The cycle of life and death

All old stories have a beginning and an end, but our story starts from the end and ends at the beginning, for it is a circle that connects life with death and death with life. So let me tell you about the myth of Sisyphus, one of the ancient Greek myths. The unfortunate Sisyphus was punished with eternal punishment because he deceived the Greek gods and stole their secrets. It is said that the one who punished him was Zeus, and it is also said that it was Jupiter. When Sisyphus died and went to the underworld, he asked Hades to return him to the world of the living, to punish his wife for what she did to his body, because when he was on his deathbed, he wanted to test her love for him. He instructed that his naked body be thrown into the public square, thinking that his wife would prevent this command and request out of love for Sisyphus. But what actually happened was that his body was thrown naked, and it reached a river. Hades agreed to return him to the world of the living, but with a condition: when his time was up, he had to return again to the underworld. However, Sisyphus was dazzled by the world of the living, remembered the beauty of the sky, the sea, and the rivers, and broke Hades' condition. He sent Thanatos, the death, after him to chain him and bring him back, but Sisyphus tricked death. He asked Thanatos to try the chains on himself to see how they worked. He did so and chained himself, which stopped death in the world of the living. This angered Zeus, who finally released death and captured Sisyphus again, returning him to the underworld once more. Because of the hero's foolishness, Sisyphus was severely punished: he was condemned to carry a heavy stone up the mountain, and when he reached the top and breathed a sigh of relief, the stone would fall back down. Then he would descend again to bring the cursed stone back, trying once more, only for it to fall again. An eternal curse, with no beginning and no end, befell poor Sisyphus... But was Sisyphus really a poor soul? Or does he deserve this punishment? Because of what he did with deception and cunning... All of this is not important. What matters to us is: what if we are Sisyphus and we do not know? Then we should cry and lament a lot, because we deserve much pity and little mockery of this imaginary absurdity. -- From a manuscript found in Tithina