Sisyphus Name vase of the Underworld Painter (Munich) Besides Ixion another and more famous sinner in the underworld is Sisyphus. You already saw him with his rock next to Ixion in the Roman sarcophagus at the top right. Below you can see him pushing his rock on a vase by a fifth-century Greek artist known only as the Underworld Painter. What did Sisphyus do to warrant this punishment? Well he tried to outwit death. Once he wrestled with death and won. Another time he persuaded his wife not to bury his dead body and thus was not permitted to enter the underworld. When he eventually did die, he was punished with the task of rolling a rock up the hill. forever This effort has come to be called a Sisyphean task and to represent a chore which can never be completed. I am like Sisyphus today in fact, because I can never complete my task of illustrating the use of classical myths in the modern world. There are simply to many of them to ever finish! Name vase of the Underworld Painter (Munich)

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Franz von Stuck 1863-1928 Occasionally Sisyphus has been the subject of modern artwork. Here is a 1923 painting by the German Symbolist/Expressionist Painter and Sculptor, 1863-1928 Franz von Stuck.

Here is a watercolor drawing by American artist Ilene Winne-Lederer entitled “The Redemption of Sisyphus” in which the hero’s labor finally finds a purpose in the artist’s version of a Chinese sand garden. The Redemption of Sisyphus Watercolor Drawing, 1999 by American artist Ilene Winn-Lederer

Camus’ Absurd Hero In 1942 the French existentialist philosopher Albert Camus first published this influential book, The Myth of Sisyphus, in which the Greek sinner is transformed into a symbol of the 20th century hero of the absurd. Camus says that Sisyphus is the absurd hero as much through his passions as through his torture. His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing. This is the price that must be paid for the passions of this earth. For Camus it is this struggle which has earned Sisyphus immortality.

Sisyphus and Teaching This man, Edmund J. Sass, is a Professor of Education at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. On his webpage he acknowledges his debt to Albert Camus and calls Sisyphus’ plight a perfect metaphor for what he does as a teacher and college professor.” In his darkest and most cynical moments, he says, he finds it difficult not to think of Sisyphus. I am particularly plagued by these thoughts, he says, in the fall, with the specter of starting anew staring me squarely in the face. Albeit, I am confronted with a different rock, perhaps on another mountain, but nevertheless, it is there, and I wonder if I can overcome the inertia and nudge the burden forward and upward. I contemplate the myriad meetings, the mindless administrivia, the absurd paper work, the futile and meaningless tasks assigned by the bureaucracy and know they will encumber me and slicken my slope. Yet somehow, the inertia is always overcome. The rock rolls, and as I inch my way toward the summit, seeking to unravel the mountain's many mysteries as I go, I lose myself in the journey and discover the slope is neither as steep nor as slippery as it first appeared.

Sisyphus the Rap Version Funky dude name of Sisyphus be walkin' up a hill And the rock he be rollin' weigh so much he wanna kill And the gods all be laughin' when he get up to the top 'Cause the rock won't be stayin' They all know it gonna drop But Sisyphus be cool Well, you know he aint no fool 'Cause the rock be his thing And the mountain be his too And the gods can't beat him, no matter what they do So though his burden's heavy And his body tired and torn You know there aint no funky fate Can't be overcome by scorn! And here is a rap version of the story of Sisyphus which Professor Sass and his son have posted on his website. Note how this rap song celebrates Sisyphus ability to beat even the gods because “there ain’t no funky fate can’t be overcome by scorn!” In addition to this Sisyphus rap there is also a 1975 song entitled “The Myth of Sisyphus” by Stephen Stills of “Crosby, Stills, and Nash” fame.

Stills Stephen Lyrics - Myth Of Sisyphus (Stephen Stills, Kenny Passarelli Lyrics (1975) Are you leavin' Bein' alone Always made you so sad I got memories of the city Followin' me everywhere I go Are you mad with heartache Got a country home And you a Parisienne Gonna take all your sorrows Right along with you when I'm gone And I got to go away Only need a couple of days I got one more chance to sing it And I ain't gon' waste my time 'Cause everything including you Is on the line Are you troubled Feelin' bad And no one seems to care Got the myth of Sisyphus Fallin' on you like a rolling stone In this song, Sisyphus rock seems to be a symbol for all the trouble and bad feelings which have the “you” of this song down. Note how, in the last lines, The singer feels as if “the myth of Sisyphus is fallin on you like a rolling stone.” Sisyphus has also attracted the attention of many modern cartoonists who transform the rock into a variety of amusing objects.

