Sisyphus by Titian, 1549.

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus (Σίσυφος) (IPA: /ˈsɪsɨfəs/) was a king punished in the Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill throughout eternity. tribe Canthonini Coprini Dichotomiini Eucraniini Eurysterini Gymnopleurini Onitini Oniticellini Onthophagini Phanaeini Scarabaeini Sisyphini The subfamily Scarabaeinae consists of species often lablled true dung beetles. Most of the beetles of this subfamily feed exclusively on dungs. ... Species see text Sisyphus is a genus of dung beetles. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 535 × 599 pixels Full resolution (1150 × 1288 pixel, file size: 221 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): The Myth of Sisyphus Sisyphus... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 535 × 599 pixels Full resolution (1150 × 1288 pixel, file size: 221 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): The Myth of Sisyphus Sisyphus... Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... In classic Greek mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). ... While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existing for an infinite, i. ...

Today, whenever someone finds an assignment extremely hard, they may refer to it as herculean or Sisyphean.

The myth

Sisyphus was son of the king Aeolus of Thessaly and Enarete, and the founder/first king of Ephyra (Corinth). He was the father of Glaucus by the nymph Merope, and the grandfather of Bellerophon. Later sources say Sisyphus was the father of Odysseus by Anticlea, just before she married her later husband, Laertes. Sisyphus was said to have founded the Isthmian games in honour of Melicertes. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Map showing Thessaly periphery in Greece Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... In Greek mythology, Enarete was the wife of Aeolus and ancesstress of the Aeolians. ... Kichyros (Cichorus, Cichyrus), later called Ephyra, was the capital of ancient Thesprotia build by the Pelasgian leader Thesprotos. ... Corinth, or Korinth (Greek: Κόρινθος, Kórinthos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... In Greek mythology, Glaucus (shiny, bright or bluish-green) was the name of several different figures, including one God. ... In Greek mythology, several unrelated women went by the name Merope (bee-mask later reinterpreted as honey-like or eloquent), which may, therefore, have denoted a position in the cult of the Great Mother rather than a mere individuals name: Merope, one of the Heliades Merope, foster mother of... For other uses, see Bellerophon (disambiguation). ... For other meanings, see Odysseus crater, 1143 Odysseus “Ulysses” redirects here. ... In Greek mythology, Anticlea, (Ἀντίκλεια), was the daughter of Autolycus and Amphithea, and mother of Odysseus or Ulysses by Laërtes (though some say by Sisyphus). ... In Greek mythology, Laërtes (Greek: Λαέρτης) was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. ... The Isthmian Games were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Corinth every two years. ... Melicertes (later called Palaemon), in Greek mythology, the son of the Boeotian prince Athamas and Ino, daughter of Cadmus. ...

Sisyphus promoted navigation and commerce, but was avaricious and deceitful, violating the laws of hospitality by killing travelers and guests. From Homer onwards, Sisyphus was famed as the craftiest of men. He seduced his niece, took his brother's throne and betrayed Zeus's secrets (specifically, Zeus' rape of Aegina, the daughter of the river god Asopus; by some accounts, the daughter of his father Aeolus, making her either Sisyphus' sister or half-sister). Zeus then ordered Hades to chain Sisyphus in Tartarus. Sisyphus slyly asked Thanatos to try the chains to show how they worked. When Thanatos did so, Sisyphus secured them and threatened Hades. This caused an uproar, and no human could die until Ares (who was annoyed that his battles had lost their fun because his opponents would not die) intervened, freeing Thanatos and sending Sisyphus to Tartarus. For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, Aegina was the daughter of the river-god Asopus and the nymph Metope. ... Asopus or Asôpos is the name of five different rivers in Greece and also in Greek mythology the name of the gods of those rivers. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... In classic Greek mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). ... In Greek mythology, Thanatos (in Ancient Greek, θάνατος – Death) was the Daimon personification of Death and Mortality. ... This article is about the ancient Greek god; for other uses, see Ares (disambiguation). ...

However, before Sisyphus died, he had told his wife that when he was dead she was not to offer the usual sacrifice. In the underworld he complained that his wife was neglecting him and persuaded Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, to allow him to go back to the upper world and ask his wife to perform her duty. When Sisyphus got back to Corinth, he refused to return and was eventually carried back to the underworld by Hermes. In another version of the myth, Persephone was directly persuaded that he had been conducted to Tartarus by mistake and ordered him to be freed (Bernard Evslin's Gods, Demigods & Demons, 209-210). Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874) (Tate Gallery, London In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Persephónē) was the Queen of the Underworld of epic literature. ... For other uses, see Hermes (disambiguation). ...

