Sisyphus

Sisyphus depicted on a black-figure amphora vase
Persephone supervising Sisyphus in the Underworld, Attic black-figure amphora, c. 530 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen
Sisyphus and Amphiaraus, copy of a mural in the François Tomb, Vulci, made in 4th century BC

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (/ˈsɪsɪfəs/ ⓘ; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος, romanized: Sísyphos) is the founder and king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He reveals Zeus's abduction of Aegina to the river god Asopus, thereby incurring Zeus's wrath. His subsequent cheating of death earns him eternal punishment in the underworld, once he dies of old age. The gods condemned him to push an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on contemporary culture, tasks that are laborious, futile, and never-ending are therefore often described as Sisyphean (/sɪsɪˈfiːən/).

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.