The Myth Of Sisyphus Essay

Essay on The Myth of Sisyphus
Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus is not simply a re–telling of the myth itself, but also an
interpretation of the way in which the myth can be related to the life of humanity in general, and
in particular to one's understanding and acceptance of the futility of life, which he does not
consider to be negative per se. He looks at the nature of Sisyphus' character, the way in which he
challenged and defied the gods, and the punishment he received as a result. However, he does not
look at Sisyphus' fate as something which defines the gods as victorious and Sisyphus as subjugated
to their will, primarily because of the way in which Sisyphus himself perceives his condition....show
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It is, of course, a matter of pride amongst the gods that a mere human cannot defeat them, either
by strength or trickery, and therefore they are, by their own natures, obliged to find ways to gain
revenge on Sisyphus for his audacity. Sisyphus is successful in spending some time in the land of
the living, and evading the wrath of the gods, but eventually, the courier of the gods, Mercury,
forces him to return and his punishment is decided. He is condemned to roll a heavy rock uphill
for all eternity, and each time he reaches the top of the slope, the rock rolls back down again and he
is obliged to start all over again. The punishment is, as Camus says, `that unspeakable penalty in
which the whole being is exerted towards accomplishing nothing'. Since it is in human nature to
expect success as a result of effort and hard work, to be obliged to carry out the effort knowing that
there will be no reward, no achievement, is a harsh punishment indeed. Sisyphus has no choice but to
continue pushing the rock uphill, watching it return, pushing it again, knowing all the time that
however much effort he puts into the task, it will in the end avail him nothing. Camus goes on to
point out that there is no detailed description of Sisyphus in the underworld, since myths are the
framework for the imagination. It is up to human beings to `breathe life' into the basic parameters of
the
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The Myth Of Sisyphus Analysis
Modern society is plagued by incessant monotony. However, Albert Camus's existential story The
Myth of Sisyphus, Joseph Campbell's interview "Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth", and
David Foster Wallace's commencement speech "This is Water" postulate possible solutions to
societal ennui. Albert Camus conveys, in The Myth of Sisyphus, that acceptingf tedium as
impermeable, more effectively. Wallace asserts that the best approach to the banality of everyday life
is to accept that it is not unique an individual and that one should steer away from the "natural
default setting" of being self centered. Wallace conveys that "everything...supports my belief that I
am the absolute center of the universe", and strongly imparts his belief that the...show more content...
To this, Joseph Campbell responds, "it's very nice to be able to put yourself in situations that will
evoke your higher nature, rather than your basic urges or daily drudgery", presenting his idea that
tedium is conquerable part of each person's life. Juxtaposing Joseph Campbell, Camus relays that it
is during the period of consciousness and acknowledgement where Sisyphus, "is superior to his fate.
He is stronger than his rock" (Camus). As Sisyphus continues to push his rock up the mountain, his
moment of consciousness attributes to the proposition that tedium is, once again, insurmountable.
He understands that his tedium can never be completely omitted from his life, thus acceptance is the
only method of achieving a perceivable end goal. As elaborated by Camus, the idea of a journey
through tedium towards the ultimate goal of a "place of rest" is actually a futile task. As humanity is
unable to surmount tedium due to its unassailable nature, and thus, the prevention of fruitless efforts
and emphasis on productive endeavors is the most effective method of dealing with the tedium of
everyday

