I read someone use the term "Sisyphean achievement", and I wasn't sure what that meant so I found what "Sisyphean" means in modern language: "(of a task) such that it can never be completed."
Thus I thought maybe the person wanted to sound fancy and misused the word. However, a Google search shows up with books and other works using the term "Sisyphean achievement".
And so my questions are, I) Isn't "Sisyphean achievement" a contradiction? and if not, II) What does it actually mean?
I'll take a shot at answering your question.
Isn't "Sisyphean achievement" a contradiction?
No. Sisyphus was punished by repeatedly having to roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again as soon as he had pushed it to the summit. The key is that he did succeed in bringing the boulder to the summit. But then it promptly rolled back down. So although his achievement was extremely brief, it was still an achievement.
I compare it to building an elaborate sandcastle on a beach, knowing that when the tide comes in, your work will be undone.
In the article The Triple Talaq Judgement: A Sisyphean Achievement, Libertatem Magazine critiqued a ruling by the Supreme Court of India as:
But in essence, it is an equivalent of Sisyphean’s [sic] progress where there is no real progress in the jurisprudence.
Triple Taleq, according to Wikipedia:
..allows any Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by stating the word talaq (the Arabic word for "divorce") three times in oral, written, or more recently electronic form.
The conclusion of the critique in the first link was:
Though the practice of Triple Talaq has been set aside, all the judges fail to take notice or even address the colossal issue of gender discrimination. Unlike the popular perception, this case insufficiently moves in the direction of achieving gender justice. Unlike a frog leap, it has advanced only a step in that direction.
Thus, in this article, a Sisyphean achievement meant a judicial ruling that seemed much more important than it was: it did not address the underlying problem.
A more homely example would be of raking leaves (which I am in the middle of). You have achieved, with much effort, a leaf-free lawn, and you admire your lawn and bask in the glow of your achievement -- but the underlying problem is that you have deciduous trees and it will all have to be done again next year.
Sisyphus made short-term progress, but failed to make long-term progress.
I propose that a "Sisyphean achievement" is a valid description for racking up minor victories without making meaningful progress toward the actual long-term goal.
