A Sisyphean Existence
-------------- A Sisyphean Existence --------------
My life is like Sisyphus' P?
you can pronounce it as see-see-fees. Is yours?
Have you heard of Sisyphus (in Greek mythology)?
You are probably about to google "Sisyphus" already - Halt! You probably have not heard of Sisyphus. But it is okay. Don't bother. Just look at the picture above. That is the essence of it!
It is simple. The character in there is Sisyphus, a cunning king, and a sinful one. As a result, he had been condemned by the Olympian Gods to spend all eternity ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. He would repeat this task again and again and again. The Gods had thought that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour.
Basically, Sisyphus pushes the rock up, and down, and up, down, up, down... infinitely. A Sisyphean task therefore refers to a repetitive, mundane task.
That is all that is important and crucial to know about Sisyphus.
On a side note, you may additionally want to know that Sisyphus was banished to a mountain in Tartarus. Tartarus, in Greek mythology, is a place for punishment of sinners. It is dark, gloomy, and it is like what most of us understand as 'Hell'.
Don't you think the myth of Sisyphus is actually not so much of a surreal tale, but rather an allegory that strangely and coincidentally resembles our lives? Words like "burden", "mundane", "bore", "dull", "repetition", "futility", and so on seem to fit both the nature of our lives and that of Sisyphus. What if I am simply born into this condemned state? It is as if we are in Tartarus, a living hell. Our clockwork repetition of tasks daily mirrors Sisyphus' punishment. We wake, to work/play/study hard during the day, then sleep when night falls - only to have the small reset button pressed every 24 hours.
And the medium reset button pressed every 7 days.
And the large reset button pressed every 12 months.
And the colossal reset button ---
Nevermind! It's getting repetitive! Let us move on.
--------- ALBERT CAMUS: The Myth of Sisyphus and L’Étranger ---------
Albert Camus P?
and for this, you can drop the 's' because it is a voiceless/silent consonant, so it is typically just pronounced as cah-moo, a novelist cum philosopher, based his philosophical essays on this story of Sisyphus. They are published in his book, "The Myth of Sisyphus".
Yes. It is a collection of philosophical discourses, despite the trivial appearance of the title. It is not a storybook!
Camus used it as an allegory for the human condition. He suggests, as most of us would usually assume, that death (ala suicide) in this absurd sensibility, is a kind of blessing, an escape from perennial boredom that amounts to nothing. Hence, absurdity.
But from an alternative interpretation offered by Camus, Sisyphus can be considered to be "happy". In the sense that he undertakes his task with immense resentment, and this emotion therefore gives his life meaning and purpose. Thus, if he sees himself as a rebel, then rolling the rock up again and again would not be absurd anymore.
On the contrary, while the above stems from extreme reflection (i.e. judge and decides to hate the Gods), the lack of reflection may also render Sisyphus as a happy man. Here, I am referring to his complete devotion to the task. The lack of reasoning, and consequently, not questioning "why am I doing this? what will I achieve?" prevents Sisyphus from seeing the absurdity of the situation.
I did attempt to read "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus ... it was tough. Seriously! The text is extremely heavy and dense, although not too many pages. I guess precise language matters a lot - not your typical page-turner kind of book. Moreover, Camus was French, and I've read that the French language, in certain aspects, is more precise/specific than English (e.g. there are 5 different words in French to specify the various meanings "reflection" in different contexts, but in English, "reflection" is just one generic word). What this means is that, perhaps in the English translation, much meaning may be lost... or that convoluted explanations are necessary to translate with precision. Sigh... I'll try to read it again next year, or a few years down the road, hopefully... hopefully I'll be able to understand it more fully then.
Alas - I'm not that bad, however. Albert Camus also wrote a novel, entitled "L’Étranger", translated as "The Stranger". This is so much easier to understand than "The Myth of Sisyphus". When we read fiction, we are essentially get into someone else's shoes and see what the persona perceives. I have read The Stranger, and I must say it is an extremely compelling novel. You must go and read it! In that novel, I stepped into Meursault's (the persona) shoes. And Meursault is, without doubt, unconventional. He is truly queer, or absurd as I usually like to say. His thoughts and emotions are --- different. I had thought it to be rather cool. I am afraid of spoiling it if I say more, thus, I'll leave the rest to you.
Go. Read The Myth of Sisyphus, and L’Étranger.
