Political Art: King Sisyphus In the Underworld

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a tyrant king who killed visitors as arbitrary demonstrations of his power, a violation of the sacred traditions of hospitality. Hades, god of the dead and king of the Underworld, condemned Sisyphus to roll a huge boulder endlessly up a steep hill in the Underworld. The boulder would always roll away from Sisyphus before he reached the top, consigning him to unending frustration at the futility of his efforts as a punishment for his crimes and hubris.

Apropos of the historic moment of the November 5, 2024, United States elections, I’m reposting this painting from 2019 of a miserable creature caught in his own private hell. In the way Percy Shelley’s poem Ozymandias has outlived the ancient monarch in its title, I hope that this painting of the myth of Sisyphus outlives the miserable creature I used as reference for it.