Bridgette Dutta Portman
King Sisyphus
a play in verse
Cast of Characters:
SISYPHUS, king of Corinth, 50s
MEROPE, wife of Sisyphus, appears 20s/30s
THANATOS, god of death, an aged man shrouded in black
Setting:
The palace of Sisyphus in Corinth, ancient Greece
Synopsis:
Greek mythology recounts how Sisyphus, slyest man on Earth, once tricked Death by asking him to demonstrate his own handcuffs on himself. I always felt that Death could not possibly be so gullible. In my play, Sisyphus attempts to trick Thanatos in a cleverer way, with the aid of his wife, the immortal star-nymph Merope. In the process, he throws both her and himself into a potentially insurmountable dilemma.
KING SISYPHUS
(On a balcony of the royal palace in Corinth, King SISYPHUS paces and sniffs the air.)
SISYPHUS
‘Tis a strange spring. The larks are chirping in
The olive trees, the almond boughs are sleeved
In pink like Eos’ gown, and I can hear
The streets of Corinth like cicadas hum
With maidens’ laughter and young men at sport.
And yet a deathlike staleness fills the air;
Though all is youth and liveliness, I fear
That some autumnal creature hastens here.
(Enter MEROPE, his wife, a star-nymph.)
MEROPE
What worries at your heart, my dear?
SISYPHUS
Nothing.
MEROPE
You’re lying, Sisyphus. I am a star:
I always sense when stormclouds prowl along
The edges of the sky, and now I see
Them looming in the corners of your eyes.
(Pause.)
SISYPHUS
I think that Death is coming, Merope.
(She looks confused.)
MEROPE
For you? But it’s too soon. A mortal man
Should not meet Death ‘til he is old and gray.
SISYPHUS
No, Merope; ‘tis not my natural time.
But I have wronged the King of Heaven, Zeus,
And in revenge he sends foul Thanatos;
I smell his mold upon the perfumed air.
(MEROPE sniffs.)
MEROPE
To me, the scents of Earth are all so strong
They blend and muddle one another: salt
And flowers, smoke from feasts and funeral pyres.
When Death arrives, what will he do to you?
SISYPHUS
Enchain me like a criminal, and pull
Me down with him into the Underworld.
MEROPE
But for how long? He cannot keep you there.
Once you have served your sentence—once, perhaps,
The seasons turn, and springtime comes again—
Then you’ll come back to life, and back to me.
SISYPHUS
The dead are not like stars. Once they have gone
Below the earth, they cannot rise again.
If I am ferried o’er the river of the dead,
I never shall come back. Yet this I vow:
I am King Sisyphus, the cleverest
Of mortal men, and I shall not be dragged
To death as helpless as the goat who bleats
And thrashes on the blood-soaked altar. No,
I’ll think of something, Merope—some plot,
Some ruse or trickery—for Death is but
Another enemy I shall outwit.
MEROPE
Yes, you are clever, but now you must be wise.
Already Zeus is angry with you; he’ll
Be angrier if you should cheat a god.
Perhaps if you repented, begged his pardon—
SISYPHUS
I’d rather have an obol coin upon
My tongue than an apology to him.
You must have faith in me, my Merope.
When Death arrives, I may require your help.
MEROPE
I beg you not to draw me into this.
SISYPHUS
You are immortal; you cannot be killed.
MEROPE
But there are other sentences than death.
My father bears the sky upon his shoulders.
It weighs him down forever, like a rock—
SISYPHUS
But he’s alive. He’ll ever keep his mind,
His memories, his fury and his pride.
For all his wretchedness, I envy him.
(MEROPE thinks for a moment.)
MEROPE
Perhaps I’ll go with you into the dark
Below, and take our children with me –
SISYPHUS
No.
MEROPE
Why not?
SISYPHUS
You are a star.
MEROPE
I am your wife.
Wherever you must go, I’ll light your path.
SISYPHUS
The Underworld would smother out your light.
You cannot come with me, and should you bring
Our mortal sons, they’ll fade away like me,
Until we’re left but mindless, lifeless shells.
MEROPE
You know I cannot understand. I’ve tried,
Dear Sisyphus. I’ve seen things born and die.
I birthed your children, after all—our sons
Whose threads of life the Fates now weave and ply.
But all I’ve ever known has been a cycle:
The dancing of my sisters through the sky;
The rising and the setting of the sun;
The currents of my grandfather, the Ocean.
Nothing I’ve known has wholly disappeared.
The shriveled grapes that die in autumn come
Again in summer, new and just as sweet.
I’ve wondered whether human life were like
A fire, that sparks up suddenly and then
Extinguishes, but even flames that die
Hide down below their ashes living coals.
Surely beneath your phantom’s husk there shall
Remain a burning ember of your heart.
Surely you too shall live again someday.
You must, my Sisyphus—I know you must.
SISYPHUS
You truly know so little, Merope.
