Phraseologism of "Sisyphus labor" is rooted in the legends and myths of ancient Greece. The hero of the plot is the cunning Corinthian king, who managed to deceive the gods with all sorts of tricks. The myth of Sisyphus narrates that this disobedient dared to take the side of people and help them in every way, which greatly angered the inhabitants of Olympus. He gave them secrets accessible only to the gods. Unheard of deed! Zeus himself sent Death after him, but here the king of Corinth was the winner: he chained her with chains, making mortals immortal.
Kara for such acts was harsh. The myth of Sisyphus says that Zeus doomed him to eternal and painful work. He was forced to roll a huge boulder onto the mountain, but as soon as the stone reached the top, he immediately rolled down to the foot, and it all started all over again. This is the Sisyphus labor, about which the myth of Sisyphus tells. The summary of the legend shows how difficult any action can be if it has no end and does not bring any benefit. Any meaningless and hard work is called "Sisyphean labor."
The steady expression characterizing tedious and fruitless work has some synonyms. For example, in Russian you can often hear the phrase “monkey labor”. But these two phraseological units have different shades.
Monkey labor refers to actions that no one needs and are almost ridiculous in their futility. While Sisyphus labor means precisely the hard work that needs to be done again and again, while it does not see the end.
Another parallel can be drawn: the myth of Sisyphus - perfectionism or maximalism, the desire to complete what was begun at all costs, to defeat at any cost, to rise above oneself. True, such a comparison is rather drawn out and does not withstand strict criticism.
All these reflections have one basis under themselves - the philosophy of absurdism, the founder of which, to some extent, is considered to be Albert Camus. “The Myth of Sisyphus” is the name of his essay, which is universally considered the programmatic work of the philosophy of the absurd. Camus poses the main question in his life: "Is the life worth the labor that is spent to live it?"
The “Man of the Absurd” by Camus is Don Juan, who spends his life on endless love affairs, and the actor, who loses other people's lives on stage, and the conqueror, forgetting eternity for the sake of fame. If anything, the writer concludes, Sisyphus lives the most meaningful life in this world of absurdity: he has a goal - his stone, behind which he descends again and again to the foot of the hill. The world is one big absurdity, Camus believes, and the highest courage is to accept its absurdity and follow its goal. Universal chaos is not a cause for despair. And a discouraging conclusion follows: the myth of Sisyphus is a story not of an unhappy, but in his own way a happy person. Working in factories and performing one and the same work every day, a modern man, just like a mythical hero, is in this absurdity, but the tragedy of what is happening is not recognized by him, and therefore everything goes on in its own way in this world.
Nevertheless, the misfortunes of King Corinth are rooted in public consciousness as a symbol of absurd and endless work, and nothing can be done about it.