Homo consumens nad Styksem

The text is a type of diagnosis of the world in the era of the Anthropocene. In an attempt to understand and describe the reality of a crisis on a global scale (pandemic, war, climate, energy, food, migration, etc.), the article refers to many literary texts (especially by W. Szymborska), works of popular culture, press materials, various historical, sociological, cultural and philosophical studies, as well as old mythological narratives subjected to reinterpretation. The perspective outlined in this way not only better illustrates the specificity of the present, but also draws attention to the universality, “long duration,” and inevitability of particular phenomena and processes.