Sisyphus smiling

Oil on canvas 50 x 40cm

Sisyphus was a Greek king, legendary for his cunning and trickery. Audacious and stubborn in his defiance of fate, he managed to deceive the very Gods of Olympus. As revenge, the gods decided to put an end to his life. Even that was not enough to stop Sisyphus: three times did he manage to cheat Death himself with his famous wit. However, even Sisyphus is just a man, and all men inevitably must die.

As punishment for embarrassing them, the Gods took him to a hill in the underworld of Hades. At the bottom of the hill lay a great boulder. Above the top of the hill was a hole in the cavern’s roof through which daylight pierced the darkness of Hades, reaching to the world of the living. If Sisyphus can roll the boulder to the top of the hill, he is allowed to climb back into the world of the living. However; every time he rolls the boulder up the hill, working and straining with all his might, just when he is about to reach the top, the boulder falls down. And every time, Sisyphus goes back down, picks the boulder up and starts pushing it up the hill, only for it to fall down once more. Sisyphus is doomed to repeat this task until the end of times.

Cursed to labor away at a task which is doomed to fail, many might recognize themselves to some extent in Sisyphus. After all, how much blood, sweat and tears have we poured in undertakings which ultimately failed? Is Life itself not just one big boulder, which we know must eventually come crashing down? If the outcome of the work is doomed to fail, why even bother getting up for all that sweat and toil every time? Why does Sisyphus not just give up?

The French existentialist philosopher, Albert Camus, believed the myth of Sisyphus reveals a deeper truth about human nature. He sees in Sisyphus a prime example of his Absurd Hero: a person who laughs in the face of a meaningless universe by choosing to live despite of its inherent meaninglessness, again and again and again. What is the alternative? Do nothing, sit at the bottom of your hill and curse a universe which does not care about you? Succumb to the meaninglessness and despair which will eventually follow? And become a weak, pitiful and nihilistic creature? Not Sisyphus, not the Absurd Hero. Through his voluntary and courageous acts he creates his own meaning and transcends nihilism.

Meaning lies not in the end result: we know how It will all end. Meaning lies in freely, passionately and defiantly engaging in the process. The meaning of Sisyphus’ life is right in front of him: to push that boulder up that hill, Gods be damned. It doesn’t matter that the boulder will inevitably crash down, what matters is that he chooses to pick it up and keep rolling. Therefore, according to Camus, “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.”