Albert Camus wrote the Myth of Sysiphus. The stories main character is
Sysiphus. He lived in Ancient Greece and was the founder and king of a
prosperous city called Corinth. Sysiphus was an extremely smart and clever man
but did indeed possess a passionate desire to outwit the gods. Sysiphus also
possessed a highly rebellious nature. During his time, he was a mortal man who
had the audasity to match wits with the gods. Sysiphus was condemned to role a
rock up to the top of a mountain, watch it role back down again, and then push
it back up again.
His passionate and rebellious nature combined with his desire to outwit the
gods is what led to his fate of futile labor. For example, Jupiter, the god of
the Sea, abducted Aegina, the daughter of Aesopus. Aesopus was naturally quite
distressed by this event and went to Sysiphus to complain of this monstrosity.
Sysiphus knew where Aegina had been taken. He then told Aesopus where Jupiter
had taken Aegina on the Condition that that Aesopus would provide water to the
city of Corinth. Sysiphus tricked death when it came and took him to the
underworld he left death there in chains. Sysiphus also once wanted to test his
wife\'s love for him. He ordered her to publicly display his body and not give
him a proper burial. Once he was condemned to the underworld he complained to
Pluto that he needed to return so that he could chastise his wife. After once
again seeing the pleasures of this world he didn’t want to return to the
underworld and for many years he did not. Once again the gods had been
outwitted by Sysiphus, a mere mortal. This angered them deeply. Mercury came to
seize Sysiphus and ,at once, condemned him to the underworld to carry out his
Fate.
Albert Camus, the author of the Myth of the cave wrote this Myth during the
tumultuous Shambles of WWII. All around him he witnessed the pain and suffering
people had to indure from the outcome of war. He had a bleak but courageous
outlook for what one could only imagine to be a very trying time for people.
Camus believed that the essence of man was irrational and life is nonessential,
but one should face life with a sort of courageous humanism. Camus rather
enjoyed the more rebellious side of human nature. Camus is most interested in
Sysiphus because when faced with this futile punishment he chooses a rather
unusual manner to deal with it. In his writing Camus focuses most on the moment
of time when Sysiphus is coming down the mountain. He describes Sysiphus as
being in a conscious and lucid state. He feels tragedy, victory, and a bit of
sadness for his situation. It is during this time of consciousness that
Sysiphus begins to formulate drastic conclusions about his fate. During his
descent, he decides that he and only he can control his own destiny. He faces
the reality of his situation and makes a conscious decision to reject any god
that would have him endure futile suffering. He decides that his fate will lie
within his own hands and therefore he and only he will decide whether or not he
will allow this condemnation to render him powerless or powerful. In this
moment of adversity he finds the courage within himself to continue on and
decide for himself that god will not make him suffer.
Sysiphus decides that he will be happy. He will be \"superior to his
fate\". Once he rejects god he sees that because of his own nature he can
create his happiness. Camus is most interested in this side of Sysiphus. He
wonders how one can grasp the consciousness to be happy in the face of such
adversity given this terrible punishment. Camus realizes that Sysiphus\' joy is
contained within. His fate belongs to him. Camus states that one cannot know
what it means to be happy unless one has known what it means to experience
sorrow.
Sysiphus has, even to the end, managed to outsmart the gods. The gods gave him
what they considered a punishment that would surely make any man miserable.
Sysiphus decided not to be miserable at all and makes a conscious decision to
understand that his nature lead to his actions and his actions lead to his
punishment but even still all is ok within him.
Camus says, \" The workman of today works everyday of his life at the same
task and his fate is no less absurd\". People today work hard at trying to
get ahead and maintain their standards of living. All these people experience
moments of consciousness during which they make crucial decisions for their
lives. Some people decide at this moment that the glass is “half-empty”. Life
is difficult and it just won\'t ever get any better. They may take on a
negative attitude towards their future. While on the other hand others decide,
just as Sysiphus that the glass is really “ half-full” they will continue to
live life the fullest extent and enjoy all it has to offer no matter what
obstacles they incur.
Camus also states that “there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn”.
While this approach worked for Sysiphus I tend to disagree that it would be a
viable option for people today. Let us even set aside, for a moment, the fact
that Sysiphus rejects god. But to carry such hatred on your heart is a horrible
way to live since in the process your own heart will become hardened. Another
important point to consider is that many today conciously choose to forgive
when faced with a traumatic experience. For example a family loses a child in a
car accident involving a drunk driver. Naturally, the family will grieve the
loss of the loved one. They will possibly not even be able to make any good
sense of such tradgedy but instead of harboring hate for the person who
committed the act they instead find a way in their heart to forgive. Often out
of these senseless tradgedies we even get groups to fight against this sort of
thing happening to others such as MADD- Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. When a
person is faced with these types of situations one must have God in order to
get through. This is why for many modern people rejecting God would not be the
choice they would make when faced with adversity. Instead many would choose to
seek him during these times for assistance on coming to terms with the tradgedy
they face.