Inspired by Greek mythology, Camus makes the connection between life as an eternal beginning obedient to the absurd and Sisyphus, hero of Greek mythology. Why such a punishment? Camus cites several versions of the myth, most of which explain Sisyphus' punishment by insulting the gods. A particular version lends to Sisyphus, dying, the will to feel the love of his wife by asking her not to give him a burial and to throw his body in the public square, after his death. According to another version, Sisyphus discovers the affair between the ruler of Olympus, Zeus, and Aegina; he goes to monetize the information with the father, the Asopus River. In exchange for his revelation, he received a fountain for his citadel. His too-much insight irritates the gods who condemn him to push a rock to the top of a mountain, which inevitably rolls towards the valley before the hero's goal is achieved.
Unlike the Sisyphus usually presented in mythology, Camus considers that "one must imagine Sisyphus happy". Sisyphus finds happiness in the accomplishment of the task he undertakes and not in the meaning of this task.
Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe now without a master seems to him neither sterile nor fertile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of this mountain full of night, alone forms a world. The struggle itself to the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Although he based his reasoning on numerous philosophical treatises and the work of novelists such as Dostoevsky and Kafka, many intellectuals of the time insinuated that he had "not read the authors he quotes". He nevertheless argues that happiness is about living one's life while being aware of its absurdity because consciousness allows us to better control our existence. This attitude towards fate could be compared to Spinoza's.
