Click here to listen to the Teaching Mythology Episode 012: Can we cheat death? A Lesson from the Myth of Sisyphus.

[00:00:00] Welcome back today. We’re going to be telling the story of Sisyphus. And this is a classic story in Greek mythology that I feel like most people. Understand the reference, but they don’t actually know the myth. So. You might’ve heard the term. Sisyphean task. Or you might know the image of a man rolling a Boulder up a mountain only to have the Boulder come crashing down. As soon as he gets close to the top.

[00:00:44] This is the myth of Sisyphus.

[00:00:46] I try to always teach the myth of Sisyphus because he is often referenced in other literature. And he’s very symbolic. And so with just a few phrases, a student. Who reads something about specifics in another novel or in a play? Or if they hear the phrase Sisyphean task, they immediately know what this is in reference to.

[00:01:12] And I want to give students that background knowledge.

[00:01:16] So let’s start with. A quick summary of the myth. So Sisyphus was actually a king. In ancient Corinth. And he’s known as being crafty. Deceitful. Avarice. And he even killed guests in his own palace, which angered Seuss. Now this was.

[00:01:37] To kill someone in your own home was considered one of the greatest. Evil. Things that you could do. I hate to say the word sin, but it was a sin to the ancient Greeks.

[00:01:50] But while it angered Zeus, this wasn’t the thing that angered him the most.

[00:01:55] Can you see. Zeus. Was chasing after an, a nymph named,Aegena. And Sisyphus saw him chasing after her. And so when Gina’s father. Aeospus came.

[00:02:09] Looking for her. Sisyphus shared with him it was Zeus that was chasing after his daughter. And, you know, Nobody likes a tattletale, I guess, especially in ancient Greece. So this is the, the event that like, Triggered Sisyphus and this and the myth of Sisyphus. So it’s kind of crazy that in ancient Greece, you can kill people in your own home, but if you tattletale on Zeus, then you’re in big trouble.

[00:02:38] Right. So, what basically happened is that Thanatos, who is Thanatos is the personification of death. Another name or phrase for him as the grim Reaper. But

[00:02:52] Thanatos to personally go and get Sisyphus. And chain him and Tartarus as punishment. Well, when Thanatos comes. To Sisyphus because Sisyphus is so. Tricky and crafty and intelligent. He actually asked Thanatos to demonstrate these chains. That supposedly make it so that no one can escape the chains once you’re chained up.

[00:03:20] Well Thanatos, he’s not so smart. So he demonstrates these chains for Sisyphus and. In reality, traps himself in these chains. And specifically goes on his way and continues living his life. Now, during this time, no one died on earth because Thanatos was not there to go and get them. And. The funny thing is, is that the God that was the most angered by this is actually Ares.

[00:03:49] Because nobody was dying in his battles. And so. Aries is actually the one who comes and frees Thanatos from these chains.

[00:04:01] Now in another version of this myth Hades is the one who is sent to go and get Sisyphus. And Sisyphus tricks him into putting on the chains to demonstrate how they work, but because Hades is. Trapped in these chains. No one could make sacrifices. And so the sick can no longer die. And all the gods threatened Sisyphus. If he doesn’t free Hades.

[00:04:30] So. There’s kind of two different versions of this story. Now, if you hear that name Santos, and it sounds familiar to you. I hope you’re a Marvel movie fan. And, you know, Thanos the gods Thanos in the last two Avengers movies. When he showed up on screen and I’m not a big Marvel fan, but when he showed up on screen, I was like, oh my gosh.

[00:04:54] Thanos Thanatos like Thanos in the Marvel movies wants.

[00:05:00] Half of all life right. To, to die. And he is the bringer of death in the Marvel movies. And Thanatos in the Greek myths is the bringer of death. And the personification of death. Anyway, I love that little connection. I think it was a little. I think Marvel did a little nod. To Greek mythology with that.

[00:05:23] So, so he tricks death this first time. And then he lives the rest of his life, but right before he dies, He tells his wife Merope to throw his body out into the street. Now, remember, he’s a king in Corinth. And he tells his wife to throw his body into the street.

[00:05:46] Now, this is significant. I mean, he tells her this, and then he says, I’m going to test your love for me. So she doesn’t, but in ancient Greek belief, if you were not buried properly, You would not be able to enter the underworld and part of proper burial was that they would put coins over your eyes. And this allows you to pay Charon to cross the river Styx. So on one side of the river is. A wasteland where people wander for a hundred, like a hundred years, if they were not buried properly. And on the other side is the underworld. Now the underworld is not.

[00:06:25] All bad. And in a few weeks, I’m going to do an overview of the underworld and more detail. We’re going to do it for Halloween. But for now you just need to know that because did not bury specific, properly. He. Could not pay Charon. He could not cross the river Styx. And he complains to perstephanie who was the queen of the underworld.

[00:06:51] And we’re going to tell Persephone story next week, but. He complains toPersephone, that this was a sign of his wife’s disrespect for him. And Persephone feels so bad for him. And she wants to punish this wife because she is a dutiful wife to Haiti’s every year she comes down to the underworld.

[00:07:12] Faithfully. Right. So why can’t this human be faithful to her king husband? Right.