Alt Linux Sisyphus http://www.altlinux.com/index.php?module=sisyphus In the modern world Sisyphus is even more prominent than Ixion. Here is an image used by Alt Linux’ “Sisyphus” software. Since this company offers a repository of software packages which are updated and revised daily, this product is named after Sisyphus, who ceaselessly rolled rocks up a mountain. This, the creators, say “symbolizes their ceaseless labor to improve their distributions” on a daily basis. And the image of Sisyphus and his rock which you see on this slide is one which appears on the company website. http://www.altlinux.com/index.php?module=sisyphus

Sisyphus Gaming The constant cycle of hardware upgrades and more complex games can leave a gamer feeling like the legendary Sisyphus. Simon Abramovitch in Escapist Magazine The fact is, technology will always be moving forward, keeping the cycle running fluidly, trapping high-road gamers into a never-ending struggle for more, ringing the familiar bells of the perennially dissatisfied middle-class American. Buy, consume, then buy some more. The case is like that of the mythical Sisyphus, eternally pushing a stone up a mountain slope, whence the stone falls back under its own weight, and the climb begins anew. That high road can perhaps be likened to this slope, with the endless cycle of renewed and heightened expectations keeping any end inevitably unreachable. Perhaps, as with our look back at early games, there is indeed wisdom in classics. In an article in Escapist Magazine, Simon Abramovitch has compared the constant changes of upgrades in computer gaming to a Sisyphean task and says that gamers have been trapped in a never-ending struggle, just like Sisyphus. Note how Abramovitch ends his second paragraphs with the statement that “Perhaps, as with our look back at early games, there is indeed wisdom in classics.”

Founded in 1989 Sisyphus Productions calls itself a Substance Over Style Production Company devoted to film as art. Their identification with Sisyphus goes beyond the name and includes not only the Claymation Sisyphus logo on the left but also this film logo modeled on an early silent film. Note how in both images, Sisyphus’ rock has become a reel of film which winds and and unwinds eternally. ` https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnfCr7t_6Jk http://www.sisyphusproductions.com

In this New Yorker cartoon from 19 In this New Yorker cartoon from 19??, Wyatt depicts Sisphyus’ rock as a gigantic beach ball as he identifies Sisyphus with the modern workalcoholic who can’t even relax on vacation.

And in this New Yorker cartoon by Miller the rock becomes a giant valentine heart as a forlorn husband struggles to reach his wife waiting at the top of the hill.

And here Sisyphus’ rock becomes a question mark.

Sisyphus has appeared in the Frazz cartoon strip at least three times Sisyphus has appeared in the Frazz cartoon strip at least three times. Here Malee tells the story of Sisyphus and, in the process illustrates the frustration of the story, as Frazz’s audience asks him to repeat the tale.

Above Malee offers a modern variation of the Sisyphus myth that only women can really appreciate as he compares the hero’s rock rolling back down the hill to the tendency of panty hose to slide back down. Below he tells the story of Sisyphus in the style of “Dr. Zeus”.

The sign in this 1990 cartoon by Jim Berry is not very encouraging.

And the Sisyphus reference in this cartoon by needs no caption to explain its meaning. The people on the treadmills in the foreground are not really much different from the hero in the background. All are moving in an endless task.

While I am not sure that the Sisyphus reference is intentional in this cartoon, the possibility is worth considering. After all, poor Sisyphus never had the luxury of quitting when it stopped being fun.

This is one of the few Sisyphus cartoons which does not include the rock. The ancient Greek Sisyphus, of course, never succeeded in getting “over the hill.” Then there is a more serious use of Sisyphus and his rock in political cartoons.

One of the earliest I have found is this cartoon, appearing March 16, 1844, was drawn by Richard Doyle and reflects Ireland’s long struggle for independence from English rule. Here Sir Robert Peel, the British chief secretary for Ireland. is portrayed as Sisyphus, pushing a rock which is labelled "IRELAND" and has the facial features "Daniel O'Connell," the most active voice for Irish independence at that time. The political struggle between Peel and O’Connell was long and bitter and ended only with O’Connell’s death in 1847. Under the title is written: "Sisyphus is said to be doomed for ever to roll to the top of a great mountain a stone, which continually falls down again.“ So Peel’s conflict with O’Connell was seen to be a Sisyphean task.

