Back Sisufos Afrikaans سيزيف Arabic سيزيف ARZ Sísifu AST Sizif Azerbaijani Sisyphos BAR Сізіф Byelorussian Сизиф Bulgarian সিসিফাস Bengali/Bangla Sisyfos Breton

Sisyphus

For other uses, see Sisyphus (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Syphilis.

Sisyphus depicted on a black-figure amphora vase
Persephone supervising Sisyphus in the Underworld, Attic black-figure amphora, c. 530 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen[1]
Sisyphus and Amphiaraus, copy of mural in François Tomb from Vulci made in 4th century BC

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (/ˈsɪsɪfəs/; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος Sísyphos) was 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 forced him to roll 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 modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean (/sɪsɪˈfiːən/).[2]

  1. ^ museum inv. 1494
  2. ^ "Sisyphean". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by razib.in