You remember Sisyphus from Greek mythology, right?

You remember Sisyphus from Greek mythology, right? The king rolling a stone toward the crest of a hill….

He could never heave the stone over the top, “the weight would turn it back…”

The story tells he was punished for cheating.

In more recent times, this folklore figure stirred the creative imagination of a French author, Albert Camus. His Myth of Sisyphus: Essay on the Absurd tells the story of the absurd hero accomplishing nothing. The tragedy begins the moment he knows his labour is hopeless.

This is his moment of consciousness. Back down the hill to start pushing up the stone for “a hundred times over.”

The essay teaches that futile suffering is a preference. It is the absurd hero’s silent joy. It is the price for his victory. He is the master of the day. If the stone is still rolling, the absurd hero is still busy and active.

Sisyphus of Camus teaches too much self-confidence may raise rocks.

In the tragedy of Syria, who is in the struggle toward the heights? You can finish the story: one, two, three, four, more absurd heroes…

Mariela Baeva