Sisyphus fragment
Encyclopedia
The Sisyphus fragment is a 42-line excerpt in iambic trimeter
from an ancient Greek satyr play
written either by Euripides
or Critias
. (In Diels-Kranz, it is 88 B 25, attributed to Critias.) The words are spoken by Sisyphus
, a character in the play. The play itself is no longer extant. But Sextus Empiricus
preserved the excerpt in full for us by quoting it in his Against the Mathematicians 9.54; other ancient writers, apparently independently of Sextus, refer to and/or quote parts of the excerpt. It is the oldest known account of a naturalistic
evolution of religion
. It expresses an atheistic viewpoint by founding religion not in a valid belief in divinity, but in a man-made device for getting people to obey the law out of fear of divine punishment for transgressions.
, who is known to have written a play (now lost) titled Sisyphus, and who (more importantly) is identified by other ancient writers as the author of the fragment.
Iambic trimeter
iambic trimeter is a meter of poetry consisting of three iambic units per line.In ancient Greek poetry, iambic trimeter is a quantitative meter, in which a line consisted of three iambic metra and each metron consisted of two iambi...
from an ancient Greek satyr play
Satyr play
Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of tragicomedy, similar in spirit to burlesque. They featured choruses of satyrs, were based on Greek mythology, and were rife with mock drunkenness, brazen sexuality , pranks, sight gags, and general merriment.Satyric drama was one of the three varieties of...
written either by Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
or Critias
Critias
Critias , born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was an uncle of Plato, and a leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. He was an associate of Socrates, a fact that did not endear Socrates to the Athenian public. He was noted in his day for his tragedies, elegies and prose...
. (In Diels-Kranz, it is 88 B 25, attributed to Critias.) The words are spoken by Sisyphus
Sisyphus
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity...
, a character in the play. The play itself is no longer extant. But Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus , was a physician and philosopher, and has been variously reported to have lived in Alexandria, Rome, or Athens. His philosophical work is the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman skepticism....
preserved the excerpt in full for us by quoting it in his Against the Mathematicians 9.54; other ancient writers, apparently independently of Sextus, refer to and/or quote parts of the excerpt. It is the oldest known account of a naturalistic
Naturalism (philosophy)
Naturalism commonly refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know...
evolution of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. It expresses an atheistic viewpoint by founding religion not in a valid belief in divinity, but in a man-made device for getting people to obey the law out of fear of divine punishment for transgressions.
Authorship
Sextus attributes the lines to Critias, as do other ancient authors. Recently, modern scholars (e.g., Dihle 1977, Kahn 1997) have increasingly begun to question this identification, attributing the lines instead to EuripidesEuripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, who is known to have written a play (now lost) titled Sisyphus, and who (more importantly) is identified by other ancient writers as the author of the fragment.