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TASK :
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In what ways can the myth of
Sisyphus be described as an existentialist story?
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The Myth of Sisyphus is the subject of a famous essay by
Albert Camus who is generally recognised as one of the main figures in
the existentialist movement. Camus himself presents Sisyphus as
the
absurd hero and goes on to show how Sisyphus illustrates his [Camus’]
own
beliefs about the human condition. So on the one hand the story of
Sisyphus
is existentialist because one of the main figures of existentialism
presents
it as portraying his view of life. However, we can go beyond what Camus
has said and by looking at the thoughts of other adherents to the
existentialist
perspective we can see that the myth of Sisyphus is an existentialist
story
for many other reasons than just those mentioned by Camus.
The Myth of Sisyphus is presented by Camus as follows:
The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly
rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall
back of its own weight...he [Sisyphus] is accused of a certain levity
in regard to
the gods. He stole their secrets. Aegina, the daughter of
Aesopus, was carried off by Jupiter. The father was shocked by that
disappearance and complained to Sisyphus. He, who knew of the
abduction, offered
to tell about it on condition that Aesopus would give water to the
citadel
of Corinth. To the celestial thunderbolts he preferred the benediction
of
water. He was punished for this in the underworld. Homer
tells
us also that Sisyphus had put Death in chains. Pluto could not
endure
the sight of his deserted, silent empire. He dispatched the god
of
war, who liberated Death from the hands of her conqueror.
It is said also that Sisyphus, being near to death,
rashly wanted to test his wife’s love. He ordered her to cast his
unburied body into the middle of the public square. Sisyphus woke
up in the underworld. And there, annoyed by an obedience so
contrary to human love, he obtained from Pluto permission to return to
earth in order
to chastise his wife. But when he had seen again the face of this
world, enjoyed water and sun, warm stones and the sea, he no longer
wanted
to go back to the infernal darkness. Recalls, signs of anger, warnings
were
of no avail. Many years more he lived facing the curve of the
gulf,
the sparkling sea, and the smiles of earth. A decree of the gods
was necessary. Mercury came and seized the impudent man by the
collar
and, snatching him from his joys, led him forcibly back to the
underworld, where his rock was ready for him. (Camus, pp. 88/89)
According to Messerly the first basic idea of
existentialism is that ‘reason is an inadequate instrument with which
to comprehend
the values, depth, mystery, and meaning of life.’ We can see that
for Sisyphus this is very much the case. Camus claims that Sisyphus is
‘accused of a certain levity in regard to the gods. He stole
their
secrets’. If reason were what dictated his actions he would
surely
treat those more powerful than himself with respect and avoid the theft
of their secrets. Putting death in chains seems also to have been a
risky
action if considered from a purely rational point of view. However, it
is clearly not reason that dictates Sisyphus’ actions. He appears an
impulsive,
spirited and passionate person. Also his reaction to his wife’s
throwing
his unburied body into the middle of the public square clearly
indicates
that human emotions such as love, take precedence over reason. It was
probably
reason that dictated his wife should follow her husband’s dying wish,
but
Sisyphus clearly expected and wanted his wife’s love for him to be the
overriding factor in determining her actions. Comprehending the
‘values,
depth, mystery, and meaning of life’ involves understanding such
emotions
as love which are not accessible to reason.
A further basic idea of existentialism according to
Messerly is that ‘concrete personal experiences’ are superior to
‘rational abstractions’. This point is illustrated by the fact that
Sisyphus preferred water to the ‘celestial thunderbolts’. Water,
as a common concrete and necessary commodity is more desirable than
communing with the gods or having access to ‘rational abstractions’. As
human beings we are all faced with death and deal with it in different
ways. Many of us resort to ‘rational abstraction’ as we
intellectualise and rationalise about it. However, Sisyphus’ way
of dealing with Death was to put her in chains.
Putting her in chains was taking concrete, personal and direct action
to
overcome his enemy. When he managed to convince Pluto to give him
permission to return to earth from the underworld, he was seduced by
the
‘concrete personal experiences’ of ‘water and sun, warm stones and the
sea.’
‘Rational abstraction’ would indicate that he did not belong on earth
any
longer. He had died and so belonged in the underworld.
However,
Sisyphus was not interested in what reason might dictate. He
wanted
the concrete personal experience of water, sun and stones. Despite the
gods summoning him back to the underworld he continued to ignore them
(against
reason?) choosing instead the concrete reality he was experiencing on
earth.
This helps to explain how Camus can see Sisyphus as being basically
happy.
Sisyphus’ punishment of pushing a rock to the top of a mountain, is
very
much a concrete personal experience. Even though it is not a very
pleasant
experience, for a man like Sisyphus it is preferable to floating around
in the ether as a spirit which can be dismissed as a ‘rational
abstraction’.
Human beings being radically free is a third basic
idea of existentialism according to Messerly. At first glance
this may appear to be untrue of Sisyphus. After all, he is
condemned to pushing a rock to the top of a mountain for
eternity. One would appear to be more free locked up in a prison
cell. At least there you could choose what to do. Sisyphus’
prison is the mountain-side and furthermore
he is forced to work. However, when we look carefully at what
existentialists mean when they say man is radically free, we can see
that Sisyphus is
indeed free. In fact it is his freedom that has led him to his
punishment. Other men avoid such punishment by surrendering their
freedom. When we look at Sisyphus’ actions as recounted in the story we
see that he is prepared to do things that most of us would avoid
because our ‘reason’ tells us
that it wouldn’t be good for us to do it. Not even the gods can
prevent Sisyphus from doing what he wants. Sisyphus stole secrets from
the gods. When given the chance for any wish to be granted Sisyphus
chose water. Sisyphus put death in chains. Sisyphus talked the gods
into giving him permission to return to earth after dying. Sisyphus
remained on earth against the wishes of the gods. If we have been
convinced by Camus, then perhaps the greatest way in which he is free
is by being happy despite having to push his rock to the summit of a
mountain. For an existentialist a man is free to be
happy in any circumstances. As Messerly puts it ‘If we are in a bad
mood,
for example, it is because we choose to be. The external world does not
impose itself upon our consciousness, we control our moods, thoughts,
attitudes,
and choices’ (Messerly, p. 4) So Sisyphus is free because he is
in
control of his moods, thoughts, attitudes and choices. Neither
the
gods, the rock not the mountain determine how he feels. He is
very
much in control and so he is free.
We have seen above that Sisyphus, is an excellent
example
of an existentialist hero. he does not allow reason to dictate
the
course of his life. he relies very much on passions in
determining
his actions and judges others not on how rational they are but rather
on
how passionate they are. Furthermore he very much enjoys the
concrete,
physical side of life taking pleasure in sunshine, water and the
physical
objects he finds around him. Finally he, through his own
volition,
takes control of his life and makes himself superior to his fate so
that
although he is condemned to eternal punishment he is still happy.
We
may not be comfortable with calling the original write of the myth, an
existentialist
but when read with existentialist ideas in mind, Sisyphus and his
predicament
can be seen to clearly and concretely illustrate the ideas of a range
of
philosophers usually associated with existentialism. Albert
Camus'
choice of Sisyphus as his 'absurd hero' is testament to the extent to
which The Myth of Sisyphus is an existentialist story.
References
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Camus, A. (1960) The Myth of Sisyphus and
Other Essays. (J. O'Brien, Trans.). New York: Vintage.
(Original
work published 1942)
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Messerly, J. (1995) An Introduction to
Ethical
Theories. Maryland: University Press of America.
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