MEROPE
What do you want of me? To help you cheat
The gods and bring their fury on us both?
My father was an enemy of Zeus;
He bears his penance with a titan’s strength,
But you are only mortal, Sisyphus.
SISYPHUS
I am. Perhaps you should have wed a god.
MEROPE
You’re treating me unfairly.
SISYPHUS
What is fair?
That you were born a star and I a man?
Here, then, I shall be fair and generous:
When I am gone—forever gone—you may
Ascend into the sky and take a god
For lover, as your sisters have, and bear
Him stars for children, whom you’ll never have
To lay beneath the ground. I give my blessing.
(MEROPE glares at SISYPHUS, a mixture of disbelief and anger, then exits. SISYPHUS paces irritably. Enter THANATOS, a dark figure cloaked in black and carrying a downturned torch. He regards SISYPHUS impassively. MEROPE secretly watches, eavesdropping from the edge of the stage.)
THANATOS
Sisyphus, son of Aeolus—
SISYPHUS
I know you.
I need not hear your name. You are the seed
Of Night and Darkness, who shepherds men to death.
THANATOS
Your life has ended; Hades waits for you.
SISYPHUS
I am no more afraid of you than of
The worms that crawl about in moldered fruit.
(THANATOS produces a pair of handcuffs.)
THANATOS
Once I have placed these shackles on your wrists,
Not e’en a whisper shall escape your lips,
Only the final sigh of breath let out
A lifeless chest. You shall become a shade,
Unsensing and inert, as effortless
To sweep away as ashes from a hearth.
SISYPHUS
These little shackles have such power? Show
Me how they work.
(THANATOS reaches out for SISYPHUS’s hands.)
SISYPHUS (Cont’d)
No—put them on yourself.
THANATOS
You are the wiliest of mortal men,
King Sisyphus, but I cannot be fooled.
I am an ancient god, and I have heard
A hundred thousand better ploys than that.
(THANATOS extends the shackles again, but SISYPHUS draws away.)
SISYPHUS
To take me now would leave my throne without
An heir—for Glaucus, eldest son of mine,
Is still a boy. Come back when he is grown.
THANATOS
A common plea. If I assented to
Such bargains, men would never die at all.
SISYPHUS
Then come in one week’s time, that I might ready
My wife—she has no kin to comfort her.
Her family did not approve our bond.
THANATOS
I shall not give you time to plot escape,
Though I would find you anywhere you fled.
SISYPHUS
Come back at sunset then—for I must tell
The soldiers of my looming death, that they
Are ready for the turmoil sure to follow.
THANATOS
You disappoint me, Sisyphus; I thought
You were the cleverest of mortal men.
SISYPHUS
Leave me, and I shall give you all my gold.
THANATOS
It is the Boatman asks for coins, not I.
SISYPHUS
Then I shall make you ruler over Corinth.
THANATOS
Already I am every city’s king.
SISYPHUS
I’ll give you twenty men instead of me.
THANATOS
Those men, and all their sons, are mine already.
SISYPHUS
No shackles, then; I’ll freely follow you.
THANATOS
You might at first, until I blinked mine eyes.
SISYPHUS
I will not die.
THANATOS
All men on Earth must die.
SISYPHUS
All men but one.
THANATOS
You must then be a god.
SISYPHUS
Perhaps I am.
THANATOS
Then you have naught to fear.
(THANATOS advances on him with the handcuffs. SISYPHUS is desperate, out of tricks. MEROPE emerges, extending her arms toward THANATOS.)
MEROPE
Place them on me. If you’ll not demonstrate
Them on yourself, then use my wrists.
SISYPHUS
No, Merope—
THANATOS
You would be killed.
MEROPE
Then kill me.
(Now SISYPHUS understands what she means to do. He exchanges a sly glance with her.)
SISYPHUS
You mustn’t do this, O my loyal wife,
Queen of my city, mother of my sons!
I am not worth this noble sacrifice—
I’m but a wicked, cheating, selfish man.
MEROPE
Your words are true, my dear—and yet
I knew it when I said my marriage vows.
If you must die, then let me die as well.
THANATOS
Unselfish woman, are you not afraid?
MEROPE
In truth, I am afraid…but not of death.
I’ve never seen the kingdom of the dead;
I cannot fear a place unknown to me.
But what I dread is parting evermore
From those I love. It chills my blood and turns
My cheeks to marble when I think of it.
I beg you, let me die before my husband.
(MEROPE extends her hands for the cuffs. THANATOS, satisfied, places them on her wrists. She looks at them curiously, then looks at THANATOS.)
MEROPE
And now? Am I to go with you?
THANATOS
What’s this?
SISYPHUS
She speaks to you! Her voice is strong as ever.
THANATOS
It cannot be. This woman should have died.
MEROPE
They seem to chafe my wrists a little; did
You mean to cause some further harm than that?
THANATOS
Impossible…unless she is a goddess…
SISYPHUS
What goddess could have loved a mortal man
Enough to marry him and bear his children?
