Sisyphus fragment
The Sisyphus fragment is a short piece of Classical Attic drama that survives in the writings of Sextus Empiricus. It is famous for presenting an early argument that atheism or disbelief in the gods might be a product of clever people using religion to keep others in line. The gist is that the fear of the gods was invented to frighten people into behaving morally.
Authorship and origins are openly debated. In ancient times some attributed the fragment to Euripides, others to Critias, a sharp-witted Athenian thinker. Modern scholars remain divided, with some arguing for Euripides’ hand (possibly from a lost satyr play) and others for Critias. The poem shows influences that some scholars tie to Democritus, who suggested that early humans imagined the gods because they observed frightening natural events.
Content in simple terms: the fragment argues that laws and religious beliefs were created to restrain human bad behavior. A crafty person introduced the idea of gods, claiming they witness everything and punish sin, so people would fear them and act more justly. The piece is written as 42 lines of iambic verse.
Why it matters: many scholars see the fragment as an early statement that religion can function as a form of political control. W. K. C. Guthrie, for example, called it the first known theory of religion as a political invention. Karl Popper noted similarities between its ideas and Plato’s notion of the Noble Lie. There is also discussion about whether the speaker truly represents an atheist belief or simply a dramatic portrayal.
Text and availability: the Greek text comes through Sextus Empiricus. There are several English translations, and a Loeb Classical Library edition (Euripides, Fragments: Oedipus-Chrysippus, Other Fragments) includes parts of this fragment.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 21:08 (CET).