“And I saw Sisyphus in agonizing torment, drafting a reply to Kayleigh’s ten urgent UX questions. He hit ‘send,’ and immediately received an autoresponder: ‘I no longer work here! For questions, contact Caleb, Chief Joy Officer.’”
—Homer, Odyssey
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“Sisyphus thinks he can outwit death. But the company hive mind pings him relentlessly, even on weekends, and so he stares at his phone on a Saturday and misses his daughter score her first goal at a soccer game.”
—Pindar, Olympian Ode
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“Athena quietly adds Sisyphus to a sinister Google Doc called ‘Q3 brainstorm,’ which emails him whenever anyone comments on this document, which he does not desire and from which he cannot escape. The notifications may be silenced only in settings reserved for the Gods—and thus, not for Sisyphus.”
—Seneca the Younger, Hercules Furens
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“There, Sisyphus toils—straining to zero the inbox, only for Nathan to smite him with that cruelest of follow-ups: ‘Just checking if you saw this?’”
—Virgil, Aeneid