<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture . Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, using references to reliable sources, rather than simply listing appearances . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2018) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture . Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, using references to reliable sources, rather than simply listing appearances . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2018) </Td> </Tr> <P> In Greek mythology Sisyphus or Sisyphos (/ ˈsɪsɪfəs /; Greek: Σίσυφος, Sísuphos) 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 for it to roll down when it nears the top, repeating this action for eternity . Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean (/ ˌsɪsɪˈfiːən /). </P> <P> Linguistics Professor R.S.P. Beekes has suggested a pre-Greek origin and a connection with the root of the word sophos (σοφός, "wise"). German mythographer Otto Gruppe thought that the name derived from sisys (σίσυς, "a goat's skin"), in reference to a rain - charm in which goats' skins were used . </P>

Who has to push the rock up the hill