On Sisyphus and the Absurd
On Sisyphus and the Absurd
Repetition becomes a ritual. Focus becomes resistance. Even futility becomes a form of attention.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to an eternal punishment: push a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down—forever. No victory, no ending. Just repetition.
Albert Camus took this myth and turned it into something more than punishment. For him, Sisyphus wasn’t just a tragic figure—he was a symbol of the human condition. We live, we work, we try. We search for meaning in a world that often doesn’t offer answers. Like Sisyphus, we push. And like him, we start over. Again and again.
Camus called this the absurd: the tension between our need for meaning and the silence of the universe. But he didn’t say we should despair. He said we should imagine Sisyphus happy.
Not because the task changes. But because Sisyphus chooses it. He becomes conscious of the absurd, and in that awareness, he finds freedom. He owns the struggle. He becomes stronger than the punishment.
There’s something beautiful in that idea. That maybe life isn’t about reaching the top. Maybe it’s about how we keep climbing, knowing the stone will fall. And still doing it with strength. With grace. Even with joy.
And maybe there’s also something in the rhythm itself. The climb, the descent. The quiet space between failure and starting again. In a strange way, Sisyphus is fully present. He has no illusion of progress—just the act itself.
We’re not so different. We wake up. We work. We feel stuck, or tired, or uncertain. But sometimes, meaning isn’t in the outcome. It’s in how we carry the weight.
Berna Valada
Overview of the myth and Camus’ philosophy (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy):
https://iep.utm.edu/camus/Short summary and themes of The Myth of Sisyphus (SparkNotes):
https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/mythofsisyphus/Camus' idea of the absurd explained (The School of Life):
https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/camus-and-the-meaning-of-life/Wikipedia – The Myth of Sisyphus (Camus):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_SisyphusRead Camus' essay The Myth of Sisyphus (English translation):
https://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/mythofsysiphus.pdf
Sisyphus
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)
c. 1548–1549
Oil on canvas
237 × 216 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
"Albert Camus – The Myth of Sisyphus", illustration by Vedran Štimac (2016).
In this portrait, the silhouette of Sisyphus appears inside Camus’ own profile, carrying his stone bound in metaphorical chains — an interpretation that fuses the philosopher’s face with the eternal weight of the myth. It’s an introspective, poetic, and unexpected depiction of the absurd.