Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Sisyphus Sisyphus (SIS-i-fus) Sinner condemned in Tartarus to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill then watching it roll back down again. Sisyphus was founder and king of Corinth, or Ephyra as it was called in those days. He was notorious as the most cunning knave on earth. His greatest triumph came at the end of his life, when the god Hades came to claim him personally for the kingdom of the dead. Hades had brought along a pair of handcuffs, a comparative novelty, and Sisyphus expressed such an interest that Hades was persuaded to demonstrate their use - on himself. And so it came about that the high lord of the Underworld was kept locked up in a closet at Sisyphus's house for many a day, a circumstance which put the great chain of being seriously out of whack. Nobody could die. A soldier might be chopped to bits in battle and still show up at camp for dinner. Finally Hades was released and Sisyphus was ordered summarily to report to the Underworld for his eternal assignment. But the wily one had another trick up his sleeve.

He simply told his wife not to bury him and then complained to Persephone, Queen of the Dead, that he had not been accorded the proper funeral honors. What's more, as an unburied corpse he had no business on the far side of the river Styx at all - his wife hadn't placed a coin under his tongue to secure passage with Charon the ferryman. Surely her highness could see that Sisyphus must be given leave to journey back topside and put things right. Kindly Persephone assented, and Sisyphus made his way back to the sunshine, where he promptly forgot all about funerals and such drab affairs and lived on in dissipation for another good stretch of time. But even this paramount trickster could only postpone the inevitable. Eventually he was hauled down to Hades, where his indiscretions caught up with him. For a crime against the gods - the specifics of which are variously reported - he was condemned to an eternity at hard labor. And frustrating labor at that. For his assignment was to roll a great boulder to the top of a hill.

Only every time Sisyphus, by the greatest of exertion and toil, attained the summit, the darn thing rolled back down again. Sisyphus facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Sisyphus Myths and Legends of the World COPYRIGHT 2001 Macmillan Reference, USA Sisyphus In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was famous for two things: his cleverness during life and the punishment he suffered after death. Although stories about Sisyphus differ somewhat in their details, he is usually referred to as the king of Corinth. One story about Sisyphus involves Autolycus, a clever thief. Autolycus stole cattle by changing their color so that they could not be identified. Sisyphus outwitted him, however, by placing a mark on the cattle's hooves so that he could follow the hoofprints to the stolen animals. In another myth, Sisyphus saw Zeus * kidnap a river nymph, but he promised to keep the hiding place secret. He betrayed Zeus, however, when he revealed the location to the nymph's father in exchange for a spring of pure water.

Furious, Zeus sent Thanatos* (death) to take Sisyphus to Hades *. The clever Sisyphus managed to tie up Thanatos, and for days no one on earth died. Ares* went to free death and take Sisyphus to the underworld. Sisyphus called out to his wife not to bury him, and he persuaded Hades, ruler of the underworld, to let him go back to earth long enough to arrange a proper funeral. After returning to Corinth though, Sisyphus stayed there until his second, and final, death. nymph minor goddess of nature, usually represented as young and beautiful underworld land of the dead As punishment for tricking the gods, Sisyphus was placed on a hillside in the underworld with a heavy boulder above him. To escape being crushed, he had to push the boulder uphill. The gods told him that if he rolled the stone to the other side they would release him. Each time he reached the top, though, the boulder rolled back down to the bottom, forcing Sisyphus to start over. The phrase "labor of Sisyphus" refers to any hopeless task that must be repeated endlessly.

See also Greek Mythology; Hades; Thanatos. * See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA Sisyphus - definition of Sisyphus in English | Oxford Dictionaries Definition of Sisyphus in English: Sisyphus proper noun Greek Mythology The son of Aeolus, punished in Hades for his misdeeds in life by being condemned to the eternal task of rolling a large stone to the top of a hill, from which it always rolled down again. Pronunciation Which of these is written in the passive? The dishes were washed Which of these is written in the passive? He carried the girl Which of these is written in the passive? The cat played with the toy The toy was played with Which of these is written in the passive? The puppy was carried Which of these is written in the passive? The dog chewed the bone The bone was chewed Which of these is written in the passive? The book was read The child read the book Which of these is written in the passive? I broke the glass Which of these is written in the passive?

