Sisyphus' work. The Myth of Sisyphus

“The work of Sisyphean” - this phrase is familiar to many of us: for some - by hearsay, and for others - from our own experience. And, of course, its meaning is known - they usually talk about Sisyphean labor when we are talking about long, painful and fruitless work and torment. But why Sisyphus? What kind of image was used for such a famous phraseological unit? Not everyone knows about this, and we would like to tell you where the expression “The Labor of Sisyphus” came from.

Sisyphus

First, let's give a brief overview:

Sisyphus , and to put it more correctly, Sisif - This is one of the characters in the mythology of Ancient Greece. He was the son of Enarete and Aeolus, the husband of the daughter of Atlas - the galaxy of Merope, from whom he had sons: Alm, Thersander, Ornytion and Glaucus.

Sisyphus was the builder and king of the ancient Greek polis (city) of Corinth (today it is called Ephyra), who after his death was sentenced by the gods to “hard labor” - rolling up a mountain located in the deepest abyss under the kingdom of Hades called Tartarus, a heavy stone that just reaches the top, constantly slides down. This is where, in fact, the expression we discussed above came from.

According to the legendary ancient Greek poet-storyteller Homer, Sisyphus was a cunning, selfish and vicious man who, for the first time among the Greeks (Hellenes), used deception and cunning.

There are several versions of myths associated with Sisyphus, each of which is quite interesting.

Myths about Sisyphus

All existing myths about Sisyphus give us an explanation of why he was so cruelly punished by the gods.

According to one version, the reason for Sisyphus’ punishment was Asopus’ daughter, Aegina. After she was kidnapped by Zeus, Asopus began to look for her, but to no avail. Then Sisyphus told Asopus that he knew how to find Aegina, but would tell him only if Asopus agreed to give him water to the acropolis of Corinth - Acrocorinth.

Another version says that Sisyphus was in a hostile relationship with his brother Salmoneus, and, as predicted by Apollo, raped his daughter Tyro, who later bore him two sons. Tyro, having learned that her sons wanted to kill Salmoneus on the instructions of Sisyphus, killed them themselves. For all this Sisyphus was punished.

The most common version is considered to be this: one day Sisyphus, through deception, abducts Thanatos (the god of death), chains him and leaves him captive (there is also a version where Sisyphus deceives and chains not Thanatos, but Hades). Due to the absence of Thanatos, people no longer die on the planet. Because of this, the gods begin to worry, but they cannot do anything. However, several years later, the god of war Ares manages to save Thanatos. To take revenge on Sisyphus, Thanatos plucks out his soul and then takes him to the kingdom of shadows of dead people.

But Sisyphus distinguished himself again: before he died, he forbade his wife to perform the burial ceremony in the event of his death. Unable to wait for the funeral offerings, Hades and Persephone allow Sisyphus to return to the world of the living for a while so that he can punish his wife for violating sacred customs, and then arrange a traditional funeral with sacrifices.

Then Sisyphus had to return to the kingdom of Hades. But he did not return, but continued to stay in his palace, rejoicing in the fact that he was the only mortal who managed to return to the world of the living from the kingdom of shadows. Time passed, and the fact that Sisyphus did not return was discovered only several years later. Hermes was sent to return the deceiver.

The misdeeds that Sisyphus committed during his lifetime (including posthumous ones) became the reason for Sisyphus' punishment: for eternity he had to roll a huge boulder up a mountain, which kept rolling down, and repeat this action over and over again.

Over time, the image of Sisyphus became firmly established in the works of various artists. For example, he became one of the characters in the satyr dramas of Aeschylus, such as “Sisyphs the Rocker”, “Sisyphs the Fugitive” and “Pheora, or the Isthmian Competitions”, as well as in Sophocles’ play “Sisifus”, Euripides’ satyr drama “Sisyphs” and Critias's play Sisyphus. But in addition to its reflection in the drama of Ancient Greece, the image of Sisyphus was also reflected in the works of figures of modern times - writers (Robert Merle and Albert Camus) and artists (Titian).

And it would not be superfluous to consider the image of Sisyphus in the work of one of the most prominent representatives of absurdism - Albert Camus. Next you will understand why.

Sisyphus in an essay by Albert Camus

If you've ever been interested in absurdism, you know that this philosophical idea of ​​human existence is that his existence has no meaning. And it is in Camus that Sisyphus becomes a man who has risen above the meaninglessness of life and found in it his own purpose, as well as pride. We are talking about Adbert Camus’s 1942 philosophical essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” By the way, “The Myth of Sisyphus” is a programmatic work in the philosophy of absurdism.

