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all the wa te rs gave him endless work ." Wha t irrita tes K a fk a's
Pose idon mos t is tha t he is inva ri a bl y presented "riding about
through the tides with hi s tride nt. " In fact, "he had ha rdly seen the
ea." His o ffi ce is located deep in the earth , benea th a ll the ocean s.
He sits there day a nd ni ght do ing involved calcul a tions a nd drawing
di agrams . H e has no time fo r trave l. Wha t poss ible use could he
have fo r the tride nt ?
I see K a fk a's Pose idon in a fu sty, stifling room like the court
chambe rs in
The Trial.
In hi s ha nd he is holding a n old rusty
compass, on the ta ble lies a n a bac us. This ve rsion of the myth about
Poseidon a lso ends like
Prometheus,
with the fin a l stas is. In the end ,
Poseidon has become bo red with hi s j ob ; he can e ndure it no longe r.
"Silentl y he sat on the rocky coas t a nd a gull , dazed by hi s presence ,
described wave ring circles a round his head ."
Ka fk a's dead -tired Pose idon who sits on a rock by the sea can be
found in Camus's image of Sisyphus, who, having descended from
the mounta in , sits a t its foot, as the same boulder he has pu shed up
to
the top a n infinite numbe r o f times roll s down to the bottom, once
more. Si syphu s understa nds hi s fa te. In the unive rse suddenl y
res tored to its silence, "Hi s fa te belongs to him ." Camus concludes,
"One must imagine Sisyphu s happy."
Camu s's Sisyphu s will once again roll the rock to the top o f the
mounta in. Poseidon's a nd Sisyphu s'S work is never done. K a fk a's
Pose idon heads the globa l ente rpri se,
Oceans and Storms, Ltd.
Deadly
bored with hi s j ob , he is waitin g for the end of the world . Onl y then
will he be a ble to go to the beach a nd silently wa tch the sea. Onl y
then will he be a ble to imagine himself happy.
All K a fk a's mythical he roes have bee n deprived o f class ical
decorum a nd a re of thi s wo rld , from Prometheus to Abraham . Two
differen t Abra hams a ppear in K a fk a's pa rables . The first Abraham
"couldn't go away . .. without having hi s house ready . .. the hou se
was neve r read y ." It is poss ible th a t Abra ham a nd Sa ra h "did not
even have a son , ye t a lready had to sac rifice him . These a re
imposs ibilities a nd Sa ra h was ri ght to la ugh ."
Ka fka's second Abra ham
wanted
to
perform the sacrifice in the ri ght way . .. but could
not believe that he was the one meant , he, an ugly old man, and a
dirty youngster that was hi s child . H e was afraid that the world
would laugh itself to death at the sight of him . . . the
ridiculousnes will make him even older and uglier, hi s son even
dirtier, even more unworthy of being reall y called.. . It is as if,
