The Myth of Sisyphus

written texts “Myth of Sisyphus” and “The Stranger”, French author Albert Camus vividly portrays parallelism between his fictional characters. Through Meursault’s narrative and time spent in jail in “The Stranger”, Meursault reveals his emotionally removed temperament, earning himself the status of an outsider. In contrast to Meursault, Sisyphus was never labeled as an outsider, but did not bring joyous thoughts among the gods; Sisyphus was a burden to the gods. Although Meursault and Sisyphus have their

from the legend of the Greek king of Ephyra, Sisyphus. The myth of Sisyphus is not well agreed upon by scholars but the main theme of the myth is that King Sisyphus angered the Gods of Olympus by showing hubris. As a punishment Zeus condemned Sisyphus to roll a giant boulder up a mountain in the Underworld; however Zeus enchanted the boulder so that every time that Sisyphus reached the top of the mountain, the boulder would roll back down and Sisyphus would have to start all over again. Zeus did

of applying their own meaning to life and genuinely living life through this specific purpose (Wikipedia contributors). In these aspects, many of Camus’ writings can therefore been seen as reflecting existentialism. In popular Greek myth, the character of Sisyphus is sent to Tartarus for tricking the gods. There he is forced to roll a boulder up a hill,

“The Road Not Taken”, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Appointment in Samarra, and This is Water discuss choice and present their views through different formats of writing. The Road Not Taken is a poem, The Myth of Sisyphus is an essay, The Appointment in Samarra is a short story, and This is Water is an essay adapted to be a video. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost uses the metaphor of a narrator choosing between two equal paths to discuss choice. Frost starts the poem stating that the paths are equal

cause our lives to have meaning. By referencing the ancient myth

it not? It is what Sisyphus got for deceiving the gods. In some versions of the myth, he was the founder and king of Corinth, in others, he was a knave – the most cunning one (he could also have been both, it is no secret that political power and banditry are not incompatible). Fighting for his life and freedom, he angered the gods and ended up in Tartarus, condemned to accomplish the meaningless task he is famous for; thus, for eternity. In 1942, Albert Camus chose this myth to illustrate his concept

Reasoning” from his essay collection The Myth Of Sisyphus: “It happens that the stage sets collapse. Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm – this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the “why” arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.” This description characterizes Sisyphus and myself perfectly. The essay

is no validation, that a change of the state of mind will cause our lives to achieve meaning. By referencing the ancient myth of Sisyphus, Taylor made is clear that to him, life is meaningless. He gave us the definition of meaninglessness as being “essentially endless pointless, and meaningfulness is therefore the opposite” (Taylor 5). After being punished by the God’s, Sisyphus rolled a rock up the hill every day, time after time, only for the rock to roll down the hill once again. Taylor sees this

Punishment “is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious” is what Camus claims (Myth of Sisyphus). The solution to Meursault’s and Sisyphus’s fatal fates is converting negative emotion, into joy through perception. Some argue that in the beginning, Meursault was hardened and cant be an existential hero because he is mindless, but his perception

Famous English poet and playwright William Shakespeare uses “hope” in King Richard III as “True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings: Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings” (Shakespeare). Shakespeare likens “hope” to wings that elevate people during its existence, a power which strengthens people. During my research different sources, from academic writings to visual sources, discussed how the result of an aim is affected by “hope”. The results that I gained from my research have