What is "sisyphus"

Sisyphus \Sis"y*phus\, n. [L. Sisyphus, Sisyphus, fr. Gr. ????.] (Class. Myth.) A king of Corinth, son of [AE]olus, famed for his cunning. He was killed by Theseus, and in the lower world was condemned by Pluto to roll to the top of a hill a huge stone, which constantly rolled back again, making his task incessant.

King of Corinth, famed as "the craftiest of men," he was condemned in the afterlife to roll uphill a stone which perpetually rolls down again; Greek Sisyphos, a name of unknown origin. Liddell & Scott suggest a reduplication of syphos "the crafty" (with Aeolic -u- for -o-), but Klein calls this folk-etymology.

In Greek mythology Sisyphus (; , ) was the king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean .

The Sisyphus is purported to be one of the dialogues of Plato. The dialogue is extant and was included in the Stephanus edition published in Geneva in 1578. It is now generally acknowledged to be spurious. The work probably dates from the fourth century BCE, and the author was presumably a pupil of Plato.

Sisyphus is a genus of dung beetles comprising more than 90 species. Adults are characterised by their long hind legs.

Sisyphus was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill in Greek mythology.

Sisyphus may also refer to:

• 1866 Sisyphus, an Apollo asteroid
• Sisyphus (beetle), a genus of dung beetles
• Sisyphus (dialogue), a spurious dialogue of Plato
• Sisyphus (film), a 1974 animated short film by Marcell Jankovics
• Sisyphus (hip hop group), a musical collaboration formerly known as S / S / S featuring Serengeti, Son Lux, and Sufjan Stevens
  • Sisyphus (album), their 2014 debut album
• Sisyphus, a 1971 album by Cold Blood
• Stone Of Sisyphus, an album by the American rock band Chicago
• Sisyphus effect, a method of cooling below temperatures predicted by Doppler Cooling in Atomic Physics
• The Myth of Sisyphus, an essay by Albert Camus
• "Sysyphus", an avant-garde piece of music from the Pink Floyd album Ummagumma

Sisyphus (formerly S / S / S) is a collaborative project between Serengeti, Son Lux and Sufjan Stevens.

Sisyphus is the debut studio album from Sisyphus, a collaborative hip hop project consisting of Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux, and Serengeti. It was released on March 18, 2014 through Asthmatic Kitty. The project was commissioned by the Walker Art Center and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music series to accompany an exhibition of the work of visual artist Jim Hodges, scheduled to run from February 14 through May 11, 2014.

Videos were made for "Calm It Down", "Alcohol", "Booty Call", and "Take Me".

Sisyphus is a 1974 Hungarian animated short film directed by Marcell Jankovics. It is based on the myth of Sisyphus and shows a man who tries to move a boulder up a slope. The film was produced by Hungarofilms and is two minutes long.

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 48th Academy Awards. In 2008 it was used in a car commercial which was shown at the Super Bowl.