"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart.
One must imagine Sisyphus, happy."
More than likely most if not all clicking on this video know of Sisyphus.
But for those unaware Sisyphus is a Greek myth of a man punished by
gods to continuously roll a rock up a hill.
Only for it to roll back down and start the whole process over.
Now, for all my Percy Jackson fans you probably had a similar shock as to the insane stuff
the gods were actually getting up to. Like for instance, Poseidon cursing
Pasiphae to lust over a bull which created the Minotaur *gross*
Or Apollo granting Cassandra the gift of prophecy, only to have the caveat that
no one would ever believe you. Apollo you gaslighting wooer!
But upon researching a lot of these they do bear a lot of similarities to the story of Sisyphus.
Whether it be Ixion and his eternal punishment of being burned on a wheel,
Prometheus and his eternal punishment of having his liver eaten and it regenerating
only for it to happen again the next day, or Tantalus and his eternal punishment of being
put in a lake with fruit that hung over him only for it to never quite reach him.
"you gotta be quicker than that" The point I'm getting at is all
of these do share a commonality with Sisyphus in being an eternal punishment that is never ending,
but none of which were given anywhere near the popularity of Sisyphus. So why is that?
There's two things I point to, those being labor and perspective, with the perspective part there's
a lot of differing opinions on the punishment of Sisyphus, but I guess I've been rambling
for quite some time about the boring stuff so let's make this next section more palatable
for the gamer girls and boys... Choose Your Character!!!
"Either you pursue or push oh Sisyphus the stone destined to keep rolling"
"Life is like Sisyphean race run even faster toward the finish line that is merely the
start of the next race" "That is a nice boulder"
"Few tasks are more like torture of Sisyphus than housework with its endless repetitions
the clean becomes soiled the soil is made clean over and over day after day"
"The only difference is that we are mere mortals and one day we will die. Death
excuses us from our daily toils unlike Sisyphus who has to toil till eternity"
"Oh! Guys I'm just getting really tired rolling this rock up this hill"
"If you tell your troubles to god you put them into the grave,
they will never rise again when you have committed them to him.
If you roll your burden anywhere else it will roll back again like the stone of Sisyphus"
"It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied and most
men live only for the gratification of it" "Well nobody ever asks how the rock must
feel being rolled up the hill over and over, I mean we're asking the real questions here"
"The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top
of a mountain once the stone would fall back down of its own weight. They had thought with
some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor..."
So there's a lot to unpack here and I know I just threw the kitchen sink of Sisyphean takes at you,
but first I'll point to Camus with the last quote as it pertains to another portion that
made Sisyphus so different: which is labor. Camus, a French philosopher, is the most well
known to write on the subject with his Myth of Sisyphus that imagines
Sisyphus as happy, transforming the Greek myth into a story of absurdism. Which is a little
bit tricky of a term to distinct between, but here's a good chart I find useful on Wikipedia.
But I know you all hate reading so let me explain
So let's look at doing the dishes. A monotheistic existentialist would
view this chore as a good deed that will lead to a good afterlife for them in the future.
Whereas an atheistic existentialist would view doing the dishes as a good deed that
provides meaning and value towards them with no goal of the afterlife promised.
Now an absurdist would look at this task and say, yeah you could probably find meaning and value in
doing the dishes, but who cares about all that noise the dishes need to be done and still go on
doing the dishes in the face of the absurd. And the nihilist... well
This is just a micro crash course on this subject, if you want to know more definitely
don't just go off this video, I mean what do I know I was going to pronounce Cahmoo as Kay-mus.
This leads me to the fixation of labor and absurdism as to why Sisyphus has become so
popular of a discussion. There's no dispute with Ixion and Prometheus,
when you accidentally cut yourself you don't think of life's greater questions as to why
you are bleeding, you're just in pain. And tantalizing is something similar but
very different. There's a gift being offered but never fulfilled despite how close you get,
Sisyphus knows his efforts are futile yet the rocks still must be rolled up the hill.
A majority of people have probably experienced a Sisyphean occupation whether it be work or chores,
it's because of this very reason I wonder what Camus and current day would have to say about
Amazon workers having to work monotonous jobs to barely get by, there's nothing tantalizing
about this job unless you enjoy wearing adult diapers. It is this distinction that gained
Sisyphus popularity to be influenced in films, games, tv, I mean everybody loves Sisyphus!
"Debra you're not gonna believe this a boulder came down the hill again"
..okay I actually didn't have a joke written
I just didn't want to pass up the opportunity to talk like Ray Ramano..
Anyway the whole reason this came about was because of a game and a movie I was thinking about
Couch: game game are we talking about it are we talking about game!
There's a lot of movies that are described as either derived
or loosely based from a Sisyphean style. Of those that I found a lot of them don't
seem like Sisyphean stories, but I mean ~whomst~ am I with about as much philosophy as Bill and Ted
"Dust, Wind... Dude!" to tell anyone what is or
isn't something. These lists are great and will be linked below, but in my opinion stuff like Life of
Brian is more of a farce than a Sisyphean tale. "What's so funny about biggus dikkus"
Which I know is semantics but words have meaning for a reason!
Farce is a goof of a time. If the intent is to make them laugh, then its intentions are
very different than something more serious and taxing as something Sisyphean. The aforementioned
Life of Bryan, Groundhog Day, and 12 monkeys are very much more of a farce than Sisyphean.
Notice two-thirds of those are from director Terry Gilliam, who is notorious for his farcical work.
