The myth of sysiphus - Contentment in spite of the Absurdity of Life

The Myth of Sisyphus

• Who was Sisyphus? – He was legendary king of Corinth in

ancient Greece, who was condemned eternally to repeatedly and ceaselessly roll a heavy rock up to the top of a mountain only to have it roll down again as it nears the top

The gods believed that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour - a fit sentence for Sisyphus ………..

• Why? – There are three main of stories why this

happened to Sisyphus

• One story – Sisyphus earned the wrath of the gods

by bearing witness against Zeus in order to earn earthly wealth and happiness for himself and his people….

• Another story – Sisyphus enchained the spirit of Death

(Hades), so that during Death's imprisonment, no human being died

– Naturally, when the gods freed Death, his first victim was Sisyphus.

• A third story– Sisyphus told his wife not to offer any of the traditional burial rites when he died– He was granted permission by Hades to return to earth to chastise her– His second lease on life allowed him to

refused to return to the underworld, and lived to a ripe old age before enduring his eternal punishment.

• Camus identifies Sisyphus as

the archetypal absurd hero,

both for his behavior on earth

and for his punishment

in the underworld.

• Sisyphus displays:– scorn for the gods

– a hatred of death

– a passion for life

• His punishment is to

endure an eternity of

hopeless struggle.

• What fascinates Camus is Sisyphus's state of mind in that moment after the rock rolls away from him at the top of the mountain.

• As he heads down the mountain, briefly free from his labour, he is conscious, aware of the absurdity of his fate.

• His fate can only be considered tragic because he understands it and has no hope for reprieve.

• At the same time, the lucidity he achieves with this understanding also places him above his fate.

• Camus suggests that Sisyphus might even approach his task with joy.

• The moments of sorrow or melancholy come when he looks back at the world he's left behind, or when he hopes or wishes for happiness.

• When Sisyphus accepts his fate, however, the sorrow and melancholy of it vanish.

• Camus suggests that acknowledging "crushing truths" like the eternity and futility of his fate is enough to render them less crushing.

• Happiness and the absurd are closely linked, suggests Camus. • They are both connected to the discovery that our world and our fate is our own, that there is no hope and that our life is purely what we make of it…………• As he descends the mountain, Sisyphus

is totally aware of his fate. • Camus concludes: "One must imagine

Sisyphus happy."

• Camus has argued that the absurd hero sees life as a constant struggle, without hope.

• Any attempt to deny or avoid the struggle and the hopelessness that define our lives is an attempt to escape from this absurd contradiction.

• Camus's single requirement for the absurd man is that he live with full awareness of the absurdity of his position.

• While Sisyphus is pushing his rock up the mountain, there is nothing for him but toil and struggle.

• But in those moments where Sisyphus descends the mountain free from his burden, he is aware.

• He knows that he will struggle forever and he knows that this struggle will get him nowhere.

• This awareness is precisely the same awareness that an absurd man has in this life.

• So long as Sisyphus is aware, his fate is no different and no worse than our lot in life.

• We react to Sisyphus's fate with horror because we see the futility and hopelessness of his labour .....

• We become aware of the absurdity of the pursuit of happiness ……..

• Let us stop wasting time and energy chasing happiness but rather focus on obtaining contentment …….

• Let us face reality and accept who we are, our current circumstances,

• Let us acknowledge our limitations, as well as what we are capable of …..

• And then dare to dream of a better “ME” …..

• Because contentment, not happiness, is a superior end-goal …

• When we learn to subsidise our limitations and our fate by fullly utilising our gifts which are manifested in the unique combination of ‘– our traits,

– our attributes,

– our characteristics – our strengths …

• Take a leap into hope and faith by wholly exploiting our talents of a totally functioning self….

• Thus we able to Find the best way to roll our rock down the mountain and develop the skills necessary to roll it up again in a quicker, faster, better, cheaper manner so that we can improve not only the rock but the mountain, for the nextt generation…. – That is the meaning of life …– That is the meaning of work ….

• Contentment comes from acceptance of this ….

The End

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