Sisyphus
a son of Aeolus and ruler of Corinth, noted for his trickery: he was punished in Tartarus by being compelled to roll a stone to the top of a slope, the stone always escaping him near the top and rolling down again.
Origin of Sisyphus
1Words Nearby Sisyphus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use Sisyphus in a sentence
Some computer scientists have suggested that the efforts might be better likened to those of Sisyphus, who labored without resolution.
The 50-year-old problem that eludes theoretical computer science | Siobhan Roberts | October 27, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewThe last line of The Myth of Sisyphus is, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Joshua Ferris’s New Novel Chronicles an Existential Dentist in Despair | Tom LeClair | May 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut for a while we were like Sisyphus pushing that rock up the mountain.
Interview: Kristen Bell, Voiceover Queen, On ‘Frozen,’ ‘Veronica Mars,’ & More | Andrew Romano | December 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThird, like Sisyphus, he could roll the boulder of a “grand bargain” back up Capitol Hill.
To Be or Not To Be…A Loser: Boehner’s Hamlet Moment | Joe McLean | October 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd a deal becomes possible only after all sides are exhausted—just like Sisyphus on the Hill.
In Sisyphus (1994), artist Luciano Fabro presents a marble cylinder on which he has etched a nude, caricature-like self-portrait.
Those splendid faculties were worn, as he would sometimes own himself, in rolling the stone of Sisyphus.
The Life of Mazzini | Bolton KingStrong men have tried to lift that stone of Sisyphus, and to-day their bones whiten the cemeteries.
More Tales by Polish Authors | VariousBeyond Sisyphus lies Tityus, a giant whose huge body covers nine acres of ground.
Stories of Old Greece and Rome | Emilie Kip BakerI feel like Sisyphus, forever rolling my stony burden uphill.
Averil | Rosa Nouchette CareyThey would leave off repeating the fable of Sisyphus, and attain completion of endeavour.
The Girl of the Period and Other Social Essays, Vol. I (of 2) | Eliza Lynn Linton
British Dictionary definitions for Sisyphus
/ (ˈsɪsɪfəs) /
Greek myth a king of Corinth, punished in Hades for his misdeeds by eternally having to roll a heavy stone up a hill: every time he approached the top, the stone escaped his grasp and rolled to the bottom
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Sisyphus
[ (sis-uh-fuhs) ]
A king in classical mythology who offended Zeus and was punished in Hades by being forced to roll an enormous boulder to the top of a steep hill. Every time the boulder neared the top, it would roll back down, and Sisyphus would have to start over.
Notes for Sisyphus
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse