Sisyphus Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A small camo'd lock 'n' lock container in the Loch Raven Watershed. Parking suggested at the Dulaney Valley Road and Chapelwood intersection, enter at fire road then find your way to the cache. NOTE: THE WATERSHED IS NOT OPEN FOR PUBLIC USE AFTER DARK.
This is one in a series of caches using the Ancient Greek and Roman legends to celebrate varoius aspects of Geocaching. Sisyphus was condemned to spend eternity rolling a rock up a hill. Every day he would almost reach the top of the hill, and every night the rock would roll back to the bottom. Many times, hunting an elusive cache feels much like that. This cache will not roll downhill, and you should find it in one day. But it will not be easy. There is no trail to this cache.
Sisyphus was the son of Aeolus (the king of Thessaly) and Enarete, and King/Founder of Ephyra (Corinth). Later sources say Sisyphus was the father of Odysseus by Anticlea, just before she married her later husband, Laertes.
Sisyphus promoted navigation and commerce, but was avaricious and deceitful, violating the laws of hospitality by killing travellers and guests. Sisyphus was famed as the craftiest of men. He seduced his niece, took his brother's throne and betrayed Zeus's secrets. Zeus ordered Hades to chain Sisyphus in Tartarus. Sisyphus slyly asked Thanatos to try the chains to show how they worked. When Thanatos did so, Sisyphus secured them and threatened Hades. This caused an uproar, and no human could die until Ares (who was annoyed that his battles had lost their fun because his opponents would not die) intervened, freeing Thanatos and sending Sisyphus to Tartarus.
As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again (Odyssey, xi. 593). The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for Sisyphus due to the mortal's hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus. Zeus displayed his own cleverness by binding Sisyphus to an eternity of frustration. Accordingly, pointless or interminable activities are often described as Sisyphean.
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Treasures
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