The Myth Of Sisyphus
The myth of Sisyphus was a paper written by Albert Camus to show that life has no ultimate
meaning. This goals of men and woman are false and in the end humans really accomplish nothing.
Camus represented his idea of existentialism through the use of Sisyphus. This allows us to see a
comparison of a mythical tale and the real world.
Albert Camus feeling towards existence was that humans were not supposed to be living in the
world. Camus believed that there was a sense of absurdity for human existence. Human beings
cannot feel at home in a world where chaos, death, and suffering are present. A world designed for
humans would have meaning, life, and order. The world that humans presently lived in was...show
more content...
Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him?" Camus
feels that Sisyphus who is a conscious human being exemplifies the lives of many humans on
earth. The people feel that they can succeed and accomplish things during their lives, but in the
end they die without ever solving the problems they once faced. This is similar to how Sisyphus
would endlessly try to accomplish his goal of getting the rock to the top of the mountain only to
have it roll back down again. This absurdity can be understood through the comparison of Sisyphus
and the lives of many people living around the world. False goals and events throughout life cloud
people's vision that nothing is truly ever accomplished. Sisyphus was sentenced to life of reaching
one goal, which could not be met, and this was his punishment as is many people doing the same
thing on earth.
Camus' beliefs stemmed from the horrors of World War Two. He saw all the suffering and poverty
that he had lived through and been surrounded by. This gave him a basis for existentialism, which
created significance behind the choices that a person makes throughout their lives. Camus saw how
people were put thrown horrible situations on earth and this gave him the idea that humans were
merely put onto the earth without a predetermined life. The choices that humans made no difference
to the world, the suffering and injustice was just another choice that was made by a person. The

The Myth Of Sisyphus
With everything going on with the upcoming presidential election, the political community has been
very prominent in society the past several months. While doing research on myths, I came across
The Myth of Sisyphus and immediately made many connections between the two subjects. Both of
these topics have a lot to do with manipulation and deception. With politics especially, people today
have a lot of opinions on the dynamics of that community. They both deal with continuous repetition
and constantly giving your all to make accomplish a task. What is interesting though is exactly to
what extent can The Myth of Sisyphus be related to our modern day political community? The main
gist of The Myth of Sisyphus is that a sinner named Tartarus was

Myth Of Sisyphus
In his essays in The Myth of Sisyphus, philosopher Albert Camus states that the only "serious"
philosophical question is whether or not one should commit suicide. When I first read this it
sounded absolutely absurd, however, after giving it persistent thought I have found that it is not as
completely insane as it may seem. It is a problem I have worked hard to achieve the answer to for
the last few months of my life. If you were to die right now at this exact moment in time simple
deductive reasoning demonstrates two possible things that might happen. In the first scenario, where
you simply cease to exist; nothing that has happened in your life matters because when you cease to
exist you are not able to experience anything you might

Reflection Of Sisyphus
The story of sisyphus, is a story about a man who is given a punishment by the gods. His
punishment is to push a large rock to the top of a mountain everyday. How can we relate the story
of Sisyphus to our modern lives? Do we each have our own rock that we have to push through
everyday?
The story of sisyphus is old but still relatable. It shows us a way of thinking about our modern lives
in a different viewpoint, by using the metaphor of the large rock. When we think deeply about the
myth of sisyphus we can interpret the punishment that sisyphus endures with the rock in many
useful ways. Sisyphus rock can represent our daily struggles that we have to overcome everyday.
Sisyphus knows that the daily struggle he has with the rock will never end. But he makes a
conscious decision each time to go down to get the rock and keep going. Sisyphus has great
perseverance we can take what he did with the rock and put it into our daily lives by making a
conscious decision to keep trying and make the best out of every situation.
We should ask ourselves what are some of our daily struggles ? and how can we overcome them
like sisyphus did with his rock? I think that "our rock" could be anything from our daily lives like
our jobs, school, society, personal issues, And more. These things can be hard to deal with
everyday and make us want to give up. But we can learn from sisyphus and his perseverance. The
story of Sisyphus teaches us to never give up and that life is what we make it. In the story it says
"Sisyphus is the absurd hero. He is as much through his passion as through his torture" Sisyphus
can be seen as an absurd hero because he is passionate through all his torture. He never gives up,
his passion for life is more powerful than the feelings of hopelessness he could have felt while
facing his rock. In our lives it is very easy to have feelings of hopelessness when we have so many
things to achieve and overcome but it's important that we can try to find passion for our lives just
like sisyphus did.
Another quote from the myth of sisyphus says" Then sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few
moments toward the lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit." This
quote can go along

