Albert Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus incorporated fate , moral heroism in the world of absurdity in his take on Sisyphus However, from a psychological point of view, the story is very familiar. This familiar theme was based on the Talion Principle, which is found in the Old Testament "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. " Ghandi remarked it was something to the effect of the world going blind. The dynamics are as follows : the powerful was disobeyed or wronged by a morally disloyal mortal and that was followed by a retribution, a punishment consequence for the victim. Retribution occurs after the fact and in no way can undo the “crime.’ TakeTrump, he rationalises his vengeance as transactional.
Briefly, a few points regarding the convoluted irrationality of the Sisyphus myth : 1. Greek Gods like Ares, Jupiter and Mercury were involved , directed and controlled man's behavior. 2. Sisyphus was accused of stealing the secrets of the God's 3. Because of his benediction regarding water, he was sentenced to death. 4. His wife failed his test to have his unburied body placed in the middle of the public square. 5. Mercury saved him from death 6. His punishment was being chained to the rock in the underworld.
In the myth, these gods are ruthless, contradictory , controlling and cruel. Their word was law ,one must be loyal and obey in order to please the gods .This condition is similar to authoritarian rule. Sisyphus with his "minor" offenses displeased a God and was first sentenced to death and then “rescued” only to be severely and cruelly punished,and condemned to futile and hopeless labor. He had to roll a rock to the top of the mountain but then the heavy rock would fall back because of its weight. This repetitive behavior was his punishment without any trial. God said he was guilty and so be it .
Repetitive and futile labor with no end in sight reminded me of employees of the past ,working on an assembly line. Psychologically, repetitive behavior results in experiencing satiation. Satiation can be defined as a task beginning with a positive valence. However, with repetition ,that same task psychologically changes from a positive to a negative valence.
In graduate school, Dr.Jacob. Kounin demonstrated the effects of satiation. In the class,we were instructed to draw a cat with a round head,two pointed ears, a round body and a tail. We were instructed to keep drawing that cat. After a while, both the body and head became misshapen. The size changed, the rotation changed and integration exacerbated a distortion of the shape; Perseveration also occurred in the drawing as the head was first drawn repetitively across the page. In other words, to combat the boredom of that same task, I made various changes resulting from the satiation as the same task became quite negative. Workers on the assembly line were found to come in late to work,had frequent absences and engaged in drug and other escape measures despite being paid well.
Satiation occurred earlier, in the year, when I chose to create a defensible fire space around my 11+ acres. The task of creating a defensible space was to reduce the fuel zone for fire safety. In fact, I bought a new battery operated weedeater and cut the weeds daily, but after a while the task became tiring and I did not enjoy the experience. Although the gods were not punishing me, I continued to complete the project without any joy or heroism .
Currently from a political point of view, the New York Times, NPR and cable news are reporting about the power of an authoritarian government. There is an absence of fairness, disrespecting the Constitution, authoritarian overreach and the rejection of laws. Federal courts have ruled many of these actions unlawful only to be overturned by the Supreme Court. The GOP acts like Sisyphus. They perform repetitive tasks submitted to them by their leader. They faithfully obey,follow and submit to his wishes. Will they continue and follow the same fate as Sisyphus with no hope or opportunity for future freedom ?
Also ,note that Sisyphus was sentenced to be alone without being able to meet the ego needs of sex ,autonomy, dominance ,achievement, nurturance, and play However, the ego need of abasement, the submission to external force ;accepting injury,blame,punishment ; to surrender; resigned to fate;to seek pain punishment and misfortune was met.In other words, the absence of love, happiness, self acceptance, meaning, fate with a negative future does not define an authentic being. Psychologically, Sisyphus was not displaying ego strength ,authenticity but mental illness and inauthenticity.
Albert Camus's last two sentences of his essay reads: "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." If Sisyphus was happy, it's certainly self-deception , denial of his reality and one example of the irrationality pertaining to human frailty. Humans are adaptable and make themselves believe crazy stories over and over.
My take is that Sisyphus was an obedient and submissive victim to the irrationality of the authoritarian gods. Sisyphus's behavior was also associated with a ridiculous test for his wife which does not represent love but was associated with mistrust. His compliance resulted in his inability to meet many of his ego needs which suggests victimization ,self imposed tragedy and being inauthentic Further, Freud’s repetitive principle - repeated self destructive behavior with a punitive super ego comes into play and is associated with neurosis. Also, to be alone and chained to a rock does not serve any human purpose and one wonders what is his point of living with his situation.This Greek myth is about mental illness , with the strong treating the weak cruelly and unjustly .
Saturday, a group of us joined the "No Kings protest" rather than bow , submit and please the king,Linda, Pat and I were joined by Linda's daughters Sidne and Kristi and their friend Carol. The turnout was spectacular, peaceful and uplifting. People honked their horns ,passengers gave thumbs up and numerous creative signs were displayed.
Reference
Murray, Henry A. Explorations in Personality.
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