Western Civilization depicts a modernized variant of the Grecian hero Sisyphus, who was cursed by the gods that be (mainly Zeus) to roll a boulder uphill all day, only to have the boulder roll back down the hill everyday at sunset. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Ephyra needed a fountain of fresh water, and so wouldn’t you know it, but Sisyphus just happened to see Zeus (the head deity and keeper of the lightning bolts) abduct Aegina, a tasty little nymph that was a daughter of the river god Asopus. Asopus wanted to know who made off with his nymph, and Sisyphus offered him the name of the abductor in exchange for a fresh water fountain at Ephyra, which he accepted. When Asopus confronted Zeus over the abduction and demanded the return of Aegina, Zeus told him to get lost and threatened to uncork a thunderbolt or two. Asopus retreated. Since Asopus and Zeus were both angry with Sisyphus, they cursed him with the repetitive, pointless labor of pushing the rock uphill and watching it roll back down for all eternity.
We might ask ourselves just what would happen if Sisyphus stopped pushing the rock, or simply failed to show up for work one day. The answer to this thought provoking question is – not much. Sisyphus simply exists in this film loop to illustrate the tedious frustration and futility of any activity that offers similar labor with similar rewards; that is, hard labor and no reward.
In Our Noble Host’s illustration, we observe a corpulent female on all fours being assisted up the hill by a male who most likely belongs to the group commonly known as upper-middle-lower management. He wears glasses and, thankfully, a g-string. He’s pushing the female up a steep slope which she is unable or unwilling to climb under her own power. We presume that at sunset she’ll reach the summit, whereupon she’ll roll back down to the starting point.
You may observe that, like Sisyphus and his rock, there is nothing to be gained by pushing the fat lady up the hill. One question that might occur to some of you (as it did me) is why the male exerts so much effort when a lit cigarette applied to the fundament of the female might well accomplish a speedier ascent with a good deal less effort. We don’t know; we can only speculate.
By way of contrast and for reasons that, on the surface at least, are best explained by advanced dementia, Our Noble Host has selected the common African dung beetle, Scarabaeus satyrus. It is one of a very few creatures on the planet that navigates by use of the Milky Way. It seeks out dung for food and reproductive reasons, and in the course of its natural life fertilizes the ground and spreads seeds which are contained within the dung. In fact, dung beetles are beneficial to the ecology to the extent that they are introduced into areas where cattle graze, as they deny harmful insects such as flies the benefit of the cattle dung. Unlike Sisyphus, were the dung beetle to cease its activity, the earth as we know it would be harmed.
So ends this brief missive comparing and contrasting Sisyphus and the dung beetle.
Throw a little flour on them and look for the wet spot!
ReplyDeleteClimb on, slap the thighs, and ride the waves in!
Y'beat me to it!!!
Deletethe ball of dung looks better and probably smells better than other thing.
ReplyDeleteRoger that!
DeleteWestern Civilization depicts a modernized variant of the Grecian hero Sisyphus, who was cursed by the gods that be (mainly Zeus) to roll a boulder uphill all day, only to have the boulder roll back down the hill everyday at sunset. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Ephyra needed a fountain of fresh water, and so wouldn’t you know it, but Sisyphus just happened to see Zeus (the head deity and keeper of the lightning bolts) abduct Aegina, a tasty little nymph that was a daughter of the river god Asopus. Asopus wanted to know who made off with his nymph, and Sisyphus offered him the name of the abductor in exchange for a fresh water fountain at Ephyra, which he accepted. When Asopus confronted Zeus over the abduction and demanded the return of Aegina, Zeus told him to get lost and threatened to uncork a thunderbolt or two. Asopus retreated. Since Asopus and Zeus were both angry with Sisyphus, they cursed him with the repetitive, pointless labor of pushing the rock uphill and watching it roll back down for all eternity.
ReplyDeleteWe might ask ourselves just what would happen if Sisyphus stopped pushing the rock, or simply failed to show up for work one day. The answer to this thought provoking question is – not much. Sisyphus simply exists in this film loop to illustrate the tedious frustration and futility of any activity that offers similar labor with similar rewards; that is, hard labor and no reward.
In Our Noble Host’s illustration, we observe a corpulent female on all fours being assisted up the hill by a male who most likely belongs to the group commonly known as upper-middle-lower management. He wears glasses and, thankfully, a g-string. He’s pushing the female up a steep slope which she is unable or unwilling to climb under her own power. We presume that at sunset she’ll reach the summit, whereupon she’ll roll back down to the starting point.
You may observe that, like Sisyphus and his rock, there is nothing to be gained by pushing the fat lady up the hill. One question that might occur to some of you (as it did me) is why the male exerts so much effort when a lit cigarette applied to the fundament of the female might well accomplish a speedier ascent with a good deal less effort. We don’t know; we can only speculate.
By way of contrast and for reasons that, on the surface at least, are best explained by advanced dementia, Our Noble Host has selected the common African dung beetle, Scarabaeus satyrus. It is one of a very few creatures on the planet that navigates by use of the Milky Way. It seeks out dung for food and reproductive reasons, and in the course of its natural life fertilizes the ground and spreads seeds which are contained within the dung. In fact, dung beetles are beneficial to the ecology to the extent that they are introduced into areas where cattle graze, as they deny harmful insects such as flies the benefit of the cattle dung. Unlike Sisyphus, were the dung beetle to cease its activity, the earth as we know it would be harmed.
So ends this brief missive comparing and contrasting Sisyphus and the dung beetle.
Outstanding as usual, WL!
Delete