The gang burgled the house The house was burgled Which of these is written in the passive? The flowers were planted Which of these is written in the passive? The storm shocked the family The family were shocked You scored /10 practise again? Retry The Value of Labor and The Myth of Sisyphus This work is available here free, so that those who cannot afford it can still have access to it, and so that no one has to pay before they read something that might not be what they really are seeking. But if you find it meaningful and helpful and would like to contribute whatever easily affordable amount you feel it is worth, please do do. I will appreciate it. The button to the right will take you to PayPal where you can make any size donation (of 25 cents or more) you wish, using either your PayPal account or a credit card without a PayPal account. The Value of Labor and the Myth of Sisyphus Rick Garlikov In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a brilliant rascal who sometimes played tricks on the gods to get what he wanted. He even used trickery to avoid death.

Finally the gods had enough and condemned Sisyphus to eternal hard labor -- his punishment: rolling a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down to the bottom each time he finally gets it to the top. It was intended to be not only difficult labor, but frustratingly futile, unrewarding, repetitive labor. The toil of Sisyphus is a metaphor for all difficult and repetitive labor that is frustrating and unrewarding. The 1957 Nobel laureate for literature Albert Camus wrote in a brief essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" (1940) that Sisyphus' fate and his endless toil is not futile. He says: "If the descent [i.e., Sisyphus' returning to the bottom of the mountain to start pushing the rock upward all over again] is sometimes performed in sorrow, it can also take place in joy." And "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." In spite of Camus' words, the punishing labor of Sisyphus seems horrendous. That is why it was given, and that is why the myth has such power.

Or is Camus right that there can be nobility or redemption, or grounds for satisfaction, even "happiness", in such futile labor? I believe Camus focused on only part of the characteristics of the labor of Sisyphus. There are at least five characteristics of Sisyphus' task, and I want to distinguish between attributes which might be redemptive, noble, or joyous, and those which are not. Rolling the rock eternally up the hill only to have it return each time you reach the summit for you to do it all over again is 1) repetitive, 2) futile, 3) temporary, and 4) laborious, and 5) worthless in a way that is separate from its being repetitive, futile, laborious, and temporary. I have written elsewhere that impermanence does not erase value. Making someone happy or providing solace for someone in despair, even if it is only temporary is still a worthwhile act. Creating or saving a life that will someday die is not a worthless or meaningless act.

Even if all we do in the lifetime of civilization collapses into a universal blackhole or relative pinpoint of incredibly dense mass, our accomplishments are what they were, even if they do not remain in the memory of an omniscient God but dissolve entirely into the metaphysics of empty time. That something happened and meant anything at all is important, regardless of how long it lasts. All joys in life are temporary, but they are joys nevertheless, and they are most important. A joyous life is better than a joyless one, even though both come to an end. So I have no quarrel with Camus about the fact that Sisyphus' success at reaching the summit with the boulder is merely temporary. Sisyphus can rejoice in that success each time simply because he achieves it, regardless of how long the achievement lasts. And the fact that he has to do it all over again does not diminish its value or his happiness, because there are many things we do repeatedly to obtain joy or satisfaction, and we do not lament having to do so. Repeated joy or repeated success is not a source of frustration or futility. Sex, for instance. Good food. Convivial companionship. Humor. Restful sleep. Breathing.

Excitement. Anticipation. Games and sports. There is nothing about simply having to repeat something that necessarily makes it bad or that makes it not worth doing any of the times or all of the times. The fact that Sisyphus has to push the rock up the mountain repeatedly is not what makes it a bad task. The effort is laborious; the rock is huge and heavy, and Sisyphus has to work very hard to achieve the summit. But the work is possible, and it is not harmful. Much work that is difficult is worthwhile and often success at a difficult task is far sweeter than success at an easy one. There is nothing about hard work in itself that is frustrating or futile or even punishing. So Camus is still on safe ground in imagining at least the possibility that Sisyphus is happy each time he succeeds, even as he starts back down the mountain to retrieve the rock to begin again. Now futility is normally, perhaps even always, disappointing, but futility is the failure to reach a goal. Sisyphus fails to get the rock to the top of the mountain permanently, but he never fails to get the rock to the top of the mountain.

