Research 10: Study about Greek Culture

In Greek mythology, there are many notable characters that comprise our favorite stories. In

this paper I will be covering 5 of them and citing the articles in which I obtained the information

from. In the book of Homer’ Iliad, and in many other works of Greek mythology was a king

who was known for cheating death and defying Greek Gods, some of the most powerful beings

in the world. That king was called Sisyphus. He was the founder and first ever king of Corinth.

Sisyphus was known to be a bit of a sly fox that had a terrifying genius but used it mainly for

his own desires. His greatest feats include cheating death twice, first finding Thanatos the God

of Death and chaining him up so no more humans would perish, second is when he found

himself in the underworld and by tricking Hades and his good-hearted wife, Persephone to let

him back into the land of the living. He was able to live an incredibly long life as Death had not

wanted to be put anywhere near him because of his past experiences in chains. Cheating death

is for sure the most prominent feat of Sisyphus, but it is far from being his only

accomplishment. In another tale Sisyphus used his intellect to capture the infamous thief known

as Autolycus. He was able to capture the criminal by attaching tablets to the feet of his herd of

cattle and when the thief came and inevitably stole the tablets off of the cattle, Sisyphus was

able to follow the tracks and catch the thief red-handed. Sisyphus was not only a clever cheater

of death, but he also established one of the four major Panhellenic games, the Isthmian games of

Corinth. Being held every two years in honor of Poseidon, the God of the Sea. When the

mischievous king had finally passed away yet again, he would no longer be able to cheat death

as now Zeus had interfered. Zeus made sure to make an example out of Sisyphus by giving him
an incredibly tiring and grueling punishment. Sisyphus was to push a massive boulder up a hill

but as soon as he was about to push it over the top, the boulder went tumbling back down.

Forcing Sisyphus to push it all the way back up, all over again. For the rest of eternity. His

punishment has even created a new term, Sisyphean. It describes a task that is impossible to

complete, just like how it is impossible for Sisyphus to push the boulder over the hill. Next on

our list of tragedies is Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, sister of Broteas and Pelops. Her tale is

centered upon the consequences of hubris, a concept in Greek ancient times in which if you act

arrogantly to the Gods, you will be punished. Niobe was married to King Amphion of Thebes,

northwest of Athens and one of the chief cities and powers of ancient Greece. Amphion and

Niobe had seven sons and seven daughters and boasted about her fertility and made fun of the

titan Leto at her own ceremony as Leto only had the twins Apollo and Artemis. The twins,

seeing this were greatly angered as their beloved mother was being taunted by a mere human,

in response Apollo proceeded to murder all of Niobe’s sons and Artemis murdered all of her

daughters. They made sure Niobe was watching as her children were slaughtered. Seeing the

state of his children, Amphion killed himself. Niobe, being in a state of despair fled and reached

Mount Sipylus where she was turned into a rock and continues to weep whenever snow melts

above. Our final entry on our list of Greek tragedies is Oedipus. A king surrounded by tragedy

almost all of his life. Even before he was born his father, Laius the king of Thebes was warned

by an oracle that his son would kill him. Eventually when Oedipus was born king Laius

exposed the baby to infanticide, but the baby survived because of a kind shepherd that took

pity of the infant and brought to the king of Corinth at the time, Polybus. Polybus and his wife

brought Oedipus up like their very own son. When Oedipus reached early manhood, he visited
Delphi and learned that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother but since he did not

want to do that to the people that raised him with love and care, he resolved to never return to

Corinth and set towards Thebes. On the way there, he encountered Laius, his birth father which

he did not know at the time. Laius provoked Oedipus so much so that Laius was killed by his

own son, further sealing his fate. He continued his journey and found Thebes being plagued by

the Sphinx which riddled all passerby and killed those that did not have the intellect or interest

to answer. Oedipus solved the riddle, causing the Sphinx to kill herself and freeing Thebes from

the clutches of the evil creature. As a prize, Oedipus was granted the throne of Thebes and the

hand of the queen who was recently widowed that was also his mother Jocasta. The two

proceeded to have four children. But the truth was eventually known and Jocasta, so disgusted

by what she had done, committed suicide. Oedipus also punished himself by blinding himself

and went into exile. He died at Colonus near to Athens, being swallowed into the earth and was

turned into a guardian hero of the land. The name Oedipus was eventually used by Sigmund

Freud to coin the term “Oedipus Complex”, in which a son feels romantic love towards his

mother and feels jealousy and hate towards his father. All these characters in Greek mythology

teach something valuable to the listener, to not be too arrogant or prideful, otherwise there will

be consequences one way or another.

Cartwright, M. (2023). Sisyphus. World History Encyclopedia.

https://www.worldhistory.org/sisyphus/

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023, July 5). Sisyphus | Characteristics, Family, &

Myth. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sisyphus

Culture. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Thebes-Greece

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Niobe | Characteristics, Family, &

Myth. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Niobe-Greek-

mythology

GreekMythology.com. (2018). Niobe - Greek Mythology. www.greekmythology.com.

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Niobe/niobe.html#google_vignette

Ospino, L. (2023, May 11). The Story of Oedipus: the most tragic of all Greek myths.

GreekReporter.com.

https://greekreporter.com/2023/05/11/oedipus-tragic-greek-myth/#:~:text=The%20story

%20of%20Oedipus%20is,the%20end%20of%20his%20days

.The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998b, July 20). Oedipus | Story, Summary, & Facts.

Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oedipus-Greek-mythology