The Myth of Sisyphus
The essay opens by declaring that there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, suicide, and asks whether the absurd demands it. Camus answers no: lucidity calls instead for revolt, freedom and passion, embodied by Don Juan, the actor, the conqueror and the artist, and the book ends with Sisyphus, condemned to push his rock forever, whom we must imagine happy.
Understanding the text
Subtitled an essay on the absurd and dedicated to Pascal Pia, the book was completed in February 1941 in Oran and published by Gallimard in October 1942, a few months after The Stranger, which it accompanies as a philosophical counterpart. Its study of Kafka, left out of the first edition under the Occupation, was restored as an appendix after the war. Camus presents it as a description of a sensibility of the age, not as a philosophy of the absurd.
Key points
- 01
Suicide as the question
Judging whether life is worth living is the first question, because every other answer depends on it; Camus starts from that judgement rather than from metaphysics.
- 02
Absurd man
Don Juan, the actor and the conqueror live without appeal, preferring the quantity and intensity of experience to the promise of an eternal meaning.
- 03
Happy Sisyphus
Walking back down toward his rock, Sisyphus is conscious of his fate; that lucidity, which crowns his punishment, makes it his own and sets him above his destiny.
Explore the ideas in depth
Living with the absurd
Follow the essay from the question of suicide through the critique of philosophical leaps to the image of Sisyphus walking back down to his rock.
Situating the text
Subtitled an essay on the absurd and dedicated to Pascal Pia, the book was completed in February 1941 in Oran and published by Gallimard in October 1942, a few months after The Stranger, which it accompanies as a philosophical counterpart. Its study of Kafka, left out of the first edition under the Occupation, was restored as an appendix after the war. Camus presents it as a description of a sensibility of the age, not as a philosophy of the absurd. The essay opens by declaring that there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, suicide, and asks whether the absurd demands it. Camus answers no: lucidity calls instead for revolt, freedom and passion, embodied by Don Juan, the actor, the conqueror and the artist, and the book ends with Sisyphus, condemned to push his rock forever, whom we must imagine happy.
Following the arguments
Suicide as the question : Judging whether life is worth living is the first question, because every other answer depends on it; Camus starts from that judgement rather than from metaphysics. Absurd man : Don Juan, the actor and the conqueror live without appeal, preferring the quantity and intensity of experience to the promise of an eternal meaning. Happy Sisyphus : Walking back down toward his rock, Sisyphus is conscious of his fate; that lucidity, which crowns his punishment, makes it his own and sets him above his destiny.
Continuing the reading
Read the first chapter on absurd reasoning closely, skim the gallery of absurd men, then take the final four pages on Sisyphus slowly, comparing their tone with the opening of The Stranger. Subtitled an essay on the absurd and dedicated to Pascal Pia, the book was completed in February 1941 in Oran and published by Gallimard in October 1942, a few months after The Stranger, which it accompanies as a philosophical counterpart. Its study of Kafka, left out of the first edition under the Occupation, was restored as an appendix after the war. Camus presents it as a description of a sensibility of the age, not as a philosophy of the absurd.
Questions to carry into your reading
- Why does Camus treat suicide, rather than the existence of the world or of God, as the first philosophical question?
- What exactly makes Sisyphus happy, and could that happiness exist without his awareness of the punishment?
The absurd is not a reason to die but a condition to keep in view: lucidity without hope can still sustain revolt, freedom and passion.
How to read it
Read the first chapter on absurd reasoning closely, skim the gallery of absurd men, then take the final four pages on Sisyphus slowly, comparing their tone with the opening of The Stranger.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method →