In his work, Camus attempts to answer the question: “Is life worth the trouble of living?” - the only question, according to Camus, that matters in philosophy.

Considering that the gods who punished Sisyphus believed that hard and useless work is the most terrible thing that can be, Camus views Sisyphus as an absurd hero, living a full life, hating death and doomed to meaningless work.

The hero of myths is of greatest interest to the writer when the first one again and again descends from the mountain to its foot in order to find a rolled stone. This moment is the most tragic, because... It is at this moment that Sisyphus comes to full awareness of his hopeless situation. Sisyphus has lost hope, but he also has no fate that he cannot overcome by feeling contempt for it.

Sisyphus has his stone, which is a whole property, and even the smallest piece of which is the whole world for him. In the end, Albert Camus comes to the conclusion that in reality "everything is fine" and the only thing Sisyphus needs to do is imagine himself as a happy person.

It is unusual and interesting that Camus suggests looking at the endless and meaningless work of Sisyphus as a kind of metaphor for the life of a modern person, which he wastes in offices, offices, factory floors and other similar places. Camus said: “Today’s worker labors every day of his life at the same task, and this fate is no less absurd. But this is tragic only in rare moments when it is realized.”

The author of this article does not claim to be a writer who creates masterpieces, or a philosopher who can express the essence of the problem in a few phrases, so do not judge him strictly for what will be said below.

And I would like to say that the comparison of Sisyphus’s work by Albert Camus with the life of a man of the new world, despite the fact that it was made more than half a century ago, is very relevant even today. Millions of people spend their lives in concrete boxes, trying to make ends meet, doing work that is needed by everyone but them, earning money for daily and often immediate needs. Isn't this Sisyphean work? And isn’t this absurdism in all its glory? Does this really make sense? Many of us roll our “stone” onto our “mountain,” each in our own “Tartarus,” and spend our whole lives doing it. This is true, because such a life seems like a heavy burden, constantly requiring attention and action.

But what the author does not agree with is that life is meaningless. Life is given to each of us for a reason - everything in this world has a purpose, from a small bug to the highest and most inaccessible mountains, from an insignificant clerk to a big boss - everyone is part of the whole. Even though this may seem too idealistic, in life any person can do it, so as not to be a person of the absurd.

If you like living, then you need to strive to fill your life with bright colors and emotions, or at least make attempts to do so. If life seems like a “waste of time,” then you can devote it to preparing for “life after.” The only and most important thing is to be able to find yourself, understand what you like, what your soul is about. And even if this doesn’t help, then you can constantly watch your “stone”, which you are trying to heap to the top. Perhaps, over time, the whole universe will be contained in one millimeter of this stone for you.

But still, you shouldn’t make your life absurd. Don't turn it into a Sisyphean task. Live!

Since childhood, each of us has probably heard the catchphrase “The Labor of Sisyphus.” What does it mean? Who is Sisyphus and what was he forced to do? Let's figure this out, and at the same time remember other phraseological units that came to us from ancient times.

In the myths of ancient Greece there is such a character as Sisyphus, who was the king of Corinth. Sisyphus lived happily and happily in his luxurious palace, cunning, deceiving and dodging. His victims were earthly people who had no power over him. One day he decided that it was possible to outwit even the gods, for which he subsequently paid cruelly. Its history is as follows. When he realized that the death god Thanat had come to him, Sisyphus distracted him with deception and put him in chains. From that moment on, people stopped dying, and the gods of the kingdom of shadows were deprived of the gifts that living people gave them for their dead relatives.

Zeus learned about this disgrace, who became angry and sent the god of war Ares for Thanat, demanding that he be immediately released. After his release, he immediately plunged the wicked Sisyphus into his kingdom of shadows. Hades and his wife Persephone waited a long time for sacred gifts from Sisyphus’s wife, but all in vain, since he warned her in advance that no one would bring any gifts for him. Here again Sisyphus decided to play a trick, announcing to the gods about the obstinacy of his wife, who allegedly did not want to part with her wealth. He promised Hades to deal with his wife, for which he needed to visit the earth for a short time, but he immediately promised to return back.