His effort is only to be considered futile if the goal is permanence. Insofar as his task is not to keep the rock at the pinnacle, but merely to get it there, his efforts are not futile. In fact as often as he has to repeat the task he achieves success and his effort is rewarded, not frustrated. Moreover, if we once again look at what is in some sense metaphysically important, it is important in life that we try to do what is right, not just that we succeed. We cannot control our destiny, but we can control our deserts, and we do that by always trying to do what is right and what is best. Attempts may be futile, but making the attempt is never futile, for it determines and simultaneously rewards our character. In all these ways, Camus is on safe ground in being able to imagine that Sisyphus is happy. But there is one remaining attribute of Sisyphus' labor, and I see no way to imagine it produces happiness, nobility, or redemption. It has nothing to do with the repetiveness of the act, its difficulty, the brevity of its achievement, or its potential futility.

It is that the act of rolling this boulder up this hill serves no useful purpose other than to punish Sisyphus. It is meaningless to move this rock to the top of this hill otherwise. There is no merit in getting the rock to the summit. The task is a worthless one. The achievement is an achievement in name only. It accomplishes nothing but getting the rock from here to there. Even if the task of Sisyphus were merely to get this rock up this hill one time, whatever amount of time he spends doing it, whether long or short, is time squandered from how he better could have spent it doing something worthwhile and useful. Even if it were to make him stronger, he would have been better off becoming stronger by doing strenuous work that was actually useful. As a metaphor for frustrating and futile labor, the point of this being a punishment for Sisyphus is that it an eternal waste of time and energy. That it is repetitive makes it frustrating because it is the repetition of something boring and useless. That it is laborious is only bad because it is a strenuous effort to achieve something of no real value.

It does not really matter that it is temporary, for even if it were permanent, Sisyphus would not be able to take pride in the fact that he has simply changed the position of a rock, a piece of furniture in the universe. Moving the rock makes a difference in the universe, but a difference that is without distinction, without merit, without benefit. Sisyphus has added no value to the universe by taking the rock from the bottom of the hill to its crest. His crowning victory each time is an empty one, not because it does not last, but because it accomplishes nothing of value. His work, his success, his effort is all in vain because the task is worthless. Not all work is noble. What is noble is to be striving toward the best we can accomplish, not toward just any accomplishment for its own sake. Even if you do well at something that is somewhat worthwhile, if there is something else you should have been doing that was more worthwhile, or that better set the stage for a lifetime of more worthwhile contributions you could have made, you have not done the most valuable act you could have. You have somewhat wasted your time.

To spend time doing something of absolutely no value is to waste your time and that part of your life. Of course, sometimes we need to do less worthwhile acts in order to be able to do other more worthwhile acts. Eating, sleeping, vacationing or taking breaks may be unproductive and not particularly gratifying in themselves (for some people) but may be necessary in order for one to have the energy and focus to do what is worthwhile and satisfying. Sometimes we have to work at less productive work in order to be able to have the resources, such as financial resources, to do more worthwhile things. That is a sad and inefficiently wasteful situation, but a bearable one. However, Sisyphus does not even have that luxury. He always and only pushes the rock up the hill. His chore is not a means to another end. Pushing the rock is all he does and all he gets to do. It is his only act. And it has absolutely no intrinsic or extrinsic value for him. It is a totally useless and meaningless act, and it is all he gets to do. That is why this punishment is so terrible.

Perhaps, of course, he could be hearing or composing music, conceiving poetry, retrieving happy memories, dreaming hopeful dreams, creating wondrous fiction, or solving deep theoretical physics or philosophical problems in his head while he is pushing the rock, but the myth does not seem to offer that possibility; and even if it did, he has no one to share his answers with and cannot even stop to write them down. The punishment would not be so bad if he is able to think and if he enjoys thinking and is able to come to some interesting insights or pleasant thoughts. But that is not part of the myth, and perhaps the toil of the rock is so demanding that it precludes even thinking. Being able to think and do something worthwhile while doing the otherwise worthless task of moving the rock would allow for redemption and nobility and would take the sting out of the punishment. If thinking is impossible though because of the intensity of the toil or because Sisyphus is constitutionally not capable of it, or if thinking is unhelpful because Sisyphus is constitutionally not satisfied by it, then we are back to the totally meaningless and unredemptive nature of his work and his continued existence.

