In his philosophical essay «Le mythe de Sisyphe»¹ (“Sisyphus’ myth”, 1943) and in his novel «L’ étranger»² (“The stranger”, 1942) which is “Sisyphus’” ideological counterpart, the French writer and thinker Albert Camus (1913 - 1960), Nobel Award in Literature 1957, develops the theory of the absurd of life and how to face it, starting from the inevitable fact of death. From the very moment that human becomes fully aware of his fate, which consists of a successive sequence of days with their overwhelming natural monotony - sunrise, noon, sunset and so on - which results in his deterioration and death, and since the human does not want to resort to metaphysical theories or grand ideas that exceed his lifespan, he realizes that he is similar to Sisyphus, the Ancient Greek Mythology hero, who had been sentenced by the gods to the harshest punishment: he had to push a huge boulder up to the top of a mountain. Then, the boulder would tumble down, from the top to the foot of the mountain. Sisyphus would descend and resume the effort. Again. And again. Forever. As Camus writes, «il n’est pas de punition plus terrible que le travail inutile et sons espoir»³ (“there is no punishment more terrible than vain and hopeless labour”).

The first step of human tragedy is when the human becomes aware of the inevitability of death. Death entails the sense of the absurd (absurde) and generates an equivalent feeling of absurdity (absurdité) to the human, therefore, it initially renders human life meaningless. The second step of the human who experiences the absurd, the absurd human according to Camus’ terminology, is to answer the question whether an absurd existence is worth living - an existence that is difficult and laborious - or whether one should renounce it, resorting to suicide. Specifically, Camus states as the central point of his rationale, the connection between the absurd and suicide «la mesure exacte dans laquelle le suicide est une solution à l’ absurde»⁴ (“to which extent suicide itself is a solution against the absurd”). In his “Carnets”, Camus records Tolstoy’s opinion on the issue: “If life is not endless, it is simply absurd and it is not worth living ... The existence of death compels us either to renounce life willingly or ... to give it a meaning that death cannot take away”⁵.

In his novel, “The Stranger”, Camus presents his hero, Meursault, as stoical and taciturn and usually without an opinion on worldly affairs, defending himself against the absence of future, armed with his indifference towards almost everything. He is “stranger” towards the absurd which penetrates everything, he lives a monotonous life, which is however, disrupted by two fundamental events, his mother’s death and funeral and his erotic acquaintance with former colleague Marie Cardona. One day his mother’s life comes to an end, the next day his life opens up with love, tenderness, smile. Descriptions of unparalleled lyricism and elegant sensuality follow, with Camus’s unadorned manner of writing, which is so effective.

A third event occurs, which seals the hero’s fate. At some point, he is involved in a fight which does not directly concern him, and ends up, without actually realizing it committing murder. The absurd sequence of events generates a dreadful atmosphere against him in court and eventually, he is sentenced to death.

Inside prison, while waiting to be executed some day, living in a state of constant anxiety - and specifically because of this - Meursault becomes aware of himself and his inner self, unfolds his spirit and expresses bitter truths about life, society, God. He is too, in his own manner, a Sisyphus, and there will be no salvation for him.

In “Sisyphus’ myth” as well as in “The stranger”, having persistently wondered and contemplated, Camus eventually renounces suicide as a means of confronting the absurd.

Firstly, because body has its own rights and refuses to be annihilated, he writes: «le corps recule devant l’ anéantissement. Nous prenons l’ habitude de vivre avant d’ acquérir celle de penser… le corps garde  cette avance irréparable»⁶. (“The  body recoils in the face of annihilation. We become accustomed to living before we become accustomed to thinking. The body retains an inevitable step ahead”. Meursault, who is sentenced to death, states: “I listened to my heart beating. I couldn’t imagine that this beat, which had been with me for such a lomg time, would at some point cease”. In April 1955, a debate - “Symposium” was held in the French Institute of Athens. The subject of the Symposium was the future of European culture, with the French writer as a guest of honour. Among the many interesting things he said, Camus pointed out the following: “If I say that I want to continue living, it is not because I know exactly what I am, but because I have an exceptionally lively and acute feeling of what I am as an existence and that I wish to continue living inside my existence. Therefore, it is not reason that precedes, but the instinct for life”. ⁸

Besides, even inside the absurd of a world that transcends metaphysical fantasies, whatever they might be, there is at least a faint smile. Camus refers to the example of fate-stricken Oedipus, who had involuntarily killed his father and committed incest, and having blinded himself with his own hands, now exiled and desperate arrives in Athens to say, despite all his misfortunes, that he deems that due to his advanced age and bravery that all is well.⁹ «Στέργειν γαρ αι πάθαι με χω χρόνος ξυνών / μακρός διδάσκει και το γενναίον τρίτον».¹⁰ So does Sisyphus. As “myths have been made so that imagination makes them come alive”, Camus views the hero of the absurd as he is descending to the foot of the mountain to grasp his boulder again and continue his eternal torment: «cette heure est celle de la conscience».¹² (“this time [of descent] is the time of realization”). At this time, Sisyphus «il est supérieur à son destin. Il est plus fort que son rocher» ¹³). (“is superior to his destiny. He is more powerful than his boulder”).

