The Myth of Sisyphus: Myth of Sisyphus Summary and Analysis

The life of the absurd man is symbolized in the Greek myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was a man who angered the gods by preferring earthly things to them and was sentenced to continually rolling a rock up a hill which could subsequently roll back to the bottom. He especially embodies the principles of absurdity by preferring things of this life to things of eternity and by living what is obviously a meaningless existence. When Sisyphus finally succeeds in getting the rock to the top of the hill and must watch it roll to the bottom, he reflects upon the absurdity of his life, much like the ordinary worker might one day reflect upon the absurdity of his own labor. Sisyphus is not unhappy, however, because he rejects slavery to...