Sisyphus

Sisyphus
Underworld Character
General Information
Alias:	Boulder
Gender:	Male
Status:	Deceased
Home:	Underworld
Consort:	Merope
Relatives:	Glaucus, Ornytion, Almus, Thersander (sons) Salmoneus (brother) (grandfather of) Bellerophon
Physical Description
Species:	Human
Hair color:	Black (most accounts)
Apppearances
First mentioned:	700 BCE
First appearance:	"Strange Case"
Latest mention:	9th Century
Next appearance:	"Alternate Realities"
Relevant Pages

“

He was destined by Hades to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity, however, once it reached the top, it rolled back down and had to do it all over again. This was punishment for mistreating the gods.

”

—Homer

Sisyphus is a character in Hesiod as well as Homer's mythology story. He débuts, with his appearance during the times of Homer or Hesiod.

History

Sisyphus and his brother Salmoneus were known to hate each other, and Sisyphus consulted with the Oracle of Delphi on just how to kill Salmoneus without incurring any severe consequences for himself. From Homer onward, Sisyphus was famed as the craftiest of men. He seduced Salmoneus's daughter Tyro in one of his plots to kill Salmoneus, only for Tyro to slay the children she bore by him when she discovered that Sisyphus was planning on eventually using them to dethrone her father.

King Sisyphus also betrayed one of Zeus' secrets by revealing the whereabouts of Aegina (an Asopides who was taken away by Zeus) to her father (the river god Asopus) in return for causing a spring to flow on the Corinthian acropolis.

Zeus then ordered Thanatos, Death, to chain King Sisyphus down below in Tartarus. Sisyphus was curious as to why Hermes, whose job it was to guide souls to the Underworld, had not appeared on this occasion. King Sisyphus slyly asked Thanatos to demonstrate how the chains worked. As Thanatos was granting him his wish, Sisyphus seized the opportunity and trapped Thanatos in the chains instead. Once Thanatos was bound by the strong chains, no one died on earth. This caused an uproar especially for Ares, and so he intervened. The exasperated Ares freed Thanatos and turned King Sisyphus over to Thanatos.

In another version, Hades was sent to chain Sisyphus and was chained himself. As long as Hades was tied up, nobody could die. Because of this, sacrifices could not be made to the gods, and those that were old and sick were suffering. The gods finally threatened to make life so miserable for Sisyphus that he would wish he were dead. He then had no choice but to release Hades.

Before King Sisyphus died, he had told his wife to throw his naked body into the middle of the public square. This caused King Sisyphus to end up on the shores of the River Styx. Then, complaining to Persephone that this was a sign of his wife's disrespect for him, King Sisyphus persuaded her to allow him to return to the upper world. Once back in Ephyra, the spirit of King Sisyphus scolded his wife for not burying his body and giving it a proper funeral. When King Sisyphus refused to return to the Underworld, he was forcibly dragged back there by Hermes. In another version of the myth, Persephone, goddess of the Underworld, was tricked by Sisyphus that he had been conducted to Tartarus by mistake, and so she ordered that he be released.

Trivia

• Notes

Notes

• Sisyphus was one of the most major mistreaters to the gods themselves, earning him the title to Tartarus.

Appearances

Greek Mythology Appearances
"Disney's Hercules":	"Clash of the Titans (2010)":	"Wrath of the Titans":	"Once Upon a Time":	"Hercules 2014":	"Immortals":	"Myths":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Allusion	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Rain of the Furies":	"Clash of the Titans (1981)":	"For the Love of Zeus":	"PJO & the Lightning Thief":	"PJO & the Sea of Monsters":	"Strange Case":	"More in Heaven and Hell":	"Alternate Realities":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	TBA	TBA	TBA