When Sisyphus arrived in Tartarus, he convinced Persephone, Hades’ wife, to release Sisyphus so he could scold his wife for publicly humiliating his remains in such a way. Because his body was not given a proper burial, Sisyphus’s body arrived at the shore of the river Styx. After Thanatos departed with Sisyphus’s body, Merope did as instructed and threw her husband’s naked body into the public square. Before Thanatos took Sisyphus, Sisyphus told his wife that when he died she was to throw his body into the public square instead of giving him a proper burial. People began to lose interest in wars and this angered the God of War, Ares.Īres threatened Sisyphus and had Thanatos (or Hades) released. Since Hades was no longer collecting souls, people could not die. There is another myth that Hades went to collect Sisyphus instead of Thanatos and it was Hades who Sisyphus tricked into handcuffing himself.

Sisyphus kept Thanatos trapped for some time before it began to anger other gods. When Thanatos arrived, Sisyphus expressed an interest in the handcuffs and asked Thanatos to show him how the chains worked – on himself, effectively making Thanatos Sisyphus’s prisoner. Thanatos was to take Sisyphus with him to the underworld and chain him there. Zeus decided he needed to punish Sisyphus and went to speak with Thanatos, death. This further infuriated Zeus since he was the one that had kidnapped Aegina. In return for a spring to start flowing to Sisyphus’ growing Acropolis of Corinth, Sisyphus aided the river god Asopus in finding his daughter Aegina. Sisyphus would repeatedly kill travellers staying with him and then show the bodies to his subjects to show he was a ruthless leader. Zeus was a large promoting of Xenia, which was the concept of courteous and kindly treatment of travellers and guests.

He angered Zeus on multiple occasions by violating Xenia.

Sisyphus was a very sly and devious person. It was held in honor of Poseidon, the sea god, in the spring of every two years, along with one of the four major Panhellic games, which included the Olympic games. He is also rumored to have created the Isthmian Games, a competition featuring athletic and musical feats. Sisyphus helped his city become a commercial hub. He married the nymph Merope and had four children: Glaucus, Ornytion, Almus and Thersander. Sisyphus was the creator and first king of the city Ephyra (later Corinth).

King sisyphus