13. A Mortal Too Clever for His Own Good
Sisyphus in Greek mythology was a king of Corinth, and the founder of the Isthmian Games – one of the Ancient Greeks’ four major games, which included the Olympics. Sisyphus was the wisest of all men, and a cunning trickster who fathered the hero Odysseus, of Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. Unfortunately, Sisyphus’ cunning was combined with questionable ethics: among other things, he was greedy, deceitful, and liked to rob people. That got him in trouble with the gods, especially Zeus.
The greatest of Sisyphus’ sins was his violation of Xenia, the sacred laws of hospitality that protected travelers and guests, when he murdered some of his guests to demonstrate his ruthlessness. That angered Zeus, whose portfolio included the promotion of Xenia. On another occasion, Zeus kidnapped Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus. When her distraught father tried to find her, Sisyphus told him where she was, and in exchange got Asopus to create a spring and send it to flow into the city of Corinth.