When Sisyphus was taken back to the underworld after failing to exact revenge on his wife, he was given what the Greeks perceived to be the cruelest punishment of all. He was required to push a rock up a mountain, only for it to …show more content…
He wrote, “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 punishment of Sisyphus, Camus believed, was what made Sisyphus an “absurd hero”. Despite what we perceive to be a cruel fate being dealt, Sisyphus accepts the absurdity of his punishment. This is how we might live happily. Through accepting his fate, Sisyphus is able to be at peace with himself, rebelling in the only way he can, by not being tormented by his meaningless task. Life can be seen as difficult and unfair at times. The stress of doing what you have to do despite it having no meaning is daunting. It does not matter if we accept the absurdity of life or if life has actual meaning in the universe, life is unfair, and if you can happily accept that, you can move