I know a lot of y'all are confused, and I understand, but I for one love what the author is doing here! She's made a yaoi manhwa that includes a character from Greek Mythology! If you're curious, here's my theory that I've been working on for months now: https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/19490916/
Nanjo-ssi asking if he is actually worth worrying about made me tear up...he doesn't realize what a catch he really is. He must be with twink boi because he's a great liar and gaslighter.
(I don't agree with Mokeyeon's methods, but at least he actually cares for Nanjo)
Hi again, it's the girl that loves analyzing this manhwa! I haven't found any details to make me rethink my theory on what is happening in this manhwa. Short(ish) synopsis time before I do a grand theory reveal when S1 is over:
Guwon is actually the mythical Sisyphus from Ancient Greek mythology. He was a king, and famed as being extremely cunning and ruthless. He pissed off many of the gods, including Zeus, Hades, Thanatos, Ares, Persephone...the list goes on, but in the end he was sent to the underworld and punished by being forced to push a giant boulder up a steep mountain for all eternity. When he reached the top the boulder would always fall back down the mountain, and he'd have to re-do it all again, for all eternity. There are many references to this in the early chapters, including Guwon taking Jinwoo on a long hike in order to stare at a large boulder resting at the top of a mountain. He tells Jinwoo, "I just like to make sure it's still there" - referencing the fact that he finally got that boulder up the hill.
Something that's come up in more recent chapters is a description of "The Hounds". This is extremely interesting to me, as Doc Lim told Jiwoo that they are like elite forces that worship Guwon *like a GOD*. I think something happened in the underworld. An uprising, if you will. It seems that Sisyphus has escaped, and brought with him some help. Earth is now Sisyphus/Guwon's paradise, and he is recreating his kingdom by creating "Stillwater Town" in its likeness. The description of Stillwater Town is almost exactly like his original kingdom. Sisyphus' castle was at the top, and the rest of the residences were built on rings going down like a step-pyramid.
In the most recent chapter, Guwon tells Jinwoo that he is his favorite PERSON in the entire world. Jinwoo is the only human that Guwon has any regard for. This reinforces my theory that Guwon is not in fact a human, but something different all together.
I can go into more about why I think Guwon's memory is a little off, but I'd like to get a bit more confirmation before I really lay that one out. I'll just say it has to do with the water of the River Styx - it can make a human immortal, but it can also rob them of their intelligence and memory. Guwon seems to be displaying a lot of those traits, but his base instincts are still there. The bloodlust, the desire to be the very best, treating humans like livestock, etc.
It's a lot to unpack, and I've already typed a lot more than I was expecting to. But keep your eyes peeled, cuz I'm gonna break this sucker down as much as I possibly can. Writing is my passion, and I absolutely love it when an author incorporates mythology into their own works. Until next time! ヾ(☆▽☆)
I think I read this out of morbid curiosity now, and I've stopped expecting anything like character development or actual story. I kinda enjoyed the chapters where Won was a child, they were the closest thing to "cute" that THIS manhwa has. I think I'll dip out on the next chapters tho - I've caught enough spoilers to know when it's time to say I'M DONE!
I can't wait till the end of the season so I can write my entire thesis on what's happening in this manhwa. Trust me, I've been keeping notes! Yaoi mixed with Greek Mythology and a dystopian apocalypse...I'm in absurdist writer's heaven right now ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ (Shout out to my boi Albert Camus)
I like to think that he's not dead, the older brother just got isekai'd to another world. Truck-kun works in mysterious ways after all (〜￣△￣)〜
This is such an interesting manhwa, I can't stop reading! Thank you for uploading!!
ヾ(☆▽☆)
I'm back with another theory! Waiting for the next chapter has got me thinking. Since I am 99.7% sure Guwon is the legendary Sisyphus, he would have had to escape the depths of Hades somehow. In doing so, he would have to cross the River Styx, which carries some pretty hefty penalties if you happen to touch its water. The River Styx can strip away memories and affect a person's intellect and personality. Doesn't that sound familiar?
There are several ways he could have escaped, and it's possible he just took the chance and swam the river to reach the entrance and lost his memories in the process. It's possible that Persephone (the guardian of the entrance of Hades) felt sorry for him and let him go since he had lost all his memories and intelligence. Still, that doesn't feel quite right since there was so much destruction before he crawled up from the underworld. Maybe Hades himself found out and went apeshit on the world after learning Sisyphus (Guwon) escaped?
That's just one theory, but I just know deep down in my bones that Guwon is Sisyphus and that he escaped his eternal punishment and returned to the mortal realm. One of these days I'll put all my theory posts into one so it'll be easier to read. Can't wait for the next chapter to come out so I can expand on my theory! This is so much fun for me because I love greek mythology and writing. Thank you to everyone who's read and commented on my posts! ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
More to read if you're feeling bored! They are my theories that I've written about before:
https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/18942324/
https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/18958516/
https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/18896397/
Gyuwon you dumbass, you could have just gotten together with the Yoons and fed Chuck to the fishes. Boom, over. (I know this is all to add duhRAMA into the story, but it feels sloppy AF)
For everyone wondering what's going on with Guwon, I've written a few posts that explain my theory on where he came from. I don't have much to update since the last few chapters have been all seggs, but I still stand by my theory that Guwon is Sisyphus from Ancient Greek mythology. He was a fallen king who was punished by Zeus and Hades to push a huge boulder up a hill for all eternity, but now he's lost his memory and is learning everything again. Here are my posts from before (they're links within links): https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/18958516/
Old World Sisyphus was a badass genius human barbarian who cheated death multiple times and tricked actual gods like Zeus and Persephone. New World Sisyphus (Guwon) seems to have lost his memory of his previous life due to an unknown incident (that I'm sure we'll learn about in coming chapters) and is just doing what he does best, which in this case is ruling over a little society of his own creation. I'm really excited to see where this manhwa goes because I love the connection to Greek Mythology!