Aristotle said that happiness is an activity of the soul in conformity with excellence. I would add it is also an activity of the soul in the pursuit of excellence. Sisyphus however is not pursuing excellence. He is merely performing a task. And not all tasks are in conformity with, or the pursuit of, excellence. It is the total lack of value of what Sisyphus has to work so hard to achieve that makes his punishment so horrific. It is not because his labor is merely arduous and eternal, but because it is arduous and eternally pointless, that he must suffer from doing it. One cannot imagine him happy unless one foolishly imagines him, or imagines him foolish. As a metaphor for part of the human condition and the plight of some people -- even those often considered most successful because we mistakenly think change is progress or that there are no hollow victories -- the myth of Sisyphus is a sad commentary. The work of far too many people has been, and continues to be, pushing a rock up a hill merely to change its location.

This work is available here free, so that those who cannot afford it can still have access to it, and so that no one has to pay before they read something that might not be what they really are seeking. But if you find it meaningful and helpful and would like to contribute whatever easily affordable amount you feel it is worth, please do do. I will appreciate it. The button to the right will take you to PayPal where you can make any size donation (of 25 cents or more) you wish, using either your PayPal account or a credit card without a PayPal account. The Son of Sisyphus The Son of Sisyphus The Son of Sisyphus Randal Meyers Sisyphus: from Greek Mythology, the son of Aeolus, punished in Hades for his misdeeds in life by being condemned to the eternal task of rolling a large stone to the top of a hill, from which it always rolled down again. (Sisyphean: of a task such that it can never be completed.) From the one person exhibit, Gallery - A402, CalArts, Valencia, CA. 1997. Self Portrait, Scanned images, light box.

Sisyphus - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus Sisyphus Definition: a king in ancient Greece who offended Zeus and whose punishment was to roll a huge boulder to the top of a steep hill; each time the boulder neared the top it rolled back down and Sisyphus was forced to start again Class: Greek Sisyphos, a name of unknown origin. King of Corinth, famed as "the... (Source: Online Etymology) [more] Wikipedia: Sisyphus a king of Ephyra punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever. Sisyphus was son of King Aeolus of Thessaly and Enarete, and the founder... (45 of 1601 words, pronunciation, 2 images ) en​.wikipedia​.org​/wiki​/Sisyphus Sisyphus (disambiguation) a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill in Greek mythology.

Sisyphus may also refer to: 1866 Sisyphus, an Apollo asteroid | Sisyphus (beetle), a genus of dung beetles | Sisyphus (dialogue), a spurious dialogue of... (42 of 157 words, 8 definitions) Sisyphus [Greek mythology] in Greek mythology, the cunning king of Corinth who was punished in Hades by having repeatedly to roll a huge stone up a hill only to have it roll ... Sisyphus [Greek mythology] a king of Corinth, punished in Hades for his misdeeds by eternally having to roll a heavy stone up a hill: every time he approached the top, the stone ... (29 of 358 words, 5 usage examples, pronunciation) Columbia Encyclopedia: Sisyphus in Greek mythology, son of Aeolus and founder and king of Corinth. Renowned for his cunning, he was said to have outwitted even Death. For his ...

(26 of 73 words, pronunciation) Oxford Dictionary: Sisyphus Syllabification: (Sis·y·phus) [Greek mythology] | the son of Aeolus, punished in Hades for his misdeeds in life by being condemned to the eternal task ... (23 of 59 words, 2 definitions, pronunciation) The Myth of Sisyphus The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor. If one believes Homer, Sisyphus was the wisest and most prudent of mortals. According to another tradition, however, he was disposed to practice the profession of highwayman. I see no contradiction in this. Opinions differ as to the reasons why he became the futile laborer of the underworld. To begin with, he is accused of a certain levity in regard to the gods. He stole their secrets. Aegina, the daughter of Aesopus, was carried off by Jupiter.

