Sisyphus

By J.D.

 Sisyphus was the founder and king of Corinth “the city of Poseidon.”  He was known as the most cunning king in the history of the world, one who never missed a beat. He was smart and crafty and ruled the kingdom of Corinth for many years. Even though he was very sly, this gift would be the cause of his downfall.    As the son of Aeolus and king of Corinth, it was his duty and pride to keep his entire kingdom running smoothly and to make sure the citizens had all that they needed.  He definitely fulfilled this mission.   Sisyphus was also well known for noticing all that was going on inside the gates of his grand city.   He was bestowed with a nickname that fit him like a glove on a hand; the name was “sharp eyes.” No one ever thought of committing any sort of sin under his watchful eye; this made the kingdom the safest and most perfect city in Greece… almost.  The only thing that troubled Sisyphus was that there was no fresh water for miles around his kingdom. He was desperate to find a way to get fresh water to Corinth. This opportunity arose when he stumbled upon Zeus with a river nymph.  As the cunning king he was, he used this knowledge to bargain with the father of the nymph, a minor river god, to get a fresh water spring in his kingdom. This sly approach led to his down fall. In anger, Zeus demanded that his oldest brother, Hades, have the king of Corinth killed.  The religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks stated that if a human interfered with the gods’ activities, that person would usually be severely punished. Sisyphus interfered with many gods on several occasions, which landed him a definite VIP pass in the fields of punishment. But it wasn’t that easy to punish Sisyphus, he interfered with the gods a second time by capturing the lord of the under world so that the “Strings of Fate” were tangled and nothing could die. Finally the god was let free. So far, it looked as though Sisyphus had won his battle for life, but like the Greek’s beliefs stated, when a human oversteps his bounds, punishment would follow.  Later, when he died of old age, he was sentenced to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a large mountain, only to watch it roll down again every time. The significance of Sisyphus today is quite similar to what this myth meant to the ancient Greeks. It is not that we believe that the gods are going to torment us if we do something wrong, but there is a belief that if one does something mean or wrong to another person, something bad will probably happen to that person. Like my all time favorite children’s book quotes,” whatever you chant, whatever you brew, sooner or later will come back to you.”