page_title: The Myth of Sisyphus
section_title: Chapter 3: Absurd Creation
hierarchical_section_title: The Myth of Sisyphus / Summary / Chapter 3: Absurd Creation
caption_attribution_description: Español: La obra representa a Sísifo, rey de Éfira y condenado por Zeus a hacer rodar con su cabeza y empujando una gran roca cuesta arriba, que continuamente se precipitaba hacia abajo, por haber revelado que Zeus había secuestrado a Egina.
context_page_description: The Myth of Sisyphus is a 1942 philosophical essay by Albert Camus. The English translation by Justin O'Brien was first published in 1955.
  Influenced by philosophers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche, Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd, that life is inherently devoid of meaning and consequently absurd, but humans will nevertheless forever search for meaning. Camus compares the absurdity of man's life with the situation of Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again.
  The work can be seen in relation to other absurdist works by Camus: the novel The Stranger, the plays The Misunderstanding and Caligula, and especially the essay The Rebel.
context_section_description: Here Camus explores the absurd creator or artist.  Since explanation is impossible, absurd art is restricted to a description of the myriad experiences in the world. "If the world were clear, art would not exist." Absurd creation, of course, also must refrain from judging and from alluding to even the slightest shadow of hope.
  He then analyzes the work of Fyodor Dostoevsky in this light, especially The Diary of a Writer,  The Possessed and The Brothers Karamazov. All these works start from the absurd position, and the first two explore the theme of philosophical suicide. However, both The Diary and his last novel, The Brothers Karamazov, ultimately find a path to hope and faith and thus fail as truly absurd creations.
caption: Sisyphus by Titian, 1549
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