The father was shocked by that disappearance and complained to Sisyphus. He, who knew of the abduction, offered to tell about it on condition that Aesopus would give water to the citadel of Corinth. To the celestial thunderbolts he preferred the benediction of water. He was punished for this in the underworld. Homer tells us also that Sisyphus had put Death in chains. Pluto could not endure the sight of his deserted, silent empire. He dispatched the god of war, who liberated Death from the hands of the conqueror. It is said also that Sisyphus, being near to death, rashly wanted to test his wife's love. He ordered her to cast his unburied body into the middle of the public square. Sisyphus woke up in the underworld. And there, annoyed by an obedience so contrary to human love, he obtained from Pluto permission to return to earth in order to chastise his wife. But when he had seen again the face of this world, enjoyed water and sun, warm stones and the sea, he no longer wanted to go back to the infernal darkness. Recalls, signs of anger, warnings were of no avail.

Many years more he lived facing the curve of the gulf, the sparkling sea, and the smiles of the earth. A decree of the gods was necessary. Mercury came and seized the impudent man by the collar and, snatching him from his joys, led him forcibly back to the underworld, where his rock was ready for him. You have already grasped that Sisyphus is the aburd hero. He is,as much through his passions as through his torture. His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing. This is the price that must be paid for the passions of this earth. Nothing is told us about Sisyphus in the underworld. Myths are made for the imagination to breathe life into them.

As for this myth, one sees merely the whole effort of a body straining to raise the huge stone, to roll it and push it up a slope a hundred times over; one sees the face screwed up, the cheek tight against the stone, the shoulder bracing the clay-covered mass, the foot wedging it, the fresh start with arms outstretched, the wholly human security of two earth-clotted hands. At the very end of his long effort measured by skyless space and time without depth, the purpose is achieved. Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes back down to the plain. It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate.

He is stronger than his rock. If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious. Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him? The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious. Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory. There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn. If the descent is thus sometimes performed in sorrow, it can also take place in joy. This word is not too much. Again I fancy Sisyphus returning toward his rock, and th sorrow was in the beginning. When the images of earth cling too tightly to memory, when the call of happiness becomes too insistent, it happens that melancholy rises in man's heart: this is the rock's victory, this is the rock itself. The boundless grief is too heavy to bear. These are our nights of Gethsemane.

But crushing truths perish from being acknowledged. Thus, Oedipus at the outset obeys fate without knowing it. But from the moment he knows, his tragedy begins. Yet at the same time, blind and desperate, he realizes that the only bond linking him to the world is the cool hand of a girl. Then a tremendous remark rings out: "Despite so many ordeals, my advanced age and the nobility of my soul make me conclude that all is well." Sophocles' Oedipus, like Dostoevsky's Kirilov, thus gives the recipe for the absurd victory. Ancient wisdom confirms modern heroism. One does not discover the absurd without attempting to write a manual of happiness. "What! by such narrow ways--?" There is but one world, however. Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable. It would be a mistake to say that happiness necessarily springs from the absurd discovery. It happens as well that the feeling of the absurd springs from happiness. "I conclude that all is well," says Oedipus, and that remark is sacred. It echoes in the wild and limited universe of man. It teaches that all is not, has not been, exhausted.

It drives out of this world a god who had come into it with dissatisfaction and a preference for futile sufferings. It makes of fate a human matter, which must be settled among men. All Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing. Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates his torment, silences all the idols. In the universe suddenly restored to silence, the myriad wondering little voices of the earth rise up. Unconscious, secret calls, invitations from all the faces, they are the necessary reverse and price of victory. there is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night. The absurd man says yes and his effort will henceforth be unceasing. If there is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny, or at least there is but one which he concludes is inevitable and despicable. For the rest, he knows himself to be the master of his days. At that subtle moment when man glances backward over his life, Sisyphus returning toward his rock, in that silent pivoting he contemplates that series of unrelated actions which becomes his fate, created by him, combined under his memory's eye and soon sealed by his death.

Thus, convinced of the wholly human origin of all that is human, a blind man eager to see who knows that the night has no end, he is still on the go. The rock is still rolling. I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. What is it about your life that resembles Sisyphus' plight? What is your relationship to your rock? Is the struggle itself enough for you? Would you describe pushing a rock up a hill heaven, hell, or something in between? How does this story relate to Sartre's ideas about man's fate, Plato's universe, Christian faith and the teachings of Jesus? Which is worse, Dante's Inferno or the eternal struggle of Sisyphus?