The terrible Hades, just like Tanat before, believed the liar and returned him to earth. Once at home, Sisyphus called the guests and threw a noble feast. Once again he dared to laugh at the gods. The gods do not forgive this, but the deceiver did not even want to think about it. Sisyphus was cast into the kingdom of shadows and received a terrible punishment as punishment. Every day, from the foot of a high mountain, he was forced to roll up a huge heavy stone, but, having almost reached the top, the stone fell down. This goes on forever. Sisyphus's work is hard and useless, but such is the will of the gods. This myth can teach us a lot if we read it carefully and think carefully. Before you laugh at or deceive someone, remember the work of Sisyphus - so meaningless and difficult.

Sisyphus was not the only one who received punishment from the gods. Tantalus himself, there in Hades, is forced to stand up to his neck in clean, transparent water and see in front of him branches with luxurious fruits. He experiences terrible thirst and hunger, but bending down to take a sip of water, he sees how it goes through the ground, and stretching out his hands to the fruits, he realizes that he cannot reach them. These torments were given to Tantalus for ridicule and pride towards the gods. We must firmly remember that before committing any action, we must think everything over. It’s the same at work. Having taken on the task, you should plan everything so that it is not Sisyphean work (in vain and unnecessary to anyone), but a truly necessary and useful task. By the way, the creators either performed Sisyphean labor, the meaning of which is meaningless, useless work. They were poorly acquainted with physical laws and spent years inventing something that could not exist at all.

The phraseological unit Tantalus flour has a completely different meaning. It means the proximity of something very desirable, necessary and, at the same time, the impossibility of possessing it. We experience real Tantalus pangs when we want the impossible. This often arises because we do not balance our goals with our real capabilities, subsequently experiencing mental anguish. By soberly assessing the situation, success in business can always be achieved. The main thing is that what you do is not useless, otherwise such work will turn into Sisyphean labor, the meaning of which you already know.

What is our native Russian language? It cannot be seen, it cannot be touched. It's as if he doesn't exist. Fortunately, he was, is and will be. He is the thread that unites contemporaries and connects hundreds of generations. He is that thread, invisible but strong, which can stretch or get tangled, but will never break. This is our common tool, designed to give form to our experiences, emotions, thoughts and feelings. Among his many techniques, it is impossible not to mention phraseological units. What is this? Let's find out...

The meaning of the phraseological unit “Sisyphean labor”

In any language, and Russian is no exception, there are so-called phraseological units. “What are they and what do they eat them with?” - you ask. The name is tricky, but nothing complicated, on the contrary - interesting and exciting. Phraseological units, or phraseological units, are ready-made combinations of words, set expressions, such as “beating the buck” or “throwing pearls before swine”, which not only help the speaker to accurately and vividly express his thoughts, emotions and attitude to what is happening, but are also true decoration of the tongue. Their distinctive feature is ambiguity, that is, their direct meaning is surprisingly transformed into an allegorical one, often the opposite of the literal reading.

From this point of view, the meaning of such a stable combination as “Sisyphean labor” seems interesting. Literally, a reference to the cunning and resourceful ruler of Corinth, Sisyphus, who, after his death, according to ancient Greek myths, was sentenced by the gods to forever roll a heavy stone up a high mountain. However, the figurative meaning of the phraseology “Sisyphean labor” sounds different - exhausting and useless work, fruitless efforts, a waste of energy and time.

Origins of verbal formulas

Everything in the world has its own origins, its own beginning and its own history. Every sound, every letter, every word. We may know about it, guess, or, conversely, not have the slightest idea. However, you must agree, it is better to know than not to know. And not only because it is necessary, and this will benefit you, it will broaden your horizons, and everyone around you will consider you an intellectual. No, not for that at all. But because any knowledge and search for truth, the search for what is worth, what is hidden behind every spoken sound, gives deeper knowledge, understanding of the structure of the world and, ultimately, oneself. In linguistics, the science of language, there is a special direction - phraseology, one of the tasks of which is precisely the study of the sources of origin of certain figurative expressions. Based on this, all phraseological units of the Russian language are divided into native Russian and borrowed.

Borrowed phraseological units

In the Russian language, a large group of phrases consists of so-called borrowed phraseological units, that is, those that came to us from other languages ​​and cultures. These include phraseological tracings or semi-calques, otherwise - expressions that received a literal translation when moving from one language to another and at the same time did not lose their figurative meaning: “blue stocking” - bluestocking (English), “a good (cheerful) face with a bad game" - faire bonne mine au mauvais jeu (French), "a hand washes a hand" - Manus manum lavat (Latin), etc. A special class consists of aphorisms from biblical and evangelical texts, vivid quotes from foreign literature, as well as catchphrases from Roman and ancient Greek mythology. It is to the latter that the phraseological unit under consideration belongs.