[00:07:18] So. Persephone actually allows to Sisyphus to return to earth. To demand a proper funeral. Well, Of course Sisyphus doesn’t demand a proper funeral and he stays on earth. Now it’s very uncertain here. If he’s like. A ghost. Or if he’s a zombie. Or if his spirit was returned to his body that was laying on the street and the body.

[00:07:49] Lives again. We don’t really know the myths. Aren’t super detailed in that way. But. Sisyphus can enter the underworld. So therefore he’s not really like officially dead. And he continues to live, but Hermes who part of his role as a God, is to escort humans into the underworld. Hermes actually goes.

[00:08:15] To get Sisyphus and drags him forcibly into the underworld. So. Sisyphus was able to trick death or to cheat death two times. And it’s not until the third time. Did he finally enters the underworld? Now because of his attempt to escape death. He is actually. Punished.

[00:08:38] So.

[00:08:39] His punishment is that he has to roll a Boulder up a hill and Tartarus. Just to have it come rolling back down because Hades has actually been witched this Boulder to roll away when he gets close. Now in the underworld, there are several places, but Tartars is reserved for the most wicked, the ones who crossed the gods.

[00:08:59] In a Christian sense. It’s the deepest, darkest pit of hell. where all punishment is born. So. It really is a punishment that fits the crime. And this is the hubris in the story. That.

[00:09:15] tries so hard to cheat death. But in the end. You can’t, you can’t cheat death. You, you will never win death. Always wins. So specifically his attempts to cheat death are like him. Rolling that Boulder up the hill. And just when he thinks he’s gonna get away with it, just when he thinks. That that Boulder.

[00:09:39] We’ll reach the top. It comes crashing down just like death comes crashing down upon us. So the myth of Sisyphus is really. A story about the inevitability of death. And.

[00:09:53] That it will come crashing down on all of us. And it really is. How you accept death? Are we going to accept death? And go peacefully across the river sticks and into the underworld and accept our fate. Or are we in a fight against it with everything we have in us with every trick we have in the bow, in our.

[00:10:14] Every trick we have in the book. Are we going to fight death? So. This is why. Some tasks are called Sisyphean tasks. They are. Insurmountable. So anytime somebody describes something as a Sisyphean task. They’re being dramatic, but they’re basically saying. That I cannot accomplish this task. I will spend my life working at it and pushing this Boulder up this hill.

[00:10:46] But I will never succeed.

[00:10:49] I think it’s really interesting that in the myth of Sisyphus, it really is this human fascination with life after death. And a fear of death and a fear of what life is going to be afterwards. So many people try to extend their life on earth and.

[00:11:08] For the ancient Greeks, they had a very strong belief. In fate. That you could not escape fate. But Sisyphus is trying. So hard to escape his fate, that he ends up being punished for it. I mean.

[00:11:25] I don’t know what his punishment would have been. After Zeus, sends Thanatos to him the first time. But I doubt it would have been pushing a Boulder up. A hill for all of eternity. Only to have it come crashing down on him. So when I teach this with my students, we talk about. Their own beliefs of life after death or what they think death is, or if they’re afraid of it or not afraid of it.

[00:11:51] We talk about.

[00:11:53] You know, Are things inevitable. Should we fight it? And I pair this with the poem by Dylan. Thomas do not go gentle into that good night. Where Dylan Thomas is, you know, imploring his own father to fight. To fight back to fight hard. And.

[00:12:13] It kind of is a bit of a heavy topic for students. But it’s something that’s universal. And it’s something that I think. Every single one of us at one point in our life is going to face. Are we going to go peacefully or are we going to fight? I think about the number of people in my family who have had cancer.

[00:12:35] It’s pretty much. A known fact that I’m probably going to die of cancer. And I have family members who fought it. And who fought it hard. And I have other family members who.

[00:12:49] Let go. And. Believed that it was their time. And they went peacefully.

[00:12:57] I’m only 40 years old. So I don’t quite know yet. How all. Take it or how I’ll accept fate or fall. Fight death with. Every fiber of being in me or if I will.

[00:13:12] Welcome it like an old friend. I’m not sure. But.

[00:13:16] The myth of Sisyphus really is. A good story to kind of bring up this idea of what you believe. The afterlife is, and it’s a great story to introduce the underworld myths. And. Alive students relate to Sisyphus, and then what’s really kind of awesome. Is that. After we’ve read the myth of Sisyphus, usually.

[00:13:44] For the rest of the semester, students are bringing me in memes and jokes or they’ll mention, Hey, I was reading this and it was a story of Sisyphus where they references a fist and I knew what it was. Because this office is, so I think integral to. That symbolism that comes out of Greek mythology.

[00:14:06] So there you go. The myth of Sisyphus and

[00:14:10] There’s actually a podcast from Greeking out that goes over. I think it’s called. Most wanted. I’ll link to it in the description box, but it goes over. Different stories of humans who tried to trick the gods and they were punished in the underworld. And the myth of Sisyphus is one of them. And so it retells that story in that podcast. So it’s a great way to introduce kids to the myth of Sisyphus.

[00:14:39] And Next time we will be talking about Perseophone and Hades and why we have seasons. And it will be on a special day, September 22nd, which is the fall Equinox this year. September 22nd, 2021. So I’ll see you then.