Works

The Myth of Sisyphus

Citation Formats

General Reference

Philosophy Atlas. "The Myth of Sisyphus." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-myth-of-sisyphus.

APA Style

Philosophy Atlas. (n.d.). The Myth of Sisyphus. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-myth-of-sisyphus

BibTeX

@misc{philosophyatlas-the-myth-of-sisyphus,
  author = {Philosophy Atlas},
  title = {The Myth of Sisyphus},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-myth-of-sisyphus},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Myth of Sisyphus (Le Mythe de Sisyphe, 1942) is Albert Camus's first sustained philosophical essay, opening with the claim that the only truly serious philosophical problem is suicide. It names the absurd, the confrontation between the human demand for meaning and a universe that offers none, and argues that the honest response to that confrontation is neither suicide nor a leap of faith but a lucid revolt that keeps living without illusion. Its closing image, imagining the condemned Sisyphus happy in his endless labor, became the essay's most quoted line.

Facts

Publication Year

1942 1

Original Language

French 1

Cross-Tradition Connections