| Albert
Camus 'Myth of Sisyphus' is
a philosophical writing based
on a Greek Myth of Sisyphus.
In this essay, the writer has
allegorically presented Sisyphus
as the symbol of humankind and
his task as the symbol of absurd
human existence. Before writing
about the concept of absurdity,
Camus has described about how
Sisyphus was a highwayman, to
rub people passing by the highway,
but Homer says that he was a
prudent. Even there are two
causes about his punishment.
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One
myth says that Sisyphus
revealed the secret
abduction of Aegina
by Zeus so that in anger
Zeus punished him to
the underworld where
he had to roll up the
rock from bottom to
the top of the hill.
Another Myth says that
Sisyphus ordered his
wife to throw his dead
body in a public place
but not to bury it.
After death, he was
awaken in the hell,
he got angry with his
wife & decided to
go back to the earth
to punish his wife.
After many requests,
Pluto gave chance to
go to earth and come
to hell as soon as possible.
Sisyphus was enchanted
by the shining beauty
of the earth so he forget
everything. |
Even though Pluto sent many
messengers before sending Mercury,
who seized him on his throat
and brought him back to hell.
In anger, Pluto gave Sisyphus
the meaningless punishment of
rolling up the rock from the
bottom to the top of the hill.
Myth
of Sisyphus is presented as
a meditation on the theme of
suicide. Camus has brought the
concept of absurdity, which
is the essence of human existence.
The philosophy of absurdity
was developed as a branch of
existentialist philosophy, which
considers life as meaningless
useless and fruitless nihilistic
existence. Existentialism suggests
that the problematic life has
only the solution, which is
suicide. But, Albert Camus propounded
the new concept of absurdism
and rejected that suicide is
not the solution but the sin
so it is not the solution of
problematic life. He suggests
that absurd life should be taken
as a challenge and it should
be continued. So absurd philosophy
avoids that suicide is not the
theme of life and to interpret
that idea he has taken the myth
of Sisyphus as an allegory.
Presenting
the Myth of Sisyphus as an allegory
Camus attempts to justify that
life is meaningless absurd and
fruitless but it should be taken
as a challenge. As an allegory,
Sisyphus symbolizes all humankind
and what Sisyphus does is the
symbol of what we do every day
in our life, Camus describes
that Sisyphus is on the bottom
of the hill and he has to push
the heavy rock to the top of
the hill. Sisyphus recollects
all the physical strength in
his arms and giving the complete
physical labour he pushes up
the rock. It takes a long time
to roll the rock up to the top
of the hill but with in a second
it rolls down and Sisyphus has
to repeat again and again. He
has to come down, the period
of decent. At that time, Camus
says that his attention is fixed
to Sisyphus. He says that poor
Sisyphus has to roll up the
rock repeatedly but he does
not achieve anything. Through
the action of Sisyphus, we are
reflected because our life and
our day-to-day activities are
also meaningless like Sisyphus.
But,
Camus says that Sisyphus is
happy and he should be happy
because he has accepted the
punishment given to him. When
he is on the bottom, he has
a hope that he will reach on
the top. Even for a second he
is on the top of the hill and
looks up and smiles. It is his
movement of happiness and scorn
to the fate maker. He also suggests
us that we should be hopeful
of getting happiness but happiness
is always momentary. He says
that we should try to make our
own fate and should try to make
our own fate and should hate
the fate maker. Therefore, he
says that there is no fate that
cannot be surmounted by scorn.
He even says that there is no
sun without shadow or happiness
and absurdity are the two sons
of the same mother earth. What
he means is that, without facing
the absurdity, we cannot get
happiness but it is not necessary
that happiness must come after
absurdity. We should hope but
should not be sure of happiness
because it is momentary. As
there is shadow after the light
there is absurdity with happiness,
so happiness and absurdity go
together like the two sons of
the same mother earth.
He
also brings the allusion of
Oedipus and says that in spite
of suffering, Oedipus says all
is well. Oedipus unknowingly
murders his father and sleeps
with his mother, and then he
makes him self-blind because
he knows that he is victimized
by fate. But, still he says
all is well, which means he
accepts suffering in life like
Sisyphus and Oedipus we should
also accept life and try to
make our own fate without thinking
of suicide which is the suggestion
of the writer in this essay.
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