#Sisyphus hades full#

Once Asopus created this endless source of fresh water, Sisyphus named Zeus as Aegina's abductor. Sisyphus promised to tell Asopus what had happened to Aegina if the river god would create an eternal spring for Sisyphus's kingdom, Corinth. Asopus-a river god whose father was Poseidon-was looking for his daughter Aegina, who had disappeared. His crimes against the gods began with Zeus. The special place of Sisyphus in the lore of the Underworld, however, comes not from his ill treatment of his niece or other mortals, but from the application of his cunning in his relations with the gods. In his time on Earth, Sisyphus killed, raped, and stole. The oracle went unfulfilled, however, because Tyro, learning of the prophecy, killed both of her sons. Without a second thought, Sisyphus violated his beautiful niece Tyro. When he consulted the oracle at Delphi to find out how he might exact revenge on his hated brother, Salmoneus, he learned that if he had children by his brother's daughter, they would destroy their grandfather. This was not the only occasion when Sisyphus used an enemy's daughter in order to take revenge on the father. Given the cunning that Odysseus later demonstrated, many have suggested that Sisyphus, rather than Anticleia's husband Laertes, was his father. Seeking revenge, he seduced Anticleia, the daughter of Autolycus and later the mother of Odysseus (see All's Not Fair in Love and War: The Fall of Troy). Sisyphus was not satisfied merely with proving Autolycus a thief and recovering his cattle. (Some say he wrote the words “Stolen by Autolycus,” while others maintain he wrote only the letters “SS.”) The later discovery of his mark on cows in Autolycus's herd proved that his neighbor was a thief. In an attempt to catch Autolycus in the act, Sisyphus secretly marked the inside of the hooves of his cattle. Sisyphus noticed that cattle were missing-and that the herd of Autolycus seemed to be expanding in number-but could not prove any theft. Horned cattle would lose their horns brown cattle would become white.Īutolycus repeatedly stole cattle from Sisyphus's herd. But he always escaped detection because he could change the form or color of anything he stole. He would steal anything he could get his hands on. His ingenuity came in handy when Autolycus began grazing cattle near the herds of Sisyphus.Īutolycus was a notorious thief.

Sisyphus, called “the craftiest of men” by Homer, was extraordinarily clever. The Greeks hidden inside the horse then launched a surprise attack and seized Troy. His lies convinced Priam to bring the giant Wooden Horse into the heavily fortified city of Troy. Near the end of the Trojan War (see All's Not Fair in Love and War: The Fall of Troy), Sinon allowed himself to be captured by the Trojans. Sinon would inherit his father's talent for trickery. For generations afterward, horses on Corinth seemed unusually skittish-haunted no doubt by the ghost of Glaucus. After losing a chariot race, his mares tore Glaucus to pieces and ate him on the spot.

#Sisyphus hades full#

Having whetted their appetites for flesh, Glaucus unwittingly served them up a full meal. A renowned horseman, Glaucus fed his mares on human flesh. Glaucus would inherit the throne of Ephyra, but would suffer a gruesome fate. The couple would have three children: Glaucus, Ornytion, and Sinon. Sisyphus married Merope, the only one of the seven Pleiades (daughters of the Titan Atlas and Pleione) to have wedded a mortal rather than consorting with the gods. (Some say that Sisyphus earned the crown by founding the city, which he populated with people grown out of mushrooms.) The sorceress Medea (see Crimes of Passion: Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts) gave Sisyphus the throne of Ephyra, later known as Corinth. Sisyphus and one of his brothers, Salmoneus, hated each other, however, and Salmoneus took the throne of Thessaly from him.Įventually Sisyphus would become a king-but never of Thessaly. The son of Aeolus, king of Thessaly, Sisyphus was born heir to the throne. Sisyphus ultimately paid a heavy price for his trickery: The reprieve he gained through his cunning was brief the torture he suffered in the Underworld was eternal. But few have ever had the cunning of Sisyphus, the legendary rogue who cheated death not just once, but twice.

If you could cheat death, would you? Most people would.

What the Hell? Adventures in the Underworld.