Sisyphus’ Mountain

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.