Sisyphus – The Untold Story

The myth of Sisyphus has evolved into a generic expression: “Sisyphean labour”, signifying futile, meaningless, never-ending repetitive work—or even our whole life.

It was famously used by the existential philosopher Albert Camus as an exemplification of a meaningless existence.

We have accepted this metaphorical meaning without much questioning… and the image of Sisyphus endlessly rolling a huge stone uphill may even cloud our perception, creating a false, artificial representation of our lives, work, daily routines, and responsibilities.

It would benefit us all not to take philosophers’ theories at face value, but instead to question and challenge them—or at least research the original myths behind such interpretations.

(For the record, I am a big fan of existentialism and Camus. I just find it unfortunate that certain stories end up with only one interpretation. So in this post, I will present the origins of the myth and try to shake off the heavy, depressing image of Sisyphean labour!)

Alongside the well-known and established version of Sisyphus—condemned to grueling hard labour, eternally rolling a boulder (!) that gives the story its feeling of futility and even stupidity (a boulder is perhaps the most inanimate, useless, immovable, passive object one can imagine)—there exists a more ancient variant of the myth. In that story Sisyphus is condemned to move the SUN-Disc along the heaven’s horizon. Thus he is actually forever performing a necessary duty, beneficial to all the mankind. He is the one who brings dawns and sunsets, day and night, light and darkness.

Sisyphus moving the Sun-Disk...

Though the condemnation is eternal and punishment harsh, the actual action is not meaningless, but essential to life and a service to people.

Sometimes we find ourselves doing routine, repetitive, mundane tasks: chores, administration, bookkeeping, caregiving—all kinds of unremarkable, tedious, yet unavoidable duties,

without performing which our life would turn to chaos and even more meaninglessness.

Perhaps, Sisyphean labour is not a metaphor for life’s lack of meaning, but rather a reminder that we all share this destiny: the “gods” have tasked us with maintaining life through duty. Day and night, dawn and sunset, winter and summer—these all repeat over and over again. But this repetition provides a certain stability, continuity, a rhythm that sustains existence. It is not something to be lamented, but something to be appreciated and admired. While it lasts.