It was known that Zeus in order to seduce Aegina came in the form of an Eagle and took her away to an island. IV – Myth of Sisyphus – HadesĪegina was the daughter of river god Asopus, whose daughters were all seduced by the gods. He further uses it as a chance to denigrate Salmoneus as a result Salmoneus gets expelled from Thessaly. As a result, he succeeds in preventing his death in the hands of Tyro’s children. She realizes that it was not out of love that he came to her therefore, she kills the two children she bores because of him. He accomplishes his errand of seducing Tyro and she gets to know the intentions of Sisyphus. The Oracle prophesizes that the sons of the niece of Salmoneus will kill him in the future therefore, he tries to pacify this prophecy by seducing Tyro. As Sisyphus was the heir to the throne, he goes to the Oracle of Delphi to determine his actions. On the contrary, it was given to Salmoneus – one of the brothers. III – Myth of Sisyphus – Salmoneus and TyroĪfter the death of the Aeolus, father of Sisyphus, he expected the rule of the land be granted to him. He was known as ruthless when it comes to trade and commerce, disallowing anyone outside Corinth to perform navigation through his lands. As a result, he was able to increase the population of the city and excel in trade. Wherever, Sisyphus planted mushrooms there sprung human beings out of them. However, the popular belief is that Sisyphus grew his city and its population with the help of mushrooms. Some people believe that the city was given as a gift to him by Medea. Sisyphus is known to be the founder of Corinth, which was called Ephyra during his reign.
II – Myth of Sisyphus – Mushrooms of Corinth Hence Odysseus is also called “Hypsipylon” after his cunning nature resembling Sisyphus. Although, Laertes is the father of Odysseus it is believed that the cunning nature of Odysseus was bequeathed to him because of the seduction of Anticleia by Sisyphus. As the witnesses were giving their testimonials, Sisyphus roams around the house of Autolycus and seduces his daughter Anticleia.Īnticleia later becomes the wife of Laertes and bores Odysseus. They led straight to Autolycus and there was a huge argument amongst the two witnessed by the crowd gathering. In the morning, Sisyphus was able to find his branding on the road as he marked his cattle. As Autolycus was unaware of this, he went with his errand as usual. Some writers believe that he used the monogram “SS”, while others mention that he used the words “stolen by Autolycus”. There are two alternative versions regarding the brand used by Sisyphus. Autolycus stole the cattle of Sisyphus and son of Aeolus observed that the numbers of cattle in his herds are decreasing steadily, while those of Autolycus are increasing.Īfter realizing this, Sisyphus brands the hooves of his cattle. This power was bestowed to him by Hermes therefore, it was impossible to account Autolycus for any theft. For example, he could transform a horned beast into a one without horns or a black beast into a white one. Autolycus is renowned for his capabilities as a thief and he had abilities to transform or metamorphose anything he stole into another thing. In the land of Isthmus, there lived a man named Autolycus who happens to be living near Sisyphus. I – Myth of Sisyphus – Autolycus, the thief He became a well-known figure in Greek history because of six incidents, which are discussed below. Sisyphus is considered as a man with cunningness and knowledge, the combination of which he used to deceive his enemies and those he disliked.
He lived in the Isthmus of Corinth and had great herds of cattle. Sisyphus was married to Merope, the daughter of Atlas and had three children namely Sinon, Ornytion and Glaucus. His brothers are Athamas, Cretheus and Salmoneus. It was Hyginus the Latin writer of the 1 st century AD, who gave a considerable amount of information based on research about Sisyphus in his book – Fabulae. However, there are no complete mentions of the life of Sisyphus in these epics but one could clearly understand everything about him. mentioned Sisyphus in one or other way in their works. Sophocles, Horace, Apollodorus, Aristophanes, etc. The name Sisyphus is resounded in many of the epics such as Homer’s Iliad, Odyssey and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The myth of Sisyphus is considered as one of the most popular and interesting Greek myths. The Myth of Sisyphus as in Fabulae of Hyginus & other sources