Editing Sisyphus (section)

=== Cheating death ===
Sisyphus betrayed one of Zeus's secrets by revealing the whereabouts of the [[Asopides|Asopid]] [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]] to her father, the river god [[Asopus]], in return for causing a spring to flow on the Corinthian [[acropolis]].<ref name=":0" />

Zeus ordered [[Thanatos]] to chain Sisyphus in [[Tartarus]]. Sisyphus was curious as to why [[Charon]], whose job it was to guide souls to the underworld, had not appeared on this occasion. Sisyphus slyly asked Thanatos to demonstrate how the chains worked. As Thanatos was granting him his wish, Sisyphus seized the opportunity and trapped Thanatos in the chains instead. Once Thanatos was bound by the strong chains, no one died on Earth, causing an uproar. [[Ares]], the god of war, became annoyed that his battles had lost their fun because his opponents would not die. The exasperated Ares intervened, freeing Thanatos, enabling deaths to happen again and turned Sisyphus over to him.{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|p=491}}

In some versions, [[Hades]] was sent to chain Sisyphus and was chained himself. As long as Hades was trapped, nobody could die. Consequently, sacrifices could not be made to the gods, and those that were old and sick were suffering. The gods finally threatened to make life so miserable for Sisyphus that he would wish he were dead. He then had no choice but to release Hades.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Death.htm |title=Ancient Greeks: Is death necessary and can death actually harm us? |publisher= | website = Mlahanas.de |access-date=2014-02-19 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140702053105/http://mlahanas.de/Greeks/Death.htm |archive-date=2 July 2014}}</ref>

Before Sisyphus died, he had told his wife to throw his naked corpse into the middle of the public square (purportedly as a test of his wife's love for him). This caused Sisyphus to end up on the shores of the river [[Styx]] when he was brought to the [[Greek underworld|underworld]]. Complaining to [[Persephone]] that this was a sign of his wife's disrespect for him, Sisyphus persuaded her to allow him to return to the [[Upper World (Greek)|upper world]]. Once back in Ephyra, the spirit of Sisyphus scolded his wife for not burying his body and giving it a proper funeral as a loving wife should. When Sisyphus refused to return to the underworld, he was forcibly dragged back there by [[Hermes]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/sisyphus.html|title=Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Sisyphus| website= mythweb.com|access-date= 2019-07-01|archive-date=29 March 2021| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210329222436/http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/sisyphus.html|url-status= dead}}</ref><!-- (This version is alluded to by [[Albert Camus|Camus]] without citation and also appears in [[Roberto Bolaño]]'s novel ''2666'', in a context that indicates it may have been made up rather than traditional.) --><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Sisyphus/sisyphus.html|title=Sisyphus|website=www.greekmythology.com|access-date=30 April 2020| archive-date=11 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411171541/https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Sisyphus/sisyphus.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In another version of the myth, Persephone was tricked by Sisyphus that he had been conducted to Tartarus by mistake, and so she ordered that he be released.{{sfn|Evslin|2006|p=209-210}}

In ''[[Philoctetes (Sophocles play)|Philoctetes]]'' by [[Sophocles]], there is a reference to the father of Odysseus (rumoured to have been Sisyphus, and not [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]], whom we know as the father in the ''[[Odyssey]]'') upon having returned from the dead.{{clarify|date=March 2022}} [[Euripides]], in ''[[Cyclops (play)|Cyclops]]'', also identified Sisyphus as Odysseus's father.