The Man Forever Pushing the Boulder Uphill
King of Corinth and the craftiest of mortals — crafty enough to handcuff Death himself, so that for a while no one on earth could die. The gods finally devised his famous punishment: push a boulder to the summit, watch it inevitably roll back down, and push it again, without end. Camus said we must imagine Sisyphus happy.
When Thanatos came to claim him, Sisyphus feigned curiosity about how the handcuffs worked and asked for a demonstration — click, they locked shut. With Death imprisoned, no one on earth could die, until the war god came to free him. Before his second capture, he told his wife to hold no funeral, then in the underworld got leave to return "to scold his impious wife," and lingered among the living to a natural old age.
The price of twice cheating death was a task that can never be finished. Homer wrote: hands braced on the stone, feet driving against the ground, he heaves it toward the summit — and at the very instant it is about to crest, its weight tips it back to the plain. Sweat pours, dust flies, and he walks back down to begin again.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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