And there his boulder is waiting for him. It is only after Hermes swiftly captures the newly freed man, does Sisyphus return to the land of the dead. He wishes to stay and so betrays Hades by refusing to return. He learns to love the trees, the cool oceans, and the feel of warm stone under his feet. It doesn't make sense, I know, but stick with me on this one.Īfter Sisyphus returns to the mortal world he quickly decides that he does not wish to return to the underworld. It would seem that Sisyphus' wife is truly the tragic hero in this story, having followed her husband’s request she is promptly confronted with a newly resurrected Sisyphus who scolds her for only doing as he asked. The Hell of Tartarus, Ancient Greek Prison of the Damned.Crime and Punishment: Eternal Damnations as handed down by the Ancient Greek Gods.

Sisyphus: King Cheats Death, Annoys Zeus, and Receives Never-ending Punishment in the Greek Underworld.Sisyphus is deeply troubled and (for reasons I don't understand personally) asks Hades to return him to the world of the living so that he might scold his wife. Sisyphus is angered that his wife would choose strict obedience to his word, rather than devoted love to his memory and dignity. When Sisyphus dies he wakes up in the underworld only to find that his wife has indeed fulfilled his request. The one that Albert Camus seems to favor in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, involves Sisyphus testing his wife's devotion and love as he nears death.Īccording to the story, Sisyphus asks his wife that, upon his death, she cast his unburied body into the town square. What did Sisyphus do to anger the gods? There are several different accounts. ( Public Domain ) How did Sisyphus Anger the Gods? It is said that Sisyphus would be forced to endure this for all of time, performing a pointless, tired task until the end of existence.

Sisyphus would then make his tired march down the hill where he would start this task over again. When Sisyphus reached the top of the mountain, the boulder would immediately roll back down the hill in a matter of moments. He was taken to the kingdom of the underworld and was forced to endure one of the most pointless and excruciating punishments of ancient mythology.Įvery day, he would carry a massive boulder up a mountain, straining and sweating all the while.

Nonetheless he would fall out of favor with the gods of ancient Greece. The legend of Sisyphus begins with a man who, if we are to believe Homer, was one of the wisest and most prudent of mortals.

Camus the myth of sisyphus