Sisyphus’ Mountain
The theme of Sisyphus’ mountain has been circling in my head
for some time now. The familiar tale has been an inspiration to many artists,
writers and philosophers who have produced worthy works from its contemplation.
One interpretation that influenced my own youthful thoughts is that of Albert
Camus. It was a time I was deeply questioning my Catholic faith, a belief in
any God and the transition to atheism or at least agnosticism. Camus at the end
considers Sisyphus an absurd hero, happy in his never ending chore. In his 1955
preface to the American translation he writes a passage that resonated with my
calling: “(the myth)...illustrates that essential fluctuation from assent to
refusal which, in my view, defines the artist and his difficult calling”. I was
seventeen years old when I stopped believing in a God and began my quest of
producing art. The mountain top for me was the completion of a work of art. The
labor and struggles that it takes to complete one and the ultimate realization
that the story cannot end, the artist at the end of one work yearns for a blank
canvas, a new beginning. One journey is never enough, many journeys are not enough.
It takes many breaths to complete a life and ultimately one life is not enough.
Now in my mid-fifties, still producing art but also having
worked in the landscape architectural field and that of ecological restoration
I find myself again at the valley floor looking up at the mountain. However this
time around it is not so much Sisyphus at the center of attention but his relation
to the mountain. In his brilliant essay “Thinking Like a Mountain”, Aldo
Leopold begins with: “A deep chesty bawl echoes from rimrock to rimrock, rolls
down the mountain, and fades into the blackness of the night. It is an outburst
of wild defiant sorrow, and of contempt for all the adversities of the world.” This
may well have been a description of the boulder crashing down the slope and
Sisyphus’ cry. It is also Leopold’s moment of transformation, as he
contemplates “the fierce green fire dying in her eyes” the wolf they had shot
dead. He ends the essay with these words: “Perhaps this is behind Thoreau’s
dictum: In wildness is the salvation of the world. Perhaps this is the hidden
meaning in the bawl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom
perceived among men.” Leopold’s mountain is a geographic entity in the
southwest United States, a real experience that changed his outlook and defined
his role. Sisyphus’ mountain is undefined, its dimensions, shape, composition
and slope are left to our imagination. If Sisyphus represents the state of
humanity carrying the burden of ignorance (boulder), then the mountain can be
made to represent the state of the world upon which humanity trudges.
Sisyphus’ toils is punishment from a promiscuous Jupiter
that felt betrayed, however Sisyphus felt compelled to tell a truth he knew for
exchange of water for the people of Corinth, his subjects. First recorded water
shortage? His actions are altruistic, in fact those we expect from heroes. So
his toils in the end are not without purpose as is often cited but of great
purpose in having saved many lives. Whistleblowing on the actions of Jupiter
was only the first action that angered the gods; Sisyphus is also the one who
was able to outwit them. When in the presence of Pluto in Ades he convinced the
god to let him return to life for a short time and then enjoying it again was
able to outsmart and chain Death when it came to collect him. This made wars
useless since enemies could not be eliminated, conflicts could only be resolved
through negotiation. It angered the gods since blood sacrifices would be rendered
meaningless but above all Mars, the god of war, who saw his role greatly
diminished and Pluto worried about his underworld’s population crest, without future growth. Pilferage
and rape once at the discretion of gods could be opposed. The order of things
came under attack; fate could be altered, for this Sisyphus was punished, for
questioning and changing the order of things, liberation of man from gods.
Mercury, the god’s messenger, was summoned to bring Sisyphus back to Ades and
reestablish order, that in which the gods could determine with impunity the
fate of man. It is relatively easy to translate these roles to today’s
condition. The gods could be named Monsanto, ExxonMobil, Shell, Halliburton,
National Rifle Association, Goldman-Sacks, Apple, World Bank and so forth. Mercury
could be named any branch of the industrial military complex and corruptible
justice systems. Sisyphus could take on names including: Gandhi, Albert Einstein,
Antonio Gramsci, Dmitri Shostakovich, Aldo Leopold, Martin Luther King Jr., Buckminster Fuller, Harvey Milk, Giovanni Falcone,
Bill McKibben, Vandana Shiva, Bill Moyers and so forth but above all Sisyphus
is part of each one of us waiting for the right trigger to provoke his
appearance.
In his interpretation Camus describes the trip down the
mountain to retrieve the boulder and begin another climb when Sisyphus, temporarily
relieved of his physical toil, in consciousness contemplates his fate thus the
true time of suffering and through his scorn ultimately triumphs, the absurd
hero. Another possible interpretation is one of contemplation and self-realization
that brings him comfort to the chore ahead. This contemplation does not occur
in a void but on the mountain paths; what does he perceive around him? What
views, what odors, what sounds, what tastes, what tactile surface touches his
skin? He is not alone, there is the mountain life. It is here that Sisyphus can
express his creativity. In their haste to punish, the gods failed to perceive
that man is capable of transformation, of giving value and empathizing with
his surroundings. There would be no haste to get to the bottom of the mountain.
In fact a deeper understanding of the topography would make the next trip up
the slopes easier, the burden lighter. The next effort of moving the boulder up
the slope becomes proof of theory, of newly gained insights. Thus the
relationship to the mountain is more important than the servitude to the gods
for achieving happiness or at least a state of self-awareness. Knowledge itself
could be enough to sustain a thirst for life, to partake in the cycle, not of
burden but of discovery. The mountain that at first was cast as an enemy to
subdue now becomes the needed ally and partner on the never ending journey. A
journey Sisyphus embarks time and again; each start from a different baseline
of understanding and renewed strength.
In the 1955 preface mentioned at the beginning of this post
Camus also states: “this book declares that even within the limits of nihilism
it is possible to find the means to proceed beyond nihilism.” Sisyphus is that
strength in us to strive for transformation. If we choose to believe that life
has a definite purpose and that purpose is to please and surrender to a god’s
will then perhaps our lives become merely a tool at the discretion of the
powerful. However if the journey has no end purpose, the paths and satisfaction
are bountiful. The journey is the purpose and to keep journeying we must take
care of the ground that sustains us and every part of the surroundings that makes
it a worthy experience.
