Editing Ocnus (section)

==Mythology==
He was condemned to spend eternity in [[Tartarus]], weaving a rope of straw. As depicted in the picture by [[Polygnotos]], standing behind him is his donkey which eats the rope as fast as it is made.<ref>[http://staff.washington.edu/fox/lib/ocnus1.jpg The picture by Polygnotos], University of Washington website</ref>

Unlike as it is the case with other inmates of Tartarus, there is no crime mentioned which would explain Ocnus's condition.<ref name="wokart">Norbert Wokart: Ent-Täuschungen. Philosophische Signaturen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Bibliothek Metzler vol. 5, Stuttgart 1991, p. 103-116.</ref> The classical philologist and epigraphist Reinhold Merkelbach suggests that this is the case because Ocnus had been "tardy" in seeking initiation in the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]], but there is no direct evidence for this in the surviving literary resources.<ref name="castriota">David Castriota: Myth, Ethos, and Actuality. Official Art in Fifth-century B.C. Athens, Madison 1992, p. 277.</ref> The classical philologist [[Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff]] regards Ocnus's condition as a punishment for moral weakness, lack of courage, and shyness towards what he conceives as obligation to make up his mind.<ref name="wilamowitz">Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff: Der Glaube der Hellenen, vol. 2, Darmstadt 1976, p. 181.</ref> According to Wilamowitz, this might have good effects if it keeps away from evil deeds, but is egoistic because the avoidance of obstacles which require a decision to act basically helps no one.<ref name="wilamowitz2">Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff: Aristoteles und Athen, vol. 1, Berlin 1893, p. 174 (footnote).</ref> The philosopher Norbert Wokart however rejects this notion, and deems Ocnus to be just a picture or mere symbol, which [[Allegory|allegorically]] shows the creative and destructive, and abstractly the fragile balance between the positive and the negative, because the positive would only become positive through the contrast of the negative.<ref name="wokart" />

[[Julius Evola]], an Italian esotericist, posits the story as a symbolic representation of the birth and death of man as a form of incidental immortality, circumventing the individual. Here, Evola sees Ocnus as the eternal-mother, weaving the unending rope of humanity down into the mouth of the donkey, which symbolizes death<ref>{{Cite book|last=Evola|first=Julius|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8627007|title=The metaphysics of sex|date=1983|publisher=Inner Traditions International|isbn=0-89281-025-4|edition=1st U.S.|location=New York|pages=51|oclc=8627007}}</ref>