Avarice.

Just a mere utterance of the word was enough to send chills down any hero’s spine. Fatal flaws, as they were named. They were something that every hero dreaded and avoided to the best of their ability, but fatal flaws prove to be inevitable – the Fates make sure of that. Though, Sisyphus was no hero. The mighty king of Corinth some might say; but Corinthians knew better. When the gates of the kingdom closed, he was nothing but a raging tyrant. He violated all the sacred laws of hospitality; hell, he tried to kill his own blood! But what made the Gods finally decide to take action upon this oppressor of a mortal?

Avarice: his greed.

Zeus had found a new plaything to toy with, so he went through the means of abduction to get the girl, Aegina. Sisyphus had been a witness, so naturally the girl’s father, the river god Asopus, asked the king of Corinth of her whereabouts. Sisyphus’s greed consumed him, and in return for an eternal spring to run through Corinth, he ratted out Zeus to Asopus. One can imagine the rage of Zeus at the king’s actions, so what better way to deal with this rat than sending death after him? To Zeus, it seemed like a reasonable punishment.

“What an elaborate device!” Sisyphus exclaimed in feigned awe, gazing at the contraption in the hands of Thanatos – the god of death who had come to collect him.

Thanatos didn’t seem amused, and kept the chains in a tight grip. “Forged by Hephaestus himself, king.”

“Why, it is quite the honor to be in the presence of such a powerful god as yourself,” Sisyphus praised. “Tell me, Lord Thanatos, would you do me the honor of demonstrating how this brilliant invention works?”

Thanatos narrowed his eyes, but his grip loosened at Sisyphus’s admiration and eulogizing. Something told him not to trust the king, but the praise had gotten to the god’s head. Thanatos acceptingly opened the metal bracelets and placed them upon his own wrists. Before he could demonstrate further, Sisyphus snapped the bracelets shut in the blink of an eye. He just as quickly clamped the collar chained to the bracelets around Thanatos's neck, grinning all the while. The helpless god of death cried out in a flurry of rage and panic, but his attempts at escape were futile – Hephaestus himself had crafted those chains, there was no hope in getting out of them.

“See how it feels, my lord?” Sisyphus laughed once he had trapped the chained god in his palace in Corinth. “Ah, but of course, you should be the one calling me ‘lord’, seeing as I have you at my mercy.”