One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy: Finding Meaning in Eternal Struggle

Sisyphus is a character in Greek mythology who was punished by the gods for all eternity to push a huge boulder up a mountain only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top. In modern culture, the term “Sisyphean” is commonly used to refer to any task that is both laborious and futile.

Many everyday people share this feeling. We wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, drive home, eat dinner, fall asleep, and then repeat the same cycle over and over again. We all have our own boulder that we need to push up every single day. At times, we may step back and ask ourselves, “Where is this all leading? What does it all mean?”

The philosopher Albert Camus was one of the first to make the connection between Sisyphus’ mythological struggle and our own existential struggles. In his famous essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus” he views Sisyphus’ eternal punishment as a potential source of meaning and purpose. He reframes him as a type of “absurdist” hero figure who, despite being in a hopeless and impossible situation, continues to perform his duty and live life with honor and dignity.

Imagine yourself as Sisyphus pushing your boulder up the mountain:

“One sees merely the whole effort of a body straining to raise the huge stone, to roll it, and push it up a slope a hundred times over; one sees the face screwed up, the cheek tight against the stone, the shoulder bracing the clay-covered mass, the foot wedging it, the fresh start with arms outstretched, the wholly human security of two earth-clotted hands. At the very end of his long effort measured by skyless space and time without depth, the purpose is achieved. Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes back down to the plain.”

Over and over, Sisyphus performs this arduous task only to see no fruits for his labor and zero progress for his efforts – yet he continues – and it’s that choice to keep going where the real heroism can be found:

“It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock.”

The decision to walk back down the mountain and try pushing the boulder up again is a “moment of consciousness” according to Camus. It’s when Sisyphus is fully aware of the desperateness of his situation, yet decides to persist:

“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

Sisyphus consciously chooses to continue his suffering, but at the same time he is also choosing to keep living. That’s the paradox of life.

All great philosophers from Aristotle to Buddha to Camus have recognized that “suffering” is a fundamental truth about human existence. However, to choose to live as best as possible in spite of this suffering is one of the greatest triumphs.

Imagining Sisyphus Happy

We are asked to imagine Sisyphus happy, so let’s try our best.

How would someone in Sisyphus’ situation still find happiness? Where does he still have power and freedom?

Pushing a boulder up a mountain is taxing on the body, but where is Sisyphus’ mind? What is Sisyphus thinking while performing his duties? What meaning does he find in his task?

Perhaps Sisyphus is making a game of his circumstances. Maybe he is singing songs in his head or reciting poems that give him joy and comfort. Maybe he is trying to beat his record for “best time” going up the mountain. Maybe he imagines the gods watching him and cheering him on. Maybe every climb up the mountain is a symbolic victory.

We don’t know what’s going on in Sisyphus’ mind, so we don’t know if he is happy or not. We only assume he is unhappy due to his external situation which we see as torturous.

There’s a popular Zen proverb that comes to mind:

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

The lesson behind this is that enlightenment doesn’t appear different than non-enlightenment, because it’s a measure of internal change more than external change. It’s how you orient yourself to the world around you, whatever that may be.

Perhaps Sisyphus is enlightened or on the path to enlightenment. Then we can say, “Before enlightenment, push boulder up mountain. After enlightenment, push boulder up mountain.”

Can you begin to imagine a happier version of Sisyphus?

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