Joseph Keppler, Sr. — Tantalus Joseph Keppler, Sr. — Tantalus. From the front cover of the October 8th, 1884 issue of Puck magazine. Based on the Greek Myth, it shows former Speaker of the House, and Republican nominee for President, James G. Blaine, tantalized by the oh, so close, but never reachable to him, goal of the Presidency, along with the spoils, patronage, and other riches, that the thoroughly corrupt Blaine lusted after.

This cartoon, drawn by an unknown Russian Marxist about 1903, depicts a Boshelvist named Plekhanov trying to pull his friends out of a swamp of controversy while Lenin,, hands on his hips, stands in the background on the path that leads to the rising sun of the proletarian revolution. While there is no rock in this drawing, Plekahnov’s situation is like that of Sisyphus in that it is futile and eternal. He hardly pulls one ally out and another is caught and dragged ito the swamp. While Plekhanov, his private parts covered by a fig leaf — "dialectics" — labours hard to pull long-eared Martov and his Menshevik friends, Axelrod (crayfish), Dan (snake), Potresov (frog) and Trotsky (dragonfly) out of the swamp, A.S. Martynov, the former editor of the semi-economist Rabochee Delo, who has joined the Mensheviks and allegedly dominated their minds, drags them down into the mire. Lenin, hands on his hips, stands on the dry path that leads to the rising sun of the proletarian revolution and looks on. Plekhanov: "O God, what torture! — I hardly pull one youngster out by his hears when this man-like monster has already caught another and drags him down into is vile quagmire. Thus I wallow perpetually in this cursed swamp, and if I do not watch out, I shall sink right up to my crown!"

Here is a “Scoops” cartoon by Doug Sneyd dating from the Jimmy Carter presidency. Note how Jimmy’s daughter Amy tells her father the myth and he immediately identifies Sisyphus’ task with his own impossible efforts to get his programs up Capitol Hill and passed by Congress.

Or this cartoon by Morin, which uses the Sisyphus myth to suggest the futility of the peace effort in the Middle East. While this cartoon is about twenty five years old and the Sisyphus in this cartoon is the late Jordanian king Hussein and the rock bears the smiling image of the late Palestinian leader Arafat, the very same cartoon could be used today with the region’s current leaders.

Here in a cartoon from the British journal “The Economist” Kal brings the Sisyphus myth to modern China and identifies Sisyphus with Deng Xiaoping who served as the de facto ruler of the People's Republic of China from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Deng’s efforts to pioneer "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and Chinese economic reform are questioned in this cartoon as the leader tries to roll a rock with Mao Tse Tung’s image up a hill.

And, more recently, the efforts of Kofi Annan, U. N And, more recently, the efforts of Kofi Annan, U.N. Secretary General to work for world peace are brilliantly portrayed in this cartoon by Ariail who uses the UN symbol as Sisyphus’ rock. I am a bit surprised that we have not yet seen George Bush in a similar position as he trieds to seek peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our Sisyphean task is not yet over, if it ever can be, as we turn to our third, and final sinner, Tantalus.

Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen (1903-1946) Finally I would like to share with you a sonnet by the Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen in which the Sisyphus and Tantalus play prominent roles.

I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind, Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind, And did He stoop to quibble could tell why The little buried mole continues blind, Why flesh that mirrors Him must someday die, Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus To struggle up a never-ending stair. Inscrutable His ways are, and immune To catechism by a mind too strewn With petty cares to slightly understand What awful brain compels His awful hand. Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing. [Read poem] Note how Cullen asks a series of unanswerable questions in this poem: Why is the mold blind? Why do humans die? Why was Tantalus tortured? Why must Sisyphus struggle up a never-ending stair? The answers to these questions are known to God but not to human beings. But the most difficult question of all, for Cullen, is a personal one, why was he made black and a poet at the same time. By concluding with this question, Cullen identifies himself, in a way, with Sisyphus and Tantalus. Like these great sinners, he, too, has to struggle continuously. Like Sisyphus and Tantulus he, too, is driven by an irresistable urge. Sisyphus had to roll his rock. Tantalus had to reach for food and water and Cullen has to sing, i.e., to write poetry. Cullen’s Sisyphean task was thus his work as a poet. We can only hope that as he wrote this poetry he also experienced some of the enjoyment and the challenge which it means to be tantalized.