Hermes Psykhopompos: sitting on a rock, the god is preparing to lead a dead soul to the Underworld, Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. ... Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874) (Tate Gallery, London In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Persephónē) was the Queen of the Underworld of epic literature. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... Front face of the MINOS far detector. ... In Greek mythology, Aeacus (Greek: Aiakos, bewailing or earth borne) was king in the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. ... In Greek myths, Rhadamanthus (Ῥαδαμάνθυς; also transliterated as Rhadamanthys or Rhadamanthos) was a wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa. ... Michelangelos rendering of Charon. ... Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. ... The Acheron is located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. ... Cocytus, meaning the river of wailing (from the Greek κωκυτός, lamentation), is a river in the underworld in Greek mythology. ... In classic Greek mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). ... In Classical Greek, Lethe (LEE-thee) literally means forgetfulness or concealment. The Greek word for truth is a-lethe-ia, meaning un-forgetfulness or un-concealment. In Greek mythology, Lethe is one of the several rivers of Hades. ... Elysian redirects here. ... In Greek mythology, Styx (Στυξ) is the name of a river which formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, Hades. ... In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon ([river of] fire) was one of the five rivers of the underworld. ... The Asphodel Meadows is a section of the Ancient Greek underworld where indifferent and ordinary souls were sent to live after death. ... In Greek mythology Erebus (Έρεβος Erebos, Deep blackness/darkness or shadow from Ancient Greek Έρεβος) was the son of a primordial God, Chaos, the personification of darkness and shadow, which filled in all the corners and crannies of the world. ... This article is about the Greek myth. ... Tantalos, by Goya In Greek mythology Tantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus[1] and the nymph Plouto (riches)[2] Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies mortals (brotoi)[3] Other versions name his father as Tmolus wreathed... This article is about the race of Titans in Greek mythology. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... Greek religion is the polytheistic religion practiced in ancient Greece in form of cult practices, thus the practical counterpart of Greek mythology. ...

"Sisyphean task" or "Sisyphean challenge"

As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again (Odyssey, xi. 593). The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for Sisyphus due to the mortal's hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus. Sisyphus took the bold step of reporting one of Zeus's sexual conquests, telling the river god Asopus of the whereabouts of his daughter Aegina. Zeus had taken her away, and regardless of the impropriety of Zeus's frequent conquests, Sisyphus unmistakably overstepped his bounds by considering himself a peer of the gods who could rightfully report their indiscretions (Edith Hamilton's Mythology, 312-313). As a result, Zeus displayed his own cleverness by binding Sisyphus to an eternity of frustration. Accordingly, pointless or interminable activities are often described as Sisyphean. Sisyphus was a common subject for ancient writers and was depicted by the painter Polygnotus on the walls of the Lesche at Delphi (Pausanias x. 31). Beginning of the Odyssey The Odyssey (Greek Οδύσσεια (Odússeia)) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the Ionian poet Homer. ... Hubris or hybris (Greek ), according to its modern usage, is exaggerated self pride or self-confidence (overbearing pride), often resulting in fatal retribution. ... Polygnotus was a Greek painter in the middle of the 5th century BC, son of Aglaophon. ... For other uses, see Delphi (disambiguation). ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ...

Interpretations

According to the solar theory, Sisyphus is the disk of the sun that rises every day in the east and then sinks into the west.^[1] Other scholars regard him as a personification of waves rising and falling, or of the treacherous sea.^[2] The 1st-century BCE Epicurean philosopher Lucretius interprets the myth of Sisyphus as personifying politicians aspiring for political office who are constantly defeated, with the quest for power, in itself an "empty thing", being likened to rolling the boulder up the hill. (De Rerum Natura III) Welcker suggested that he symbolises the vain struggle of man in the pursuit of knowledge, and S. Reinach (Revue archéologique, 1904) that his punishment is based on a picture in which Sisyphus was represented rolling a huge stone Acrocorinthus, symbolic of the labour and skill involved in the building of the Sisypheum. Albert Camus, in his 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus, sees Sisyphus as personifying the absurdity of human life, but concludes "one must imagine Sisyphus happy" as "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart." The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. ... Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus (c. ... Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (c. ... Not to be confused with The Nature of Things, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television show about natural science. ... Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker (1784-1868), German philologist and archaeologist, was born at Grünberg in the grand duchy of Hesse. ... The walled gates of Acrocorinth, from the west, as rebuilt by the Venetians Acrocorinth (Gr. ... For other uses, see Camus. ... Sisyphus by Titian, 1549 The Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay by Albert Camus. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sisyphus

• Sisyphus (dialogue), a dialogue ascribed to Plato
• Sisyphus cooling (quantum mechanical effect)
• 1866 Sisyphus, asteroid
• Tantalus

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Sisyphus is purported to be one of the dialogues of Plato. ... For other uses, see Dialogue (disambiguation). ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... For a less technical and generally accessible introduction to the topic, see Introduction to quantum mechanics. ... 1866 Sisyphus (sis-ə-fəs) is an Apollo asteroid which, at approximately 10 km in diameter, is the largest of the Earth-crossing asteroids. ... 253 Mathilde, a C-type asteroid. ... Tantalos, by Goya In Greek mythology Tantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus[1] and the nymph Plouto (riches)[2] Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies mortals (brotoi)[3] Other versions name his father as Tmolus wreathed...

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...