At that time, there was a cunning and cunning hero named Sisyphus, son of the god Eola, the lord of all winds, who lived in Greece. None of the mortals could match him in cunning and cunning. Yes, that there are mortals - powerful gods and they fell into trouble when they dealt with Sisyphus. He did not even fear Zeus, the powerful thunderer. Zeus loved to kidnap beautiful girls and often did so. One day he kidnapped the beautiful Engina, one of the 12 daughters of the river god Ason. Sisyphus saw the Thunderer take the girl away and told her father. He even indicated the place where Zeus had hidden her. In exchange, Sisyphus demanded that Ason give water from his river to the new city of Ether, which he had founded at that time. Then this city became known as Corinth, and Sisyphus became king of Corinth.
Angry Ason rushed to catch up with the kidnapper. He flooded all the places where Zeus had been, and the river flows flooded all the caves and grottoes, fields and meadows. Animals were killed, and people fled the flood only on the high peaks of the mountains. Ason, of course, could not hurt Zeus in any way. On the contrary, he only made him angry. The angry Zeus threw his sparkling zippers at him, and Ason surrendered, returning the river waters to their channels and becoming obedient and compliant again. But Sisyphus was also taken over by Zeus, for the Thunderer knew who had turned Ason against him.
Zeus called the goddess of death, Tanatos, and commanded her to go to Sisyphus and take him to the kingdom of the dead. Tanathos came down to earth and came to Corinth to the palace of Sisyphus. She caught him eating and offered to follow her.
- Okay, okay," the cunning Sisyphus immediately agreed. - Sisyphus agreed to wait for Sisyphus, and while she was staying in the room, Sisyphus gathered all the blacksmiths in the city and told them to stand outside the door.
- Now let's go, I've done everything," Sisyphus said sadly as he entered the room.
But they were the only ones who walked out the door, as the blacksmiths grabbed Tanatos and shackled her in strong shackles.
A year later, the other year, and the third year was already running out. Hades was worried. People stopped dying, and their souls no longer came to the kingdom of the dead. He rushed to Zeus in his winged chariot and demanded that he put things in order on the ground so that everything might go as it should. That the people might not only be born, but also die.
Zeus sent to Sisyphus the god of war, the cruel Ares. Ares freed Tanatos from his chains, and her first victim was, of course, Sisyphus. She tortured his soul and took him to the kingdom of the dead. But even there, the clever Sisyphus managed to deceive the gods and the only mortal returned to earth.
Even then, in his first life, when Sisyphus realized that he still had to go to Hades, he warned his wife not to arrange for his burial and not to sacrifice to the underground gods. The wife obeyed her husband and did not do anything about it. Hades and Persephone waited and waited for them to make sacrifices for Sisyphus, and did not wait. Then Sisyphus came to Persephone and told her:
- O magnanimous and almighty goddess, persuade Aida to let me go to earth. My wife broke her sacred vow and did not sacrifice to you, the immortal and omnipotent gods. I must punish her severely. As soon as I do this, I will return here. I confess that I don't want to leave here, so I liked it here.
Persephone's trusting Sisyphon believed the cunning Sisyphon and let him go to earth. He returned to his palace and began to live quietly at home. As time passed, the gods waited, and Sisyphus did not return. Zeus sent a quick-legged Hermes to see what the Corinthian king does at home and why he does not return to the underground kingdom. Hermes arrives to Sisyphus, who sits in his luxurious palace and has a good time piquing, and boasts that he is the only mortal who managed to return from the dark kingdom of the dead. Hermes realized that the willful and boastful king was not going to return to Hades. So he reported to the father Zeus. Zeus was angry, and again he sent to Sisyphus the goddess Tanatos, and she took him with her, this time forever.
The gods did not forgive Sisyphus for his willfulness. They severely punished him after his death. Sisyphus was continually being rolled up by a giant stone on a high steep mountain. He pulls all his strength up and seems to be about to reach the top, but every time the stone breaks down and falls down. Again, Sisyphus has to start all over again. People learned about it, and since then any senseless and endless work is called "Sisyphus work".