The Story of Sisyphus

Sisyphus was condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill then watching it roll back down again. Sisyphus was founder, as well as, king of Corinth. He also was known for being a cunning dishonest person. His greatest triumph came at the end of his life, when Hades came to claim him personally for the kingdom of the dead. Hades brought along a pair of handcuffs, an obvious novelity in comparasion the rolling a bouder up hill for all enternity. Sisyphus pretended to express such an interest in the handcuffs that Hades pride got in the way. Basically Sisyphus had persuaded the god Hades to demonstrate their use - on Hades, himself.

And so, the high lord of the Underworld, Hades was kept locked up in a closet at Sisyphus's house for many days, which put the natural order of being seriously out of whack. Nobody could die. Something like a soldier might be gravely wounded in battle, but still show up at camp for dinner. Finally Hades was released and Sisyphus was ordered to report to the Underworld for his "eternal assignment". But Sisyphus had yet another trick up his sleeve.

Sisyphus simply told his wife not to bury him and then complain to Persephone, Queen of the Dead, that he had not been given the proper funeral. As an unburied corpse he had no business on the far side of the river Styx. His wife hadn't placed a coin under his tongue to secure passage with the ferryman. Surely Persephone could see that Sisyphus must be given leave to journey back topside and put things right.

The Queen of the Dead agreed, and Sisyphus made his way back to the sunshine, where he promptly forgot all about funerals and such drab affairs and lived on for another good bit of time. But even this cunning trickster could only postpone what is to come. Eventually he was hauled down to Hades, where his "indiscretions" caught up with him. For crimes and offenses against the gods - the specifics of which vary with each story - he was condemned to an eternity at hard labor. Truely frustrating labor. For he was given the task to roll a great boulder to the top of a hill. Only every time Sisyphus, through great exertion, toil and exhaustion, reached the summit, the damned boulder rolled back down again.

So, can you relate or what?


"Running Up That Hill" by Within Temptation (live)