Camus: The Hour

Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus is one of the best-known images in all philosophy. It's almost a philosophical meme, but it's also one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented. Sisyphus was a king who cheated death, and so the gods made him push a boulder up a hill forever. Every time he got to the top of the hill, the boulder rolled all the way back down. And so Sisyphus has become representative of every pointless task you've ever had to do. Washing the dishes? Sisyphus. Running the rat race over and over again? Sisyphus. Having to get out of bed every day to a world that doesn't care about you? Sisyphus. But Camus emphasises a different part of the story. As he put it, 'It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me.' The Myth of Sisyphus is not simply about the drudgery of getting by in the world without meaning. It's about the strength of will it takes to carry on every day. It's about returning to do the dishes. It's about getting back into the rat race. It's about carrying on. I often imagine Sisyphus at the top of his hill, sighing, pausing, and turning around to walk back down to collect his boulder, and he knows exactly what is waiting for him at the bottom. And as Camus says, this is the 'hour of consciousness,' and in that walk, Sisyphus is 'stronger than his rock.' There is something heroic simply in turning up every day when you know fully well what is waiting for you. There is something beautiful about coming back day after day when you know the world is determined to drill the life out of you. There is something great about all of us when we walk down that hill to collect our boulders.