The absurd of death, hence, does not necessarily entail resignation from life and suicide, and of course it does not entail the sweet lies of metaphysics to deceive our spirit. Camus teaches us the awareness of a world unmasked - therefore a world which is at first hard to accept - and at the same time he urges us towards a stoicism full of strength, towards a competitiveness and at the same time a deeper humanity and a mental attitude «qui procède à la fois du dons sens et de la sympathie»¹⁴. (“which derives simultaneously from common sense and sympathy”).

And the fact that it is never late to improve our life and routine is clearly expressed in “The Stranger”: «Si près de la mort, maman devait s’y sentir liberée et prêt à tout revivre» ¹⁵ (“Being so close to death, mother must have felt redeemed and ready to start living again”.), and also: “I, too, felt ready to start living again”).

Camus’ heroes end up feeling happy: «je me ouvrais pour la première fois à la tendre indifference du monde. De l’ éprouver si pareil à moi, si fraternel enfin, j’ ai senti que j’ avais été heureux, et que je l’ étais encore» ¹⁷  “I opened myself for the first time into the tender indifference of the world. As I sensed it so similar to me, so fraternal at last, I felt that I had been and I still was happy”) Meursault tells us.

As for Sisyphus, Camus states at the end of his novel: “La lutte elle-même vers les sommets suffit à remplir un cœur d’ homme. Il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux» ¹⁸ (“Merely the struggle towards the top is enough to fill a human heart. We must imagine that Sisyphus was happy”).

The absurd of death and its realization results in combative optimism and ultimately, in human happiness.

My lecture is dedicated to the memory of Albert Camus on the fiftieth anniversary of his death.

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NOTES

A. Camus “Le mythe de Sisyphe”, éd. Gallimard, Paris, 2010.
(πρώτη έκδοση: 1943)

Ελληνική μετάφραση, από όπου και τα παραθέματα στα ελληνικά:

Α. Καμύ «Ο μύθος του Σισύφου», μεταφρ. Νίκη Καρακίτσου – Ντουζέ και Μαρία Κασαμπάλογλου – Ρομπλέν ,  εκδ. Καστανιώτη, Αθήνα, 2010.

2. A. Camus “L’ étranger”, éd. Galimard, Paris, 2010.
(πρώτη έκδοση: 194)

Ελληνική μετάφραση, από όπου και τα παραθέματα (>quotations) στα ελληνικά:

Α. Καμύ  «Ο ξένος», μεταφρ. Νίκη Καρακίτσου – Ντουζέ και Μαρία Κασαμπάλογλου – Ρομπλέν , εκδ. Καστανιώτη, Αθήνα, 2010.


3. A. Camus “Le mythe …”, σ. 163.
4. Όπ.π., σ. 21.
5. A.Camus «Σημειωματάρια» («Carnets»), μεταφρ. Λήδα Παλαντίου, Εξάντας, Αθήνα, 1987.
6. A.Camus “Le mythe …”, σσ. 22-23.
7. A. Camus “L’ étranger”, σ. 169.
8. A. Camus κ.λπ. «Το μέλλον του Ευρωπαϊκού Πολιτισμού», (“The future of European Culture”), πρόλ-μεταφρ. Τατιάνα Τσαλίκη- Μηλιώνη, εκδ. Αλεξάνδρεια, Αθήνα, 2004, σσ. 64-65.
9. A. Camus  “Le mythe …”, σ. 166.
10. Σοφοκλέους «Οιδίπους επί Κολωνώ»,  “Oedipus in Kolonos”, στ. 7-8.
11.  A. Camus “Le mythe …”, σ. 164.
12. Οπ.π., σ. 165.
13. Όπ.π.,. σ. 165.
14. Όπ.π., σ. 18.
15.  A. Camus “L’ étranger”, σ. 183.
16. Όπ.π., σ.183.
17. Οπ.π., σσ. 183-184.
18. A. Camus “Le mythe …”, σ. 168.