Which one is Sisyphus

Mean =

1. A

2. B

3. C

A B C

What kind of hero does Albert Camus call Sisyphus?

Mean = 2.84

1 2 3 4

24%

32%

44%

0%

1. extraordinary

2. sacred

3. profane

4. absurd

Myth as a Sisyphean TaskHomer on Sisyphus (Odyssey xi.593-600):

and I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone with both his hands. [Verily he would brace himself with hands and feet, and thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone. But he would strain again and thrust it back, and the sweat [600] flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose up from his head.

Sisyphus in Art

Name vase of the Underworld Painter (Munich)

Camus’ Absurd Hero

Alt Linux Sisyphus

http://www.altlinux.com/index.php?module=sisyphus

Sisyphus GamingThe constant cycle of hardware upgrades and more complex games can leave a gamer feeling like the legendary Sisyphus.

Simon Abramovitch in Escapist Magazine

The fact is, technology will always be moving forward, keeping the cycle running fluidly, trapping high-road gamers into a never-ending struggle for more, ringing the familiar bells of the perennially dissatisfied middle-class American. Buy, consume, then buy some more.The case is like that of the mythical Sisyphus, eternally pushing a stone up a mountain slope, whence the stone falls back under its own weight, and the climb begins anew. That high road can perhaps be likened to this slope, with the endless cycle of renewed and heightened expectations keeping any end inevitably unreachable. Perhaps, as with our look back at early games, there is indeed wisdom in classics.

http://www.sisyphusproductions.com

Franz von Stuck1863-1928

The Redemption of SisyphusWatercolor Drawing, 1999by American artist Ilene Winn-Lederer

Stills Stephen Lyrics - Myth Of Sisyphus (Stephen Stills, Kenny Passarelli Lyrics (1975)

Are you leavin'Bein' aloneAlways made you so sadI got memories of the cityFollowin' me everywhere I go

Are you mad with heartacheGot a country homeAnd you a ParisienneGonna take all your sorrowsRight along with you when I'm gone

And I got to go awayOnly need a couple of daysI got one more chance to sing itAnd I ain't gon' waste my time'Cause everything including youIs on the line

Are you troubledFeelin' badAnd no one seems to careGot the myth of SisyphusFallin' on you like a rolling stone

Yet Do I Marvelby Countee Cullen (1903-1946)

Yet Do I Marvelby Countee Cullen

I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,And did He stoop to quibble could tell whyThe little buried mole continues blind,Why flesh that mirrors Him must someday die,Make plain the reason tortured TantalusIs baited by the fickle fruit, declareIf merely brute caprice dooms SisyphusTo struggle up a never-ending stair.Inscrutable His ways are, and immuneTo catechism by a mind too strewnWith petty cares to slightly understandWhat awful brain compels His awful hand.Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:To make a poet black, and bid him sing.

Yet Do I Marvelby Countee Cullen

I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,And did He stoop to quibble could tell whyThe little buried mole continues blind,Why flesh that mirrors Him must someday die,Make plain the reason tortured TantalusIs baited by the fickle fruit, declareIf merely brute caprice dooms SisyphusTo struggle up a never-ending stair.Inscrutable His ways are, and immuneTo catechism by a mind too strewnWith petty cares to slightly understandWhat awful brain compels His awful hand.Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:To make a poet black, and bid him sing.

Types of MythWhere does Sisyphus fit?

ordinary extraordinary extraodinary

mortal mortal immortal

human  hero god

folktale legend myth

Märchen saga  

http://department.monm.edu/classics/Courses/Clas230/MythDocuments/types_of_myth.htm

Myths and FolktalesMYTH

specific characters,often superhuman

lack of ordinary logicunpredictable sequence of events

due especially to supernatural elements 

element of seriousnessdeals with timeless past

FOLKTALEgeneric characters,

usually ordinarylogical progression of events

use of ingenuitykind of wish-fulfilment fantasyreflect simple social situations

element of entertainmenthistorical time

 

http://department.monm.edu/classics/Courses/Clas230/MythDocuments/myth_and_folktale.htm

Folktale ThemesThe process of METAMORPHOSISThe Unwanted Child who SurvivesThe Wicked Step-mother/Step-envyThe Wicked UncleThe Rival BrothersThe Curse on a FamilyThe Curse and the VendettaThe Son's Responsibilities to his FatherThe Son's Search for his FatherThe Acquisition of MaturityThe Offense against a God or Goddess and its ConsequencesThe Unavoidable Truth of the OracleThe recognition Sign or the Test of IdentityThe Gift of the Culture HeroThe Hero's QuestThe Test of the Hero through Perils or Temptation (of irresponsibility, sensuality, violence)The Search for Immortality/the Conquest of Death/ the Descent to the Underworld/ the Harrowing of HellFinding what is lostFreeing the OppressedThe Man who ReturnsThe Hero's Betrayal of the PrincessRescue of the PrincessRescue by the Heroine (Women to the Rescue)A Woman's WebA Woman's WitThe Revenge of the Woman ScornedThe Danger of the Feminine

Civilization versus Chaos--Justice vs. Injustice--Love vs. HateThe Suitor ContestThe Theft of the BrideThe Deathly Wedding or the Fatal MarriageThe Foundation LegendThe Symbol upon which a Life Depends (Life Token)The Symbol upon which a City's Safety DependsThe Unwanted or Unlucky GiftThe Magical garmentThe Fatal ChoiceThe Never-ending PunishmentThe Impossible TaskThe "Happily-ever-after" EndingDivine hostility/ Divine favorThe Magic Spell or CharmThe Hero's Loss of favor with his People and/or the GodsMysterious Death of the HeroApotheosis of the Hero (Deification)Ingenious Device or TrickDisobedient Child or SpouseHarmful CuriosityThe Solution of a riddleThe breaking of a taboo/disobedience to divine instructionsThe skilled craftsman or possessor of a special talentIntelligence versus Brute StrengthThe Accidental Murder of a near relative

Why is Myth a Sisyphean Task?

• Diversity of Narratives

• Diversity of Media

• Diversity of Truth (History vs. Fiction)

• Diversity of Versions

• Diversity of Belief (Religion vs. Myth)

• Diversity of Geography