The myth of Sisyphus and his punishment: the torture of a life without meaning

This myth expresses the discomfort caused by the absurdity of some life projects.

Sisyphus is a famous character from the mythology of Ancient Greece, belonging to the Homeric tradition, created around However, his story has transcended the sociocultural context of Hellenic history, because it has reached our days as one of the most important narratives linked to the importance of finding meaning in the things we do and, in general, in our lives.

In the following pages we will briefly review what the myth of Sisyphus and the stone isand how it can be interpreted from the existentialist and humanist philosophy.

Who was Sisyphus?

Sisyphus was, according to the Greek mythology, the first king of the city of Ephira, today known as Corinth. He is characterized in the Odyssey and the Iliad as an ambitious and cruel ruler, who did not hesitate to use violence to stay in power and avoid losing influence with his adversaries, which led him to kill several people. In addition, he felt no shame in deceiving people and, in general, he was described as fulfilling the characteristics of the classic tricksters.

Certainly, having almost total control of a large territory and ruling it was not uncommon at that stage of Hellenic history, but Sisyphus had the misfortune to impose his will by infringing the rules that Zeus imposed on mortals. According to some versions of the myth, Sisyphus accused Zeus of abducting a nymph, while others point out that he overstepped the boundaries by killing several travelers. At the moment when Thanatos, death, went to look for the Greek king on the orders of ZeusSisyphus tricked the one who was to take him to the underworld by placing the chains and shackles that were meant to be used there, so that he could not die until Ares intervened.

When the time came, the story did not end with Sisyphus staying in the underworld. True to his perverse and deceitful nature, the Greek king had asked his wife not to perform the typical rituals in honor of the dead, so that Sisyphus would have an excuse to ask to return to the mortal world to punish her. This wish was granted by Ares, but Sisyphus refused to return to the domain of Ares. refused to return to the realm of deathSo bringing him back meant causing further discomfort to the gods. There began the famous punishment of the great stone.

The punishment of the Greek king: dragging a stone

The punishment that Sisyphus had to serve was not based on physical pain, nor exactly on humiliation. It was based, in any case, on the fact of experiencing nonsense at first hand.

The punishment consisted of pushing a large rounded stone from the base of a mountain to the top of the mountain to see how the and, once there, watching it roll back down to its starting point. According to some versions of the myth of Sisyphus, this punishment was (or, rather, is) practically eternal.

The Pain of the lack of meaning in life

As we have already mentioned, Sisyphus is a man who did not exist beyond the framework of narratives that structured the belief system of a large part of Ancient Greek society. But even if he only belongs to the realm of myths and fictions, his figure has something with which it is easy to identify even in the contemporary era. Because his story tells us about the tragedy of living an absurdity, something that leads to nothing.something that leads to nothing.

The narration of Sisyphus is very well connected with the existentialist philosophy, which in turn has greatly influenced the humanist paradigm of psychology.which in turn has greatly influenced the humanistic paradigm of psychology. This group of philosophers is characterized by their concern for the phenomenological aspect of experiences, that is, that which is subjective, private and non-transferable to other people, linked to the consciousness of each person and to the sensations that cannot be fully expressed by words.

That is why the way in which we make sense of life, which is an aspect of life that cannot be exhausted by naming it through language, is something much explored by existentialists. And that is why one of the most important existentialist thinkers, Albert Camusdedicated a book to this piece of Greek mythology: The Myth of Sisyphus.

Camus and the myth of Sisyphus.

For Camus, the main philosophical question to be addressed is: what is the aspect of life that makes it worth living? Or, more succinctly: what is it that makes suicide not the option that most seduces us? Circumstantial pleasure may invade our consciousness at any given moment, but it does not in itself make our lives worth living. What can make our lives worthwhile, on the other hand, is to make our actions part of a meaningful life project.

But another of the usual premises from which existentialists start is that life itself has no meaning. This is so because to assume that it does would also be to accept that beyond the actuality of things there is something else, a narrative that structures and vertebrate reality; but this does not happen. Reality simply is, it exists, and nothing else.. That is why, for Camus, it is up to oneself to embrace the project of giving meaning to life, and not to fall into the trap of adopting an existence like Sisyphus had by dragging the stone up the hillside again and again.