“The Work of Sisyphus”: meaning and origin

Sisyphus is the ruler of Corinth in ancient Greek mythology, the son of the god Aeolus, the ruler of all the winds. Legend says that Sisyphus was, on the one hand, a wise and prudent man, and on the other, cunning, dexterous, resourceful and cunning, for which he was subsequently punished. The gods endured and forgave him for a long time for his atrocities, the treasures obtained by deception, and robbery. However, everything has an end, and one day the god of death Tanat came to Sisyphus to escort the king to the dark underground kingdom of Hades, where the souls of all the dead reside. Sisyphus could not come to terms with the order established by Zeus and violated it by shackling Thanat.

Time stopped on earth, people stopped dying, offerings to the gods of the kingdom of shadows were not made, and the original harmony was disrupted. Then Zeus the Thunderer sent the fearless god of war Ares, who freed Thanat and sent the soul of Sisyphus underground to the kingdom of Hades. But even here Sisyphus did not renounce himself, his earthly passions, and did not submit to the will of the gods. He asked his wife not to perform funeral rites after his death and not to present gifts and sacrifices to the gods. The wife of her husband listened and fulfilled his request. Hades was indignant and sent Sisyphus to earth to bring his wife to reason. The ruler of Corinth happily went home and remained in his luxurious palace, throwing endless feasts and showing off his tricks.

And again Tanat went for the soul of Sisyphus. This time he tore out the soul of a rebellious man and sent him underground forever. For his self-will and obstinacy, the gods assigned Sisyphus a grave punishment - to forever roll an unliftable stone up a high, steep mountain. But it was not the desperate efforts that were terrible, but their futility. As soon as the most cunning of all mortals reached the very top, the stone inevitably fell out of his hands and rolled down noisily. And Sisyphus gets to work again. After thousands of years, the name of King Sisyphus and his hard work, lifting a stone to the top of a mountain, lose their direct meaning and collectively acquire a different, figurative meaning, which, in essence, consists of the attitude towards the events described in the myth and the feelings and emotions experienced when reading the legend. . It turns out that in Russian “Sisyphean labor” is a phraseological unit, the secondary meaning of which is wasted effort, meaningless labor, eternal torment.

Other languages

As a rule, ancient catchphrases are international expressions. “Sisyphean labor” - fruitless labor - is no exception. This phraseological unit has its analogues in English - Sisyphean labors, in French - le rocher de Sisyphe, in Greek - Σισύφειο έργο, and in many others. It is interesting to note that in the listed languages ​​it retains the image of the rebellious king Sisyphus, on the basis of which the figurative expression arose, which means that both its meaning and lexico-grammatical structure are completely preserved. Sisyphean labor in all languages ​​and cultures denotes a hopeless undertaking, a waste of time, a futile endeavor.

The myth of Sisyphus is probably the most famous and memorable. Usually, from the school curriculum they remember the punishment itself, but they do not know why such painful torture was invented. Let us briefly consider the content of the myth in its different versions. Sisyphus, or Sisyphus, was the builder and king of Corinth (the ancient name is Ephyra). Homer describes him as a very cunning, vicious man, a self-seeker. He was doomed by the gods to forever perform exorbitantly hard, fruitless work. The myths about Sisyphus and the stone, preserved in many sources, indicate various offenses that brought such punishment from the gods onto the head of the cunning man.

One version says that he was punished for revealing the secret of Zeus. The other is related to feud between brothers and rape. But the most common myth is that Sisyphus deceived death itself.

According to this version, the king of Corinth deceived and chained Thantos, the god of death, and people stopped dying. The god of death is freed by Ares, and the soul of the deceiver is sent to the kingdom of shadows. But the cunning Sisyphus was once again able to deceive the gods by ordering his wife not to perform the funeral ceremony. Having not received their victims and offerings, Hades and Persephone released the deceiver to earth so that he would bring his wife to reason. But the vile king is not going to return. But, nevertheless, he could not escape punishment.

For all his crimes against the gods, a terrible punishment was prepared for Sisyphus. Every day, time after time, forever, the sufferer must lift a large stone up the mountain. There will be no end to the hard, exhausting work, because once the stone is raised to the top, it rolls back, and everything must be started again.