Sorry if I get too wordy, I just can't stop once I get started (⌒▽⌒)
I just started reading the other day and couldn't stop! I freakin love this story!
I was super excited for this episode cuz Guwon is naked and I can inspect him to find more clues as to his story as Sisyphus...then the D came up and I'm like GODDAMN
Notes on the nakedness:
* He's got a large scar on his right eye, probably from when he was a mortal king
* His eyes are colorless - maybe from being in eternal darkness for so long?
* He's got two scar-like tattoos on both ankles, as well as the one on his neck. My theory is he tried to get out of the boulder-pushing punishment, but since he's immortal they just reattached, but left scars
* His arms and biceps are covered in black tats with two rings near the elbow area - no theories on that just yet. Could be from when he was mortal also?
* He's got a D that could double as a war hammer
* He's prone to nosebleeds when said war hammer is in use
All signs still point to Guwon being Sisyphus! I'm workin' on more theories (⌒▽⌒)
So I'm a literary nerd and a writer, and I've written a few posts on what I think is happening in this manhwa (you can read one here if you'd like https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/18942324/), but for the sake of brevity I'll just say that I think Guwon is actually the mythical Sisyphus himself, risen from the underworld after somehow getting that massive enchanted boulder up the enormous hill. I'm sure you've heard of the legend at least - the guy that was cursed to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity? That guy is Guwon - and he's trying to build a life after completing the worst punishment imaginable. He finally got the boulder up the hill somehow, and he checks on it routinely to make sure it's not going anywhere.
The final lines in The Myth of Sisyphus (by Albert Camus) are: "I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
I think that's exactly what the author is doing in this manhwa - imagining Sisyphus as HAPPY! His memory has been wiped, and there are no longer battles to be waged. He's building his life anew and learning everything again - what people are all about and why they do the weird things they do. Like kissing - why do people put their mouths on each other's? To someone who doesn't know any better it would seem pretty gross - almost enough to make someone barf up their dinner! But after learning WHY they do it, the feeling is actually pleasant - something the'd like to do more and more.
A good question would be - "why tell this story in a yaoi webtoon?", and I think the answer is simple: Why the hell not? Let Sisyphus...I mean Guwon...be HAPPY!
SO I've been researching a lot because I love Greek Mythology. Sisyphus was a king in Ancient Greece whose city looked a lot like "Stillwater Town". Sisyphus's castle was at the very top of the mountain, while everyone else lived in rings circling the top going down (just like in this town). He was incredibly clever, vain, and ruthless - he thought himself to be on the same level as Zeus, and we all know what happens when someone comes for the throne.
Little time skip, but let's just say Sisyphus got in trouble with Zeus, Hades and Persephone for tricking them and skirting death on multiple occasions. In the main part of his myth, he conned Thanatos (basically the Grim Reaper) into chaining himself to a rock, thereby creating a "no more death" type situation. This pissed off Ares, who eventually freed Thanatos and sent Sisyphus to the underworld for Hades to deal with, who punished him to push a boulder up a hill for eternity and enchanting the boulder to roll back down every time it'd reach the top.
There are so many parallels between the Myth of Sisyphus and The Hounds of Sisyphus that it's definitely worth a second read. If you know the myth you'll be able to see all the references to it in the manhwa, like in the beginning when people just stop dying out of nowhere. Then in Chapter 1 we see Guwon's hand as he climbs up from underground, and when we see him taking Jinwoo on a very long hike only to stare at a boulder sitting on top of a mountain in the distance - he says "I just like to come back and make sure it's still there".
The parallels are all really interesting - the only thing I can't quite figure out just yet is the character's memory lapse. I'm sure we'll find out more as we go on! I've got more, but I've already written so much - if you've made it this far thank you for reading!! ヾ(☆▽☆)
If we're providing recs for hiatus downtime, I'd like to throw one of my all-time favs into the mix -
Dark Heaven: https://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/dark_heaven/
I love this author so much and this story is highly underrated. It actually tackles the problem of gay hatered (sorry - couldn't think of a better phrase) in a way that really hits home. Just a suggestion! (▰˘◡˘▰)
Shin's trying his very best to act like Jake did in the beginning - it kinda reminds me of a kid pretending to be a cop. Cute as hell, but you know no one's gonna let run around and actually do it by himself.
I just love this manhwa so much, I never want it to end!
I've been researching (cuz I love to), and Sisyphus was a king in Ancient Greece who was punished by Zeus and Hades, forced to push a boulder up a hill for eternity only for the boulder to roll back down to the bottom where he'd have to start all over again.
** In chapter 1, amid the chaos we see Guwon's hand reaching up from under the ground, like he's crawling out of Hades/Hell
** In Chapter 3 Guwon takes Jinwoo on a hike to a very remote place to stare at a boulder on top of a mountain, then says "What if it moved and crashed back down?"
Very clever Author-Nim! I'll share more notes as I find them - I started re-reading to make sense of it all and I've already got quite a bit (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
Andrew was raised in a horrible environment with a horrible father, stalked and forced into the spotlight when he was a child, so he's basically still a child in a man's body. His emotional development isn't anywhere near his physical...ahem...size. I think Luke is good for Andrew and will over time help him be more outgoing. I'm still rooting for both of em!
I absolutely LOVE that I can't predict a single thing that will happen in this manhwa. BRING IT ON GUWON!!!