Mytholofy Exam at University of North Carolina-Wilmington - StudyBlue The genealogy of a group or system of gods Helius Son of Hyperion and Theia Father of Paethon Prometheus A demigod, one of the Titans, who was worshiped by craftsmen. When Zeus hid fire from man, Prometheus stole it by trickery and returned it to earth. As punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock where an eagle fed each day on his liver, which grew again each night; he was rescued by Hercules Pandora the first woman; created by Hephaestus on orders from Zeus who presented her to Epimetheus along with a box filled with evils Hera A powerful goddess, the wife and sister of Zeus and the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. She was worshiped as the queen of heaven and as a marriage goddess Xenophanes Greek philosopher. A member of the Eleatic school, he argued for a form of pantheism and criticized belief in anthropomorphic gods Nereids any of the 50 sea nymphs who were daughters of the sea god Nereus Adonis A beautiful youth loved by both Aphrodite and Persephone.

He was killed by a boar, but Zeus decreed that he should spend the winter of each year in the underworld with Persephone and the summer months with Aphrodite Socrates ancient Athenian philosopher; teacher of Plato and Xenophon Brauron The sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron (Ancient Greek Βραυρών; Modern Greek Βραυρώνα — Vravrona or Vravronas) is an early sacred site on the eastern coast of Attica near the Aegean Sea Pythia An archaic Greek statue of a young woman, standing and clothed in long loose robes Odysseus The king of Ithaca and central figure of the Odyssey, renowned for his cunning and resourcefulness Charon An old man who ferried the souls of the dead across the Styx and Acheron rivers to Hades Sisyphus The son of Aeolus, punished in Hades for his misdeeds in life by being condemned to the eternal task of rolling a large stone to the top of a hill, from which it always rolled down again Orpheus poet who could entrance wild beasts with the beauty of his singing and lyre playing.

He went to the underworld after the death of his wife Eurydice and secured her release from the dead, but lost her because he failed to obey the condition that he must not look back at her until they had reached the world of the living Mycenaean An inhabitant of Mycenae or member of the Mycenaeanpeople Hesiod Greek poet. One of the earliest known Greek poets, he wrote the Theogony, an epic poem on the genealogies of the gods Eros Eros (Ἔρως, "Intimate Love"), in Greek mythology, was the primordial god of sexual love and beauty. He was also worshipped as a fertility deity. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire"), also known as Amor ("love"). ...

Selene The goddess of the moon who fell in love with Endymion Succession Myth the goddess of the hearth and its fire in ancient mythology; identified with Roman Vestal Muses 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science nemesis the goddess of divine retribution and vengeance Herodotus the ancient Greek known as the father of history; his accounts of the wars between the Greeks and Persians are the first known examples of historical writing (485-425 BC) pantheon all the gods of a religion Gorgons any of three winged sister monsters and the mortal Medusa who had live snakes for hair; a glance at Medusa turned the beholder to stone Urania The father of the Trojan hero Aeneas Sappho Greek lyric poet who lived on Lesbos. Many of her poems express her affection and love for women and have given rise to her association with female homosexuality Actaeon A hunter who, because he accidentally saw Artemis bathing, was changed into a stag and killed by his own hounds Ephesus An ancient Greek city on the western coast of Asia Minor, in modern Turkey, site of the temple of Diana. An important center of early Christianity, St.

Paul preached here and St. John is said to have lived here Cassandra A daughter of the Trojan king Priam, who was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo. When she cheated him, however, he turned this into a curse by causing her prophecies, though true, to be disbelieved Psychopompus terally meaning the "guide of souls") are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. .. Bacche The priestesses or female devotees of the Greek god Bacchus Tiresias A blind Theban prophet, so wise that even his ghost had its wits and was not a mere phantom. Legends account variously for his wisdom and blindness; some stories hold also that he spent seven years as a woman Narcissus a beautiful young man who fell in love with his own reflection Eleusis a Great town, near Athens. Plato/Er reek philosopher. A disciple of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, he founded the Academy in Athens. His theory of “ideas” or “forms” contrasts abstract entities or universals with their objects or particulars in the material world.

