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About this quote

What does it mean?
Sisyphus is punished for stealing secrets from gods and showing disrespect.
In plain terms
He was punished for disrespecting the gods and taking their secrets.
What can you take from it?
Disrespecting authority can lead to eternal struggle.

Where it applies

  • mythology
  • religious study
  • literature

Putting it to work

  • reading
  • debate
  • teaching

Questions to consider

  • Why was he punished?
  • What do the secrets represent?

Another view

This myth may justify divine punishment unfairly.

More from Albert Camus

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  2. Homer tells us also that Sisyphus had put Death in chains. Pluto could not endure the sight of his deserted, silent empire. He dispatched the god of war, who l…

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  3. This was her finest role and the hardest one to play. Choosing between heaven and a ridiculous fidelity, preferring oneself to eternity or losing oneself in Go…

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