In Greek mythology Sisyphus was the king condemned by the gods to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity.
It is used now to describe a never-ending task: the kind we witnessed in Athen's Syntagma Square on Tuesday.
Men in overalls with buckets of soapy water trying to scrub anti-government graffiti from the marble walls of the buildings which stand near the Parliament.
But for the Plaza Hotel, Tuesday was one of the better strike days in the centre of Athens: its marble steps have been destroyed to make improvised missiles several times over the past two years.
They were left untouched despite a demonstration during the general strike, which was something of a damp squib.
In some respects there is demonstration fatigue; the protests involving public and private sctor unions, communists, students and pressure groups have not stopped the slow free fall of the country's economy.
Nor have they changed the general policy of the Greek government, despite the change of administration after the fall of Prime Minister George Papandreou at the end of last year.
The country is in hock to its international lenders, who are calling the shots, especially now Greece needs the second bailout of 130 billion euros to pay its creditors.
The prospect of a 'hard default' does not cheer anyone, in fact 70% favour Greece remaining in the eurozone, knowing that a return to the drachma would be traumatic.
But there seems to be less anger than we witnessed last year. It seems to have been replaced by a feeling of inevitability, mixed with concern about what a default could mean.
A return to the drachma would make imports cheaper abroad, so spur growth in certain industries, but would also make imports much more pricey.
Then imagine trying to pay off a loan you took out in euro with drachma, which may be worth perhaps a tenth as much.
The biggest worry globally is that a default would trigger a so-called credit event, which would set in train a series of shocks similar to that witnessed after the fall of Lehman Bros in 2008.
The event is being keenly felt across all ages and social classes.
One woman I spoke to described how her eight-year-old daughter had started to pick up the lexicon of the crisis: asking what the words "default" and "unemployment" meant.
She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) took her away for the Christmas holidays.
The last time I was here I spoke to a man called George whose income has been so squeezed he now relied on his mother-in-law's smallholding to dig and pick fruit and vegetables for his family.
He used to be a lawyer, but now drives a taxi for extra income.
George told me his parents used to describe the fear in Greece during the German-Italian occupation and subsequent civil war.
He says the country rebuilt itself and vowed never to let its people be hungry or frightened again. But they are, he told me.
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