The rest of the god of death made it so that humans on earth no longer died. Their souls remained in their bodies, unwilling to leave. More and more people, realizing that death no longer came, celebrated this "blessing" wildly.
Some human bodies that had died in conflicts were already in pieces, but their consciousness remained clear. Humans tormented by illness couldn't return to the silence of death either. Decaying corpses returned to the homes where they had once lived. Killing and fighting became games for entertainment. The absence of death made this celebration filled with panicked screams.
Their voices reached Mount Olympus, and only then did the gods realize that something was wrong. The gods looked down at the earth and found that the god of death, Thanatos, was imprisoned by the human king, Sisyphus.
An angry Zeus ordered the god of war, Ares, to free the god of death. At this time, a human and a god were guessing each other's riddles. Neither side could win, and they were at a stalemate.
Finally, Sisyphus won by a narrow margin. Thanatos said helplessly, "Wise Sisyphus, I recognize your wisdom. But the gods will eventually find out the truth. By then, the punishment you will receive will be extremely severe, and even your people will be implicated."
The cunning Sisyphus slowly drank the wine in his cup and replied, "It is precisely because of the gods' curses, the greed for wealth, joy, and pleasure, that humans have the schemes to resist the gods. I am just fulfilling what the gods have given me."
In order to show their nobility and glory, humans deprived their fellow beings of freedom and divided them into classes. They used morality to restrain those stronger than themselves and used strength to oppress those weaker than themselves. They had their own explanations for everything, which really puzzled Thanatos. These weak lives didn't even last as long as a tree or a stone. What was the meaning of all their intrigues, which would all end in death?
Looking at the mortal who had brought him rest time, the god of death asked in confusion, "Your wisdom is a quality that even gods with eternal life lack. But what can you gain by trapping me? I can't keep you away from the scythe of death. Even the gods of fate can't let a mortal thing enjoy eternity."
"Gentle god of death, I know full well that death is inevitable, but I'm not willing to leave this world quietly and unknown. Blaspheming the gods will bring me unimaginable pain, but what I leave for humanity can never be erased. When the stories about me are passed on and sung by them, later generations will know that there is more we can do besides submitting to the gods."
Thanatos listened to Sisyphus' explanation in silence and didn't scold the human's arrogance. On the contrary, the god of death offered him a glass of wine as a sign of respect.
A loud noise came. The god of war, Ares, broke through the wall and came to Thanatos. He reached out and untied the chains that bound the god of death.
"You have cast a shadow over the glory of the gods! Thanatos, it's time for you to fulfill your duty."
After speaking, Ares turned around and left the ruined palace without giving a glance at the culprit beside him.
Sisyphus was still calm. He drank the wine offered by Thanatos in one gulp, patted the dust off his body, and calmly faced the arrival of death.
When he woke up again, Sisyphus found himself in the underworld. Bright red flowers were blooming all over the calm banks of the Styx River. Countless souls were struggling among the flowers, shedding tears of regret. He wasn't tempted by the power of the Styx River and went straight to the Plain of Asphodels of Hades. He looked up at the gods of the underworld gathered together.
One of the mistresses of the Styx River, the goddess of destiny Styx, curiously asked, "Sisyphus, who fooled the gods, why don't you even look at that river? Don't you want to take a last look at those things you were so obsessed with?"
Sisyphus shook his head. "Unknown goddess, I have nothing that I can't let go of. Without me, my gentle and virtuous wife will get out of pain with the company of our children. The wealth I left them is enough for them to live without worries. Maybe it's a good thing for them to be away from me at this time."
"I admire your wisdom, but this can't absolve you of your crimes. The absence of death has caused unnecessary panic among humans, which is a fact that you can't deny no matter how you explain it."
Styx calmly stated Sisyphus' punishment. "You have imprisoned a god and kept him in your palace. As a punishment, you will also be imprisoned."
With that, the goddess of destiny bound Sisyphus' soul to a huge rock. "As long as you can push this rock to the top of the mountain, your punishment will end."
The goddess' power of reversing cause and effect confused the top and the bottom of the mountain. Sisyphus' journey was a loop where the beginning and the end were connected. The place where Sisyphus was located was both the foot and the top of the mountain. If the cunning king could figure out this secret, he would be able to find relief.
