Wednesday, March 18, 2009

CASCADES2: Night 3, the story of Sisyphus.

So after last night, trying to focus these cameras alone and in the clouds, I got to thinking of Sisyphus--not much to say about launching the rocket. Paraphrased from Wikipedia, Sisyphus was a king and a real jerk (but he has nice back muscles!) who promoted commerce but frequently killed travelers. His biggest mistake was tattling on Zeus for stealing the daughter of a lesser god. Sisyphus was punished for thinking he was a peer of the gods and thus could gossip about them. Neither was true and he was sentenced to toil in the underworld, pushing a giant boulder up a steep hill. Every time he neared the top of the hill the boulder would roll back down again and the job would start over. My favorite part of the Wikipedia article really should be quoted:

"However, before Sisyphus died, he had told his wife to throw his naked body into the middle of the public square in attempt to test his wife's love for him. Annoyed by the obedience and loveless decision by his wife, Sisyphus persuaded Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, to allow him to go back to the upper world and scold his wife for not burying his body like a loving wife would."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tiziano_-_Sísifo.jpg

On the bright side, I would much rather be Sisyphus than Prometheus, who had his liver eaten every day by an eagle (it would grow back over night).

No comments:

Post a Comment