Sisyphus was the first king of Ephyra, now known as Corinth. He was a clever, intelligent and quick-witted leader, but also an immoral tyrant who flaunted his power by seducing his nieces and murdering visitors. The abuse and violation of sacred hospitality traditions caused the gods to become furious. However, Sisyphus avoided punishment and did not
contemplate his sins and reflect on his crimes.All the problems started when Zeus, in the form of a huge eagle, kidnapped the nymph Aegina. When Asopus, the god of the river, noticed that his daughter had been seized, he followed the trail of Aegina, soon encountering Sisyphus.In return for Sisyphus telling Asopus that Zeus had abducted his daughter, Asopus created an eternal spring in the city of Ephyra, the city of Sisyphus.
When Zeus found out about Sisyphus’s accusation, he became infuriated, ordering Thanatos, the god of death, to chain Sisyphus in the underworld to stop him from causing further problems.
When Thanatos showed up at Sisyphus’s house, he asked Thanatos to demonstrate how the chains worked. As Thanatos was granting him his desire, Sisyphus took the opportunity and trapped Thanatos in chains instead. Soon, the world became chaotic because nobody could die and wars became more bloody than ever. When Ares, the god of war, was upset that battles were no longer fun, he became suspicious. So he went around trying to find out where Death was and found out that he had been heading toward Sisyphus’s house.
Ares, recognizing Thanatos, tied by the chains, freed him and sent Sisyphus to hell. When his soul found its way to the underworld, Sisyphus found himself in front of Hades. He convinced Hades that he should go back to the living world so that his wife could do proper funeral rites for him and he promised that he would return straight back to the underworld.
Of course, Hades was suspicious of him, but he had always believed that spirits couldn’t lie and always took funeral rites seriously. So, he allowed Sisyphus to go back to the world. When Sisyphus walked into the house alive, his wife was surprised and worried. She warned Sisyphus that he couldn’t deceive Hades forever and was only asking for trouble. However, because Sisyphus already had to pay a punishment and he had nothing to lose, he ignored his wife’s warning.
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For years, Sisyphus’s plan worked. He kept a low profile, staying at home most of the time. Hades forgot about Sisyphus. One day, Thanatos mentioned Sisyphus to Hades and he realised that Sisyphus hadn’t come back.So, Thanatos sent Hermes to look for Sisyphus. Hermes went to Sisyphus’s house and took him to a barren hill five hundred feet high with sides that sloped steeply. At the bottom of the hill sat a big round boulder.
His task was to roll the boulder up the top of the hill.
Unfortunately, he soon found out his job was impossible. As soon as Sisyphus got close to the top of the hill, he lost control. No matter how he tried, the boulder would roll back to the bottom or it would run over him and then roll to the bottom. If he stopped to rest, one of the Furies came along and whipped him until he got moving again. Sisyphus was doomed to roll his rock uphill for eternity, never able to escape his punishment.
Ellie (NLCS Jeju)
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