All the gods thought that Styx's punishment would make this human who had offended the gods never be able to reach the top of the mountain and suffer endlessly in an endless cycle. This rather creative punishment made the gods satisfied and look away.
Sisyphus pushed the huge rock day and night. Thanatos would come to visit him during his rare free time. In this human's soul, the god of death saw some colors he had never seen before.
Things were also not peaceful on Mount Olympus. The naughty little god of love, Eros, was teasing the maids of the gods. The nymphs' dissatisfaction reached its peak under Aphrodite's indulgence. They asked Queen Leto to punish the naughty little god of love, but Leto soothed them with the excuse that Eros meant no harm.
The nymphs had no choice but to leave and turned to Artemis, the daughter of the queen and the goddess of nature. Artemis was already dissatisfied with Aphrodite, who indulged in lust. After she vowed to be a virgin goddess, her relationship with the goddess of love became even worse. Hearing the maids' accusations against the little god of love, she was even more displeased.
Artemis found her twin brother and asked Apollo to reprimand the annoying little god of love. Apollo often heard the Muses' dissatisfaction with Eros and agreed to his sister's request.
In this way, the little god of love Eros was ridiculed by Apollo. Apollo told the little god of love not to use his child's toys to tease the nymphs. Apollo's ridicule angered the little god of love Eros. He shot a golden arrow at Apollo. These arrows were condensed from the divinity left by the primordial god of love Eros. The powerful law of love made both the moon goddess Selene and the dawn goddess Eos suffer from love, and of course, Apollo was not spared.
The handsome Apollo caught sight of another daughter of the old river god Asopus, the lake goddess Daphne.
The beautiful goddess was in sorrow because her younger sister had been humiliated by Poseidon. Suddenly, Apollo blocked her way. The handsome Apollo was crazy in expressing his love to the goddess. On the contrary, this made the goddess Daphne extremely frightened. The example of her younger sister Aegina was still fresh in her mind, which made Daphne feel a deep disgust towards the god in front of her.
She struggled hard to get rid of Apollo's entanglement. But Apollo, who was eroded by love, was persistent in pursuing her and cornered Daphne so that she had nowhere to escape. She looked at Apollo in fear and shouted loudly for help from the gods of rivers and streams. The gods in the water all appeared together and stopped the enthusiastic Apollo. However, the persuasion of these weak gods didn't make Apollo, the chief god, back off. He stepped forward, grabbed Daphne's arm, and poured out his love.
When the old river god Asopus heard that another male god wanted to take his daughter away, he hurried to stop Apollo. The frightened Daphne turned around and fled. She asked the goddesses who guarded chastity, such as Hestia, the goddess of the family and the hearth, Athena, the goddess of strategy and planning, and Artemis, the goddess of nature and the forest, to keep her away from Apollo's entanglement. The will of these goddesses didn't make Apollo retreat. He even ignored the obstruction of his sister and went forward to hold Daphne's arm and express his love.
Asopus, the old river god, heard that another male god wanted to take his daughter away again. He hurried to stop Apollo. The frightened Daphne turned around and fled. She asked the goddesses who guarded chastity, such as Hestia, the goddess of the family and the hearth, Athena, the goddess of strategy and planning, and Artemis, the goddess of nature and the forest, to keep her away from Apollo's entanglement. The will of these goddesses didn't make Apollo retreat. He even ignored the obstruction of his sister and went forward to hold Daphne's arm and express his love.
The desperate Daphne asked her father to turn her into a tree without feelings. This was her last resistance when she had no choice. She was absolutely unwilling to accept the love that was forced upon her. The old river god couldn't bear to see his beloved daughter suffer, so he tearfully complied with his daughter's wish.
Just when Daphne was tearfully bidding farewell to her father, the cold wind blowing from afar froze Apollo. Hestia, the winter goddess, emerged from a snowflake. Hestia stopped the old river god Asopus and said to him, "Asopus, the flowing river god, your daughters have all suffered disasters because of their beautiful looks. Why not let them go to the temple of my lady - Lady Tyche on Mount Olympus to be maids? By the way, they can guard the precious golden apple tree for the king of gods and the queen of gods."