It seems this stranger is not Death, my dear,
But one of my opponents fooling me.
(THANATOS, bewildered, uses a key to unlock the shackles from MEROPE’s wrists. He takes the shackles in his own hands, studying them.)
MEROPE
I think they must be broken, Sisyphus.
(THANATOS places one of the shackles on his own wrist and tugs at it, testing it. All at once SISYPHUS lunges at him, closing the other cuff around the god’s other wrist. THANATOS is trapped.)
SISYPHUS
Did you believe that you had conquered me,
That I, King Sisyphus, would follow you,
Meek as a herded cow? My wife, indeed,
Is not a mortal woman. She was born
A mountain-nymph, ere Zeus transformed her with
Her sisters into winter-rising stars,
The Pleiades. Pity he told you not.
THANATOS
Mortal, dare you to put a god in chains?
SISYPHUS
A god? I only see a shackled dog.
THANATOS
If I am held, not only you but none
At all may die, and men shall curse your name.
SISYPHUS
Then let them, but I think that for this feat
Tenfold as many men shall bless my name.
THANATOS
The old and sickly in their beds shall find
Their final writhing hours can never cease.
SISYPHUS
And mothers writhing in the pains of birth
Shall never die before they hold their infants.
THANATOS
The felons that your laws condemn shall laugh
At you beneath the execution blade.
SISYPHUS
And watching them, the victims that they tried
To murder shall be laughing louder yet.
THANATOS
Then what of men dismembered on the field,
Bones crushed, blood drained—will you endure their moans?
SISYPHUS
If I can bear the sobs of gratitude
From wives who would have been their grieving widows.
THANATOS
You shall grow old and weak, and long for death.
SISYPHUS
The frailest man is stronger than a corpse.
THANATOS
You’ll come to find this world a tedium.
SISYPHUS
More tedious than Hades’ barren plains?
THANATOS
Why cling so tightly to your thread of life?
SISYPHUS
You cannot understand; you will not die.
THANATOS
No matter. Soon the gods will free me, or
Perhaps ‘twill be the Furies, sent from hell
To tear your living flesh from off its bones
And drag you down into the deathly realm.
I warn you: there your shade may be assigned
To suffer some eternal agony
In Tartarus, where Zeus’s rivals dwell:
Tormented Ixion and Tantalus;
The titans and the weeping Danaids.
As for your wife—I recognize her now:
She used to glimmer in the winter skies.
Henceforth, when you are gone and she is veiled
In grief, her glow shall be a dimmer one.
SISYPHUS
How dare you speak to her, you thing of earth
And soil, you worm, you creature of decay?
She is a star, and even were she not,
She is my wife, the mother of my children,
The only one who ever understood me.
Cry out to high Olympus, threaten me,
But never speak to her again. Now, come!
I would that I could kill you, but instead
A dungeon cell shall be your Underworld.
THANATOS
I warn you, mortal, clever though you be:
You captured me, but cannot fool the Fates;
For you a ghastly punishment awaits.
SISYPHUS
Then let it wait, ‘til someone conquers me.
Come all ye gods above me and below;
Drag me to death; I’ll never willing go!
(SISYPHUS ushers THANATOS offstage, then returns.)
SISYPHUS (Cont’d)
Dear Merope, my heaven’s gem, forgive
Me for involving you. You truly should
Have wed a god—
MEROPE
I never could have loved one.
From in the sky where once I made my home,
So far above the world, I only saw
Its surface, like a painted vase, but you—
You drew me down to vales I’d never seen,
And let me glimpse the true terrain of Earth.
I know perhaps I’ll never understand
How something might be born, then fade away,
And cease to be until the end of time.
But if it’s true, and you must go to death,
How could I rise again into the stars
And smile upon the Earth? How could I let
Immortal suitors kiss my hand and bring
Me presents of ambrosia, or sing
To me of endless beauty and delight,
Or share with me their petty rivalries?
That world is artificial, meaningless.
I gave up Heaven to become your bride:
My home is not the stars, but at your side.
(They kiss.)
MEROPE (Cont’d)
How long can he be held there, Sisyphus?
He spoke of something in the Underworld,
A dreadful punishment—
SISYPHUS
I’m not afraid.
MEROPE
He spoke the truth: the gods shall come for you.
SISYPHUS
And when they do, I’ll think of something else.
Again I’ll need your help. Perhaps I’ll ask
Of you a favor far more difficult.
MEROPE
Then I will do whatever you require.
SISYPHUS
‘Tis a strange spring. E’en now the little larks
Are calling, though ‘twill not be long until
They flee before the war-cries of the gods.
I feel a malice in the very air.
This world itself rejects me, but I live.
Beat strongly on, O heart; be iron-wrought.
O lungs, exhale my curses to the sky.
‘Tis too late now to stop—‘tis all or naught;
I will outwit the Fates, or I will die.
(End of play.)
