I think the metaphor makes sense, it's just misunderstood. In the story of Sisyphus, the boulder isn't a punishment, it's a stipulation. The only way he can leave the underworld is if he gets the boulder to stay at the top of the mountain, he could stop at any time, but that would be resigning himself to his fate. Sisyphus is pushing the boulder to spite the gods, and that gives his existence meaning.
I suppose, but that's kinda in the eyes of it's beholder, isn't it? My take away from "The Myth of Sisyphus" was that existence is terrible and absurd and so we should use any shred of meaning that we can find to ground ourselves, accept the absurd and continue existing.
I'm not really a huge philosophy guy though. I know a lot of people, especially on the left, don't like Camus. I only read the one book, and read it immediately after a close friend of mine died, so that might have been a major lens influencing my perception of it.
Wasn't it a punishment for trying to cheat death an ultimately pointless and futile endeavour so his punishment is to spend his afterlife how he spent his life
Yes and no. iirc Sisyphus escaped the underworld twice before. The third time he ended up there it was specified that the only way he would be able to leave again was if he was able to balance the boulder on top of the mountain. Sure it's ultimately futile, but the idea is that Sisyphus isn't required to push the boulder. He could stop an any point and accept his fate, but out of spite and willfulness Sisyphus continues to push the boulder with the hope that he may one day be able to escape for a third time.
or he's trapped in a negative and proud habit and can't just abandon his fruitless pursuit and enjoy what he can about his situation. All his spite and pride only hurt him
Oh god Camus did really suck that bad didn't he
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I think the metaphor makes sense, it's just misunderstood. In the story of Sisyphus, the boulder isn't a punishment, it's a stipulation. The only way he can leave the underworld is if he gets the boulder to stay at the top of the mountain, he could stop at any time, but that would be resigning himself to his fate. Sisyphus is pushing the boulder to spite the gods, and that gives his existence meaning.
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*gestures vaguely at everything around me*
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I suppose, but that's kinda in the eyes of it's beholder, isn't it? My take away from "The Myth of Sisyphus" was that existence is terrible and absurd and so we should use any shred of meaning that we can find to ground ourselves, accept the absurd and continue existing.
I'm not really a huge philosophy guy though. I know a lot of people, especially on the left, don't like Camus. I only read the one book, and read it immediately after a close friend of mine died, so that might have been a major lens influencing my perception of it.
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Yeah, that's fair.
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Wasn't it a punishment for trying to cheat death an ultimately pointless and futile endeavour so his punishment is to spend his afterlife how he spent his life
Yes and no. iirc Sisyphus escaped the underworld twice before. The third time he ended up there it was specified that the only way he would be able to leave again was if he was able to balance the boulder on top of the mountain. Sure it's ultimately futile, but the idea is that Sisyphus isn't required to push the boulder. He could stop an any point and accept his fate, but out of spite and willfulness Sisyphus continues to push the boulder with the hope that he may one day be able to escape for a third time.
or he's trapped in a negative and proud habit and can't just abandon his fruitless pursuit and enjoy what he can about his situation. All his spite and pride only hurt him