the struggle itself is enough.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Sisyphus
heroThe cunning king of Corinth who cheated death twice, only to be condemned to an eternity of futile...
Sisyphus (King)
heroSisyphus was the craftiest mortal who ever lived — he cheated Death twice before Zeus condemned him...
Corinth
placeCorinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the...
Tartarus
placeThe deepest abyss beneath the earth, as far below Hades as heaven is above earth. Tartarus was the...
Tartarus (Primordial)
primordialTartarus was both a primordial deity and the deepest pit of the cosmos — as far below Hades as...
Thanatos
conceptThe god and personification of peaceful death, twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep). Thanatos was not...
Underworld
placeThe Underworld was the vast subterranean realm where all mortal souls went after death — a...
Autolycus
heroAutolycus was the greatest thief in Greek mythology, son of Hermes, who could steal anything and...
Autolycus (Thief)
heroThe master thief and shapeshifter, grandfather of Odysseus, whose gift for deception was inherited...
Bellerophon
heroThe hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and used him to slay the monstrous Chimera. His story...
Ixion
heroIxion was the first human to murder a kinsman and the first to attempt seduction of a goddess —...
Odysseus (Trickster)
heroOdysseus was the most cunning of all Greek heroes — the man of polytropos (many turns), whose...