system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
To Camus scholars: why should Sisyphus be happy?

The first philosophical text that I ever read (it’s been nearly 10 years now) has always inspired mixed feelings in me. Camus’s assertion that Sisyphus’s acceptance of his absurd fate constitutes a meaningful rebellion against it is beautifully expressed, but I have difficulty understanding why it has been so well-regarded.

On the one hand, as the original Greek myth tells us, Sisyphus’s fate is intended as a punishment by the gods. Refusing to treat it as such is indeed therefore one way of rising above his situation and assuming ownership of his destiny.

On the other hand, the Absurd as Camus and later authors like Thomas Nagel describe it is non-agential in nature; at bottom, it is not the result of the intentional malice of any conscious being. In reality, then, there is no one who can be meaningfully scorned or defied; and so, the redeeming quality which Camus ascribes to Sisyphus’s acceptance would seem to be non-existent where it matters most. Sisyphus, in my reading, simply embraces an objectionable and even oppressive status quo, without any visible silver linings.

To those of you who study Camus’s writings in-depth: do you regard Camus’s reasoning in this essay as compelling? If so, why? And why has this conclusion, which strikes me as remarkably unsound, drawn so much philosophical interest in the years since?
gpt
Camus concludes that Sisyphus is happy because of Sisyphus' undying rebellious nature.  In life and in death, Sisyphus did whatever he wanted, whatever the consequences.  Zeus' hope was to punish Sisyphus by taking away his freedom to do whatever he wanted.  Yet, on Camus' account, Zeus set himself into a dilemma:

1. He could take away Sisyphus' awareness that his task was impossible, thus making it impossible for Sisyphus to know he was being punished.
2. He could let Sisyphus preserve his awareness, thus making it possible for Sisyphus to rebel and dissolve the punishment by being happy.

So, as Camus sees it, Sisyphus remains in control and Zeus remains powerless over him.