His philosophical writings are presented in the form of dialogues, and his political theories appear in the Republic Styx One of the rivers in the underworld, over which Charon ferried the souls of the dead Tantalus a wicked king and son of Zeus; condemned in Hades to stand in water that receded when he tried to drink and beneath fruit that receded when he reached for it Euridice an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo (the god of light). She was the wife of Orpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. ... sacred marriage refers to a sexual ritual that plays out a marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. It is the harmonization of opposites. Ovid Roman poet remembered for his elegiac verses on love Gaia The Earth personified as a goddess, daughter of Chaos.

She was the mother and wife of Uranus (Heaven); their offspring included the Titans and the Cyclopes Oceanus The son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth), the personification of the great river believed to encircle the whole world Demeter The goddess of cereal grains, daughter of Cronus and Rhea and mother of Persephone. She is associated with Cybele; her symbol is typically an ear of wheat. The Eleusinian mysteries were held in honor of her Hades The god of the underworld, one of the sons of Cronus Ares The Greek war god, son of Zeus and Hera Hermes The son of Zeus and Maia, the messenger of the gods, and god of merchants, thieves, and oratory. He was portrayed as a herald equipped for traveling, with broad-brimmed hat, winged shoes, and a winged rod anthropomorphism The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object Croesus last king of Lydia (died in 546 BC) Solon Athenian statesman and lawgiver. One of the Seven Sages, he revised the code of laws established by Draco.

His division of the citizens into four classes based on wealth rather than birth was the basis for Athenian democracy Pontus An ancient region in northern Asia Minor, on the Black Sea coast north of Cappadocia. By the end of the 1st century bc, it had been defeated by Rome and absorbed into the Roman Empire Metis In Greek mythology, Metis (Μῆτις, "wisdom," "skill," or "craft") was of the Titan generation and, like several primordial figures, an Oceanid, in the sense that Mètis was born of Oceanus and Tethys, of an earlier age than Zeus and his siblings. ... apotropaic Supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck Pandemos Aphrodite Plato Greek philosopher. A disciple of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, he founded the Academy in Athens. His theory of “ideas” or “forms” contrasts abstract entities or universals with their objects or particulars in the material world.

His philosophical writings are presented in the form of dialogues, and his political theories appear in the Republic Ascelepius A hero and god of healing, son of Apollo Hyacinthus A beautiful boy whom the god Apollo loved but killed accidentally with a discus. From his blood Apollo caused the hyacinth to spring up Caduceus n ancient Greek or Roman herald's wand, typically one with two serpents twined around it, carried by the messenger god Hermes or Mercury Cadmus The brother of Europa and traditional founder of Thebes in Boeotia.

He killed a dragon that guarded a spring, and when (on Athena's advice) he sowed the dragon's teeth, there came up a harvest of armed men; he disposed of the majority by setting them to fight one another, and the survivors formed the ancestors of the Theban nobility Virgil a Roman poet; author of the epic poem `Aeneid' (70-19 B Cerberus A monstrous watchdog with three (or in some accounts fifty) heads that guarded the entrance to Hades Ixion A king who, by Zeus's command, was pinned to a fiery wheel that revolved unceasingly through the underworld, as punishment for his alleged seduction of Hera Hephaestus he god of fire and of craftsmen, son of Zeus and Hera; husband of Aphrodite. He was a divine metalworker who was lame as the result of having interfered in a quarrel between his parents Apollo A god, son of Zeus and Leto and brother of Artemis.

He is associated with music, poetic inspiration, archery, prophecy, medicine, pastoral life, and in later poetry with the sun; the sanctuary at Delphi was dedicated to him Dionysus A Greek god, son of Zeus and Semele. He was originally a god of the fertility of nature, associated with wild and ecstatic religious rites; in later traditions he is a god of wine who loosens inhibitions and inspires creativity in music and poetry Fates The three goddesses who preside over the birth and life of humans. Each person's destiny was thought of as a thread spun, measured, and cut by the three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos Proteus a prophetic god who served Poseidon; was capable of changing his shape at will Aegis An attribute of Zeus and Athena (or their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) usually represented as a goatskin shield Priapus A god of fertility, whose cult spread to Greece (and, later, Italy) from Turkey after Alexander's conquests. He was also a god of gardens and the patron of seafarers and shepherds Aristophanes reek comic playwright.