Myth Of Sisyphus
Eduardo Gutierrez
English 101
10 September 2015
Books can take readers to certain places they have never seen before without having them even
leave their room. There are people who may not enjoy reading as much but there will always be one
story, one author that changes their opinion about reading. Numerous authors put in day and night
composing shitty first drafts just to make a story someone or many will never forget. Camus
presents a philosophy devoid of religious belief and "middle–class" morality, where condemnation of
choice and personal honesty become the bases of a happy and meaningful life.
The Myth of Sisyphus is the most revealing commentary on Albert Camus' reasoning. Defining the
absurd as arising from the meeting of two elements:...show more content...
Generally, it is common that one can fall into routine or certain structure. One can find oneself
not living life to the fullest but only just surviving and getting by the days. The protagonist breaks
free to make his own decision and define himself by his own actions. He claims that he can
choose his own course. For my part, revolt against the social order is daily. Forbid thyself to fall
into a daily routine and not make reasons for my actions. There are no roles anyone has to fulfill or
should fill. As an alternative, one can apply just a standard of amount: one should encounters as
much as possible. One should demand more to life because more is always better, quality over

Essay on myth of sisyphus
How was the text borrowed from other texts, and with what effects? how has he borrowed from
other texts and to what effects?
Introduction:
Thesis: Camus has borrowed philosophical ideas from other writers which has influenced his
interpretation for the existence of an individual mostly described within his works with The Myth of
Sisyphus as well as his other well known novels.
Prominent in Europe in the 19th and 20th century
Existentialism is defined by the slogan Existence precedes Essence. This means:
We have no predetermined nature or essence that controls what we are, what we do, or what is
valuable for us.
We are radically free to act independently of determination by outside influences.
We create our own human nature...show more content...
In accepting their fate, Sisyphus and Oedipus have abandoned hope, and so their fate does not seem
horrible to them. On the contrary, they have finally found the only genuine happiness.
Oedipus becomes a tragic figure only when he becomes aware that he has killed his father and
married his mother. He also remarks that both Sisyphus and Oedipus are ultimately happy, that they
"conclude that all is well."
Sisyphus: 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.
The above point also relates to Oedipus where he knows that being acceptable for his his situations
and faith, his point of view for society will change and will learn to decide his own faith. freedom of
choice– being able understand that only you control your own life.
Camus identifies Sisyphus as the archetypal absurd hero, both for his behavior on earth and for his
punishment in the underworld. He displays scorn for the gods, a hatred of death, and a passion for
life. (going against dostovesky's ideas on faith and religion
Paragraph 3:
Transition Statement: The futility of ones life is an evident theme in Homer's and Camus's
interpretation for The Myth of Sisyphus.
Both homer and Camus address the futility of Sisyphus's labour.
Futile punishment lead to their unnecessary

The Myth of Sisyphus Sisyphus is the absurd hero. This man, sentenced to ceaselessly rolling a
rock to the top of a mountain and then watching it roll back down, is the epitome of the absurd
hero according to Camus. In retelling the Myth of Sisyphus, Camus is able to create an extremely
powerful image which sums up the intellectual discussion which comes before it in the book. We
are told that Sisyphus is the absurd hero "as much through his passions as through his torture. His
scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in
which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing." (p.89). Sisyphus is conscious of
his troubles , and...show more content...
In these essays Camus looks the problem of suicide. In a shocking, unnerving manner he opens
with the bold statement that: There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is
suicide. (p. 3). He goes on to discover if suicide is a real answer to the human who is unhappy
with life. Or if life is worth living now that god is dead? The discussion begins and continues not
as a metaphysical cobweb but as a well reasoned statement based on a way of knowing which
Camus holds is the only epistemology we have at our command. We know only two things: This
heart within me I can feel, and I judge that it exists. This world I can touch, and I likewise judge
that it exists. There ends all my knowledge, and the rest is construction. (p. 14) With these as the
basic certainties of the human condition, Camus argues that there is no meaning to life. He
disapproves of the many philosophers who "have played on words and pretended to believe that
refusing to grant a meaning to life necessarily leads to declaring that it is not worth living." (p.7)
Life has no absolute meaning. In spite of the human's irrational "nostalgia" for unity, for absolutes,
for a definite order and meaning to the "not me" of the universe, no such meaning exists in the silent,
indifferent universe. Between this yearning for meaning and eternal verities and the actual condition

The Myth Of Sisyphus Essay

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The Myth Of Sisyphus Essay