The old river god naturally believed the messenger of his sister Tyche. He nodded his head quickly and agreed, and hugged his daughter who was crying with joy to comfort her.
Love had made Apollo's head giddy, but he still had a great deal of awe for his grandmother. Although the temple of Tyche on the water was unattended, no god dared to approach this temple without permission. Asopus was very reassured about his daughters' safety and let his other daughters also go to Mount Olympus with Hestia.
The power of ice and snow seemed to have temporarily suppressed Apollo's love fire. His reason had recovered to some extent. Thinking that he could see his beloved on Mount Olympus, Apollo didn't stop Hestia.
However, Hestia stopped the following Apollo. "Apollo, the god of inspiration and art, fate has brought you a glorious task! Your grandmother, the prophetess Phoebe, has left a prophecy for you. Go to the island of Delphi where she is in seclusion and listen to the divine oracle."
As the third - generation offspring of the goddess of opportunity and the goddess of prophecy, Apollo was favored by fate and was one of the few gods who could know the trend of fate. However, the goddess of opportunity wouldn't favor this offspring unconditionally and set a test for him.
On the island of Delphi, the prophetess Phoebe and the god of darkness and intelligence, Coeus, were in seclusion. Apollo got that prophecy from his grandmother. He had to build a solid city on the earth for humans as a homeland in order to be promoted to a powerful god. And this task couldn't be accomplished by Apollo alone. He needed the son of the lake goddess Aegina to participate in it. Otherwise, this city would never be completed.
This prophecy was related to Apollo's chance of being promoted to a powerful god. Apollo restrained his longing for Daphne and came to Poseidon, the god of the tsunami, to ask about Aegina's whereabouts.
The depressed Poseidon turned his eyes and asked about Apollo's purpose of looking for Aegina.
Apollo told the truth, "The goddess Phoebe made a prophecy for me. The key to my being promoted to a powerful god is to build a solid city for humans to obtain faith. This city will be the cradle of human civilization, the first country! After becoming its builder and protector, I can be smoothly promoted with the help of this power."
The tempted Poseidon used this to blackmail Apollo into letting him participate. Apollo couldn't refuse. He didn't want to see the old river god Asopus again. This old river god would never tell the whereabouts of his younger daughter to the god who had almost turned Daphne into a tree.
After reaching an agreement, Poseidon told Apollo the hiding place of his lover. It was an island far from the hustle and bustle, where the abandoned Aegina was playing with her son.
However, the young child was obviously unable to complete the task of casting the city wall. Apollo had to return to Poseidon's side to prepare for this.
With Apollo's help, the cracks on the earth were soon mended. In order to repay Apollo's help, Poseidon decided to stay and help him complete the task of building the city.
Dardanus, who succeeded Sisyphus as the leader, had the blood of gods flowing in his veins. He led the people to establish order. The subjects who were in panic because of the loss of the old king readily accepted this new leader.
One night, the glorious Apollo descended to this land. There was a plain connected to the sea near this city - state. Foreigners often came by ship to plunder the people of Dardanus. So Dardanus begged this shining god to give protection. Apollo gladly agreed to build an impregnable city for Dardanus. But in return, Apollo required Dardanus and his people to build a magnificent temple for himself and Poseidon, and hold a grand festival every year to worship himself.
The two gods used local materials and built the city wall with huge stones. These huge stones as big as small mountains couldn't be moved by humans and could surely provide protection for the people of Dardanus.
Before long, this magnificent city wall was almost completed, but there was still a small part left uncompleted. No matter what methods the two gods used, this last gap couldn't be closed.
Apollo then realized that this last step required the son of the goddess Aegina to complete. They stopped their futile attempts and went to the island where Aegina and her son were in seclusion.
Poseidon saw his son Aeacus with Aegina. The former child had grown into a young man. The god of the tsunami hesitated and stopped in his tracks. Although he hadn't fulfilled his duties as a husband and a father, he still had some feelings for his lover and child. Poseidon hid in the waves on the shore and watched Aeacus. At Apollo's urging, he put on a cloak and came to his son's side.