Just reread Camus' Myth of Sysiphos.
I'd always been confused by Sysiphos' punishment: why couldn't he just refuse to push that rock up that hill? 1/
2/ sure, the gods might punish him for that (by terrible pain, say), but that would mean his punishment is actually different: choose between rock OR pain. But that's not what it was.
3/ this shows us that we need to change our understanding of "punishment after death":
it is something that is implied *automatically*, necessarily, by his contempt for death and the gods.
"after death" is not temporal, but means "spiritually", "concerning the soul."
4/ Sysiphos' pointless struggle is thus a direct result of his awareness and his acceptance of the meaninglessness of the world. (Note the parallels to the expulsion from paradise, for instance)
5/ By choosing awareness, Sysiphos moves fate and meaning from a divine to a completely human sphere. The price for this is the infinite struggle with his rock. - it's *not* like awareness solves any problems! This is what makes him the absurd hero.
6/ addendum: the act of being aware might be heroic, but the resulting self-actualization is not. Any pathos we habitually associate with it is misguided. It is an attempt to escape the very thing itself. The meaning of life is as sacred as going to the bathroom. This is absurd.