Notable works: Lysistrata, The Birds, and The Frogs Diana virgin goddess of the hunt and the Moon; counterpart of Greek Artemis Delphi One of the most important religious sanctuaries of the ancient Greek world, dedicated to Apollo, situated on the lower southern slopes of Mount Parnassus above the Gulf of Corinth.

Thought of as the navel of the earth, it was the seat of the Delphic Oracle, whose riddling responses to a wide range of questions were delivered by the Pythia Daphne a nymph who was transformed into a laurel tree to escape the amorous Apollo Maenad A female follower of Bacchus, traditionally associated with divine possession and frenzied rites Pentheus In Greek mythology, Pentheus was a king of Thebes, son of the strongest of the Spartes, Echion, and of Agave, daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia Anthesteria Anthesteria, one of the four Athenian festivals in honour of Dionysus (collectively the Dionysia), was held annually for three days, the eleventh to thirteenth of the month of Anthesterion (the January/February full moon); it was preceded by the Lenaia.

Persephone goddess, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter Sibyl Sisyphus | Article about Sisyphus by The Free Dictionary Sisyphus | Article about Sisyphus by The Free Dictionary Related to Sisyphus: Sisyphus syndrome Sisyphus (sĭs`ĭfəs), in Greek mythology, son of Aeolus and founder and king of Corinth. Renowned for his cunning, he was said to have outwitted even Death. For his disrespect to Zeus, he was condemned to eternal punishment in Tartarus. There he eternally pushed a heavy rock to the top of a steep hill, where it would always roll down again. Albert Camus' essay The Myth of Sisyphus is based on this legend. Sisyphus (religion, spiritualism, and occult) Sisyphus, asteroid 1,866 (the 1,866th asteroid to be discovered, on December 5, 1972), is approximately 7.6 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 2.6 years.

Sisyphus was a mythological figure whose punishment in the underworld was to roll a stone up a hill, only to have it roll back to the bottom, and then have to push it up the hill, over and over again for eternity. According to Martha Lang-Wescott, Sisyphus represents “determination; dogged persistence; to start over (again or anew); to repeat effort.” Jacob Schwartz gives this asteroid’s astrological significance as “determined action on hopeless or repetitive tasks, ‘returning to square one.’” This asteroid’s key phrase is “start over.” Sources: Lang-Wescott, Martha. Asteroids-Mechanics: Ephemerides II. Conway, MA: Treehouse Mountain, 1990. Lang-Wescott. Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids. Rev. ed. Conway, MA: Treehouse Mountain, 1991. Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995. Sisyphus in Greek mythology, the son of Aeolus (the guardian of the winds) and the builder and king of Corinth.

After his death, Sisyphus was condemned in Hades to roll a heavy stone up a hill, which, every time it nearly reached the top, rolled down again. Hence the expression “Sisyphean labor,” which signifies endless and ineffective hard work and torments. Various myths have been preserved that explain why such a severe punishment befell Sisyphus. According to one myth, he is tormented for having disclosed the gods’ secrets. Sisyphus was portrayed in ancient Greek dramas, including non-extant works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. He has been represented in modern literature (A. Camus, R. Merle) and in art (Titian). [23–1053–] Sisyphus a genus of dung beetles whose black or brown body is 5-12 mm long. The legs are very long. The anterior tibiae are dentate, whereas the posterior tibiae are bent and lack denticles. There are 16 species, distributed mostly in the tropics of Africa and Asia. There is only a single species, S. schaefferi, in the USSR (southern region).

Like the scarab, Sisyphus feeds on the excrement of animals, mostly ungulates. Before eating the dung, the beetle rolls it into small balls. Sisyphus man condemned to roll up a hill a huge stone which always rolls back before he gets it to the top. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 1006]

Question: In Greek mythology, who was condemned to the eternal task of rolling a large stone up to the top of a hill, from which it always rolled down again?
Answer: Sisyphus