“The Labor of Sisyphus” - photos and pictures.

The phraseology “Sisyphean labor” just means very hard, meaningless, endlessly painful work.

Sisyphus (ancient Greek myth)

In those days there lived in Greece one cunning and resourceful hero named Sisyphus, the son of the god Aeolus, the lord of all winds. None of the mortals could compare with him in cunning and deceit. Why, mortals are powerful gods and they got into trouble when they dealt with Sisyphus. He was not afraid even of Zeus himself, the all-powerful thunderer. Zeus loved to kidnap beautiful girls and often did this. And then one day he kidnapped the beautiful Engina, one of the 12 daughters of the river god Ason. Sisyphus saw how the Thunderer carried away the girl and reported this to her father. He even pointed out the place where Zeus hid her. In exchange for this, Sisyphus demanded that Ason provide water from his river for the new city of Aether, which he was then founding. Then this city began to be called Corinth, and Sisyphus became the king of Corinth.

An angry Ason rushed after the kidnapper. He flooded with water all the places where Zeus had been, river flows filled all the caves and grottoes, fields and meadows. Animals died, people fled from the flood only on high mountain peaks. Ason, of course, could not harm Zeus in any way. On the contrary, it only made him angry. The angry Zeus threw his sparkling lightning, and Ason surrendered, he returned the river waters to their beds and again became obedient and accommodating. But Sisyphus also suffered from Zeus, because the Thunderer knew who had turned Ason against him.
Zeus called the goddess of death Thanatos and ordered her to go to Sisyphus and take him to the kingdom of the dead. Thanatos descended to earth and came to Corinth to the palace of Sisyphus. She found him eating and invited him to follow her.
“Okay, okay,” the cunning Sisyphus immediately agreed. “Let me just go give the last orders to my wife and children.” Thanatos agreed to wait for Sisyphus, and while she remained in the room, Sisyphus gathered all the city blacksmiths and ordered them to stand outside the door.
“Now let’s go, I’ve done everything,” Sisyphus said sadly, entering the room.
But as soon as they walked out the door, the blacksmiths grabbed Thanatos and shackled her in strong chains.
A year has passed, another, and the third is already coming to an end. Hades was worried. People stopped dying, their souls no longer came to the kingdom of the dead. He rushed in his winged chariot to Zeus and demanded that he restore order on earth so that everything would go as expected. So that people not only were born, but also died.
Zeus sent the god of war, the cruel Ares, to Sisyphus. Ares freed Thanatos from her shackles, and her first victim was, of course, Sisyphus. She plucked out his soul and took him to the kingdom of the dead. But even there, the clever Sisyphus managed to deceive the gods and was the only mortal to return to earth.
Even then, in his first life, when Sisyphus realized that he would still have to go to Hades, he warned his wife not to arrange a burial for him and not to make sacrifices to the underground gods. The wife listened to her husband and did none of this. Hades and Persephone waited and waited for the sacrifices of Sisyphus to be made to them, and they did not wait. Then Sisyphus came to Persephone and said to her:
- O magnanimous and all-powerful goddess, persuade Hades to let me go to earth. My wife broke her sacred vow and did not make a sacrifice to you, the immortal and omnipotent gods. I must punish her severely. As soon as I do this, I will immediately return here. Frankly, I don’t want to leave here, I liked it here so much.
Trusting Persephone believed the cunning Sisyphus and released him to earth. He returned to his palace and began to live quietly at home. Time passed, the gods waited, and Sisyphus did not return. Zeus sent the fleet-footed Hermes to see what the Corinthian king was doing at home and why he did not return to the underworld. Hermes flies to Sisyphus, and he sits in his luxurious palace and happily feasts, and even boasts to everyone that he is the only mortal who managed to return from the dark kingdom of the dead. Hermes realized that the willful and boastful king was not going to return to Hades. So he reported to his father Zeus. Zeus was angry, he again sent the goddess Thanatos to Sisyphus, and she took him away with her, this time forever.
The gods did not forgive Sisyphus for his self-will. They punished him severely after his death. Sisyphus continuously rolls a huge stone up a high steep mountain. Straining all his strength, he rolls it up and, it seems, is about to reach the top, but every time the stone breaks off and falls down. And again Sisyphus has to start all over again. People learned about this, and since then any meaningless and endless work has been called “Sisyphean labor.”