I guarantee they would be pleasantly thought-provoking.
My life is like Sisyphus' P?
| How to pronounce | (hide) |
Have you heard of Sisyphus (in Greek mythology)?
You are probably about to google "Sisyphus" already - Halt! You probably have not heard of Sisyphus. But it is okay. Don't bother. Just look at the picture above. That is the essence of it!
It is simple. The character in there is Sisyphus, a cunning king, and a sinful one. As a result, he had been condemned by the Olympian Gods to spend all eternity ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. He would repeat this task again and again and again. The Gods had thought that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour.
Basically, Sisyphus pushes the rock up, and down, and up, down, up, down... infinitely. A Sisyphean task therefore refers to a repetitive, mundane task.
That is all that is important and crucial to know about Sisyphus.
On a side note, you may additionally want to know that Sisyphus was banished to a mountain in Tartarus. Tartarus, in Greek mythology, is a place for punishment of sinners. It is dark, gloomy, and it is like what most of us understand as 'Hell'.
Don't you think the myth of Sisyphus is actually not so much of a surreal tale, but rather an allegory that strangely and coincidentally resembles our lives? Words like "burden", "mundane", "bore", "dull", "repetition", "futility", and so on seem to fit both the nature of our lives and that of Sisyphus. What if I am simply born into this condemned state? It is as if we are in Tartarus, a living hell. Our clockwork repetition of tasks daily mirrors Sisyphus' punishment. We wake, to work/play/study hard during the day, then sleep when night falls - only to have the small reset button pressed every 24 hours.
And the medium reset button pressed every 7 days.
And the large reset button pressed every 12 months.
And the colossal reset button ---
Nevermind! It's getting repetitive! Let us move on.
--------- ALBERT CAMUS: The Myth of Sisyphus and L’Étranger ---------
Albert Camus P?
| How to pronounce | (hide) |
and for this, you can drop the 's' because it is a voiceless/silent consonant, so it is typically just pronounced as cah-moo
Yes. It is a collection of philosophical discourses, despite the trivial appearance of the title. It is not a storybook!
Camus used it as an allegory for the human condition. He suggests, as most of us would usually assume, that death (ala suicide) in this absurd sensibility, is a kind of blessing, an escape from perennial boredom that amounts to nothing. Hence, absurdity.
But from an alternative interpretation offered by Camus, Sisyphus can be considered to be "happy". In the sense that he undertakes his task with immense resentment, and this emotion therefore gives his life meaning and purpose. Thus, if he sees himself as a rebel, then rolling the rock up again and again would not be absurd anymore.
On the contrary, while the above stems from extreme reflection (i.e. judge and decides to hate the Gods), the lack of reflection may also render Sisyphus as a happy man. Here, I am referring to his complete devotion to the task. The lack of reasoning, and consequently, not questioning "why am I doing this? what will I achieve?" prevents Sisyphus from seeing the absurdity of the situation.
I did attempt to read "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus ... it was tough. Seriously! The text is extremely heavy and dense, although not too many pages. I guess precise language matters a lot - not your typical page-turner kind of book. Moreover, Camus was French, and I've read that the French language, in certain aspects, is more precise/specific than English (e.g. there are 5 different words in French to specify the various meanings "reflection" in different contexts, but in English, "reflection" is just one generic word). What this means is that, perhaps in the English translation, much meaning may be lost... or that convoluted explanations are necessary to translate with precision. Sigh... I'll try to read it again next year, or a few years down the road, hopefully... hopefully I'll be able to understand it more fully then.
Alas - I'm not that bad, however. Albert Camus also wrote a novel, entitled "L’Étranger", translated as "The Stranger". This is so much easier to understand than "The Myth of Sisyphus". When we read fiction, we are essentially get into someone else's shoes and see what the persona perceives. I have read The Stranger, and I must say it is an extremely compelling novel. You must go and read it! In that novel, I stepped into Meursault's (the persona) shoes. And Meursault is, without doubt, unconventional. He is truly queer, or absurd as I usually like to say. His thoughts and emotions are --- different. I had thought it to be rather cool. I am afraid of spoiling it if I say more, thus, I'll leave the rest to you.
Go. Read The Myth of Sisyphus, and L’Étranger.
I guarantee they would be pleasantly thought-provoking.
posted by hweiee at
9:03 PM
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