Sisyphus's Mother

 

During the global CoVID pandemic 2020-21, together with all the other crisis plaguing our world (climate, war, energy, food security), I was struck by how often the guy caught in an endless cycle of pushing a boulder up a hill was utilised by political cartoonists.

I was more of Dr Seuss and Richard Scarry reader rather than a Greek myths reader as a child, unlike my Greek husband steeped in the tradition of passing on Greek myths with mother's milk. "Tell me about this guy and his boulder dear husband?" Or maybe I googled 'the guy and the boulder'. I had to find out who he was and what was his story as the simple imagery felt literally like it was my story, our story in this apocalyptic time.

Wikipedia offers: "In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the founder and king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean."

Ah, learning of Sisyphus was very illuminating. His story feels like Hindu Samsara, or just the simple act of getting up each day and thinking "not this old chestnut again!", ground hog day and the daily grind.

One weary day reflecting on being a mother, I wondered what it would be like for Sisyphus's mother to not only be holding him and his bloody great big boulder, but to be holding the mountain as well? I thought that despite her exhaustion, her burnout, despite the mountain, the boy and the boulder, she'd eventually come to the only thing she could do and say. 

"I'm holding you darling..."