And while some of these films mention do question existentialism like say Synecdoche New York,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Moon, I wouldn't necessarily call them a Sisyphean
film more so exploring what it means to exist. Now existentialism, absurdism, and Sisyphean
aren't necessarily all mutually exclusive to one another, they can overlap in some ways. The kicker
here are two siblings who adore allegory, the Coen brothers, whose works like Big Lebowski,
A Serious Man, and Inside Llewyn Davis often popped up on these lists, which I
had a little bit of difficulty disputing. This is because absurdism is very similar to Sisyphean,
and while the Coen's use some farce elements for comedy, there is always an underlying
and upfront theme of deeper questions like purpose, worth, the meaning of existing, that
offer an interesting perspective on these topics. HOWEVA! The definition I gave has two important
elements perspective and labor. They checked the first box, but there is never anything
that strikes me as laborious or taxing from the acts of the Coen brothers which leads me to...
Everybody Wants Something is a film by Richard Linklater that is regarded as the spiritual
successor to his classic high school hang film Dazed and Confused. Now of course there's plenty
of people who have drawn inspiration from Sisyphus or the works that came from philosophizing on his
story. But none have been so blatantly upfront as to literally quote Camus in their film:
"I just took Sisyphus and baseball just kinda *click sound*
you wrote about that for your es.. how did you even *click* those two things together?
Yeah I did, believe it or not. I mean the point of the whole thing is that the gods intend for
Sisyphus to suffer, right? Right?
Well my point was that they've actually blessed him with something to focus on.
Something that he could potentially find meaning in.
It's a gift to be striving at all you know even if it looks futile to others.
Yeah I mean yeah it's ridiculous to
roll a boulder up a mountain over and over and over again but so is everything else in life"
This was the first time I had seen any form of perspective on Sisyphus and it blew my young
college mind on thinking about things. "am I the only one who understands the
complexities of this ambitious cinematic masterpiece"
"But they actually bless him with something to focus on"
what?? Comparing Sisyphus to the mundane of
practicing and playing baseball over and over. "Digital magic"
It was through this that was the first inkling of embracing that which is absurd was planted in my
head, and completely re-contextualizing what the point of the movie was.
It goes from stoner comedy sequel to something that is more profound and asking bigger questions.
Now I question every mundane activity whether it be busy work, making a bed, or the aforementioned
doing of the dishes. To bring up this idea of knowing something was ridiculous, but
willingly choosing to continue to do so and possibly enjoying doing so in the process?
Absurd! How could anybody ever rationalize doing something...
play the game play the game
play. the. game. Not to disparage the thought of gaming,
there are a lot of great things that can come from gaming whether it be hand-eye coordination,
working as a team to complete a common goal, or helping critical thinking skills.
I acknowledge these exist, but the majority of the time I'm not gaming like this.
Take for example online multiplayer games Rocket League, Smash, and Splatoon.
I am constantly yo-yoing around the same rank, so I'm not necessarily getting better,
but still I return to them because there's something comforting about this perpetual cycle.
Now this, admittedly, isn't the best example what is however is a roguelike
or maybe roguelite? couch care to explain? Couch: a roguelike has progress completely
reset after a run making your first one and the last one identical in
difficulty besides experience of the player. Whereas a roguelite has some form of progression
sustained throughout your playthroughs whether skill trees, new weapons, or different items.
which everybody knows where this is going... HAD..
Mana Spark baby! the 8-bit roguelike that's all the talk of the gaming community.
Every time I play this game I wouldn't necessarily improve, even sometimes playing worse than usual.
I had maxed out all my power ups so essentially it morphed into a roguelike
with only the goal of beating the final boss left. But it got to the point where I
didn't even care if I did or didn't beat the final boss. The journey, while repetitive,
was still fulfilling every time and I made this video knowing I would never complete the game...
congratulations you won congratulations you won
fine I'll talk about Hades. Couch your time to shine!
Couch: "Hades is a roguelike from supergiant games that puts you in the shoes, or sandals,
of Zagreus the protagonist as he tries to make his way through the underworld,
with each failure bringing him right back to the House of Hades."
Thanks Couch that was a great explanation! "I'm not finished yet, hold on! You are
aided by the help of the Greek gods who in this game are so hot they're so sexy they're
going to have you going humana humana humana" Couch I don't I don't see how this is relevant..
"Okay so there's everyone's favorite Dilf Poseidon.
The mouthwatering beauty of Aphrodite. Party boy Dionysus.
BUT, personally if I had to choose just one I would definitely go with Dem.."
So yes! Hades a roguelike that has a perpetual gameplay loop and actual Sisyphus in its game
it's the perfect example of the exact Sisyphean style of still going up the hill in the face of
an absurd quest. Right? like that's the whole point of why we're here? Welllll, this is what
I thought but honestly for all the reasons I love this game make it not Sisyphean. If it was just a
Sisyphean game I think I would very much still love the experience, but the elements of the
advancement and story and choice are so rewarding. Nothing feels futile even in the face of futility.
Instead of the despair there's always well-written characters that are cheering you on your journey.
I'm getting stronger because Nix had my back, because Achilles and Skelly taught me
how to properly fight, and I mean they even got gahdam Sisyphus of all people helping you out!
Every time I play there's so much variety that even if you were to plateau, which I haven't
once yet, there's so much choice that you can find difficulty in going back through it all. And even
when you succeed you have a fraction of a fraction of a chance of getting the same skill tree.
Hades is like if Sisyphus had a choice of outfit, which friends he could choose to
invite to watch him work, and which mountains he could roll the stone up... that's life,
they just aren't the same. So at the end of this video I'm left with
no answers but even more questions. So as the rock of uncertainty topples back down to the bottom
thus I go to see you on the next video... but I didn't even get to mention my
Zagreus x Thanatos slash fic come on! Later Hayters