The Will to Being and the Cult of Sisyphus

The story of Sisyphus has been obscured by modern interpretations, such as Albert Camus’ famous Myth of Sisyphus, where Sisyphus’ turmoil is too easily dismissed, as we are urged to ‘imagine Sisyphus happy’. My argument is that Sisyphus is not an ‘absurd hero’, but rather a failed hero and even a failed philosopher, for he was once called ‘the wise one’. His attempt at overcoming death resulted in him getting punished by the gods to toil aimlessly forever, so that he’d be completely absorbed by the task at hand, no longer having the leisure to try to evade death. I couple this myth with Plato’s argument from Theaetetus 175e-176b, according to which the philosopher is a man ‘brought up in freedom and leisure’, as well as the ‘leaky vessel’ analogy from Gorgias in order to ignite a discussion about the lack of leisure (schole) and its implications in pursuing immortality.