Sisyphus
Sisyphus Europe‘The craftiest of men’, according to the ancient Greeks, and punished for his trickery by endless labour in the underworld. Throughout eternity he was required to roll a marble block to the top of a hill only to have it plunge back down just as it reached the crest. The symbol of futility, Sisyphus had been an avaricious King of Corinth.
A second victim of frustration was Tantalus, whom Zeus begot upon a nymph. His misbehaviour on Mount Olympus—either he divulged to mortals the table talk of the gods or passed to them the food of the gods, nectar and ambrosia—forced Zeus to banish him to Tartarus, the prison beneath the underworld. There Tantalus stood in water up to his chin, but was unable to quench a raging thirst, since the water always responded to the movement of his head. Likewise a bunch of luscious grapes remained just beyond his reach.
[The entire page is 160 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
