Draper, Ulysses and the Sirens (It depicts the scene from Homer’s Odyssey in which Ulysses (Odysseus) resists the bewitching song of the sirens by having his ship’s crew tie him up, while they are ordered to block their own ears to prevent themselves from hearing the song.)
Siren’s Call: “Odysseus, bravest of heroes,
– when he hears the words and the music, the song enchants Odysseus’ heart. He longs to plunge into the waves and swim to the island. He wants to embrace the Sirens. He strains agains the bonds which hold him to the ship’s mast. He pulls so hard that the bonds cut deeply into the flesh of his back and arms. Nodding and scowling at his ear-plugged men, he urges them to free him. Expecting this reaction, the men row harder and harder with their oars. The Sirens look as beautiful as Helen of Troy to Odysseus, who is bewitched by the song. To his crew, made deaf with beeswax, the Sirens seem like hungry monsters with vicious, crooked claws.
Draw near to us, on our green island,
Odysseus, we’ll teach you wisdom,
We’ll give you love, sweeter than honey.
The songs we sing, soothe away sorrow,
And in our arms, you will be happy.
Odysseus, bravest of heroes, The songs we sing, will bring you peace.”
In a world where perfectionist facades of people’s lives are echo chambered by social media and amplified by social circles as you climb the ladder, one must remember the purpose of his journey and keep to the narrow path where his heart feels nestled, and his feet have the freedom to tread barely.
Why is The Odyssey still popular? It’s a timeless and fast-paced tale which features a hero on a seafaring adventure travelling through exotic lands, enduring terrible storms and horrifying monsters. All of this is set against an enthralling, supernatural atmosphere where gods move around in humble disguises so they can be involved in human activities. Those gods, of course, are capable of casting spells and curses. They can predict things, which actually come true, and their warnings to humans can help people avoid catastrophes – provided, of course, that they heed the warnings.
At the center of it all is a human hero called Odysseus (Ulysses) who is a sympathetic, complex man. He tries to do the right thing and usually pays attention to what the gods tell him.
He especially heeds advice from the goddess Circe who warns him about the “Sirens.” The monsters, who pretend to be beautiful woman with amazing voices, try to assure sailors, who pass their island, that they just want to entertain them with beautiful melodies.
What they really want, however, is to kill them.
On any meaningful journey to self-actualization, there will always be someone much better looking, wiser, and richer than you, and all these with seemingly much less effort than the slog you put in. But is this truly the case? Success accrues to the few, and this Pareto principle exists in every circle and echelon you climb into, but what was or is the ongoing cost of this “success”? Knowing that you can’t escape Pareto is the first step to realizing that benchmarking is a fool’s errand. A wise sage once said you couldn’t wish for all the good without the bad; it comes as a package. This is an observation of my time in Europe; being around dynastic wealth and high-society socialite circles has allowed me to peer into the veneer they put up. And behind it is a lot of misery, tragedy and lost souls trying to find or conjure up meaning for their lives.
Homer’s Odyssey’s chronicle reminds us of First-Principles’ thinking’s importance. Without it, we will be left to the swaying winds of illusionary change and proverbial opportunities that only lead to the frittering of time. This short anecdote is an ode to those who remain grounded despite it all and reminds wanderers of their life’s quest.