In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.
The Sirens might be called the Muses of the lower world, Walter Copland Perry observed: “Their song, though irresistibly sweet, was no less sad than sweet, and lapped both body and soul in a fatal lethargy, the forerunner of death and corruption.” The term “siren song” refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad result. As Jane Ellen Harrison notes of “The Ker as siren:” “It is strange and beautiful that Homer should make the Sirens appeal to the spirit, not to the flesh.” For the matter of the siren song is a promise to Odysseus of mantic truths; with a false promise that he will live to tell them, they sing,
Once he hears to his heart’s content, sails on, a wiser man.
We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured
on the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so—
all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!
“They are mantic creatures like the Sphinx with whom they have much in common, knowing both the past and the future,” Harrison observed. “Their song takes effect at midday, in a windless calm. The end of that song is death.” That the sailors’ flesh is rotting away, though, would suggest it has not been eaten. It has been suggested that, with their feathers stolen, their divine nature kept them alive, but unable to provide for their visitors, who starved to death by refusing to leave.
How beautifully tragic! There’s always something about that bittersweet sort of wistful melancholy that’s really appealing, isn’t it? Anyway that’s not what I wanted to talk about. (Herp derp.)
Siren songs exist in real life. For me, it’s internet distractions, cigarettes, and just plain bumming around, indulging in lethargy, idle-mindedness, all of that. I’m sure you have your own. And it often seems like we’re helpless to their seductive calls. But we aren’t, and we don’t have to be. Enter Jason, and Odysseus:
In Argonautica (4.891-919), Jason had been warned by Chiron that Orpheus would be necessary in his journey. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew out his lyre and played his music more beautifully than they, drowning out their voices. One of the crew, however, the sharp-eared hero Butes, heard the song and leapt into the sea, but he was caught up and carried safely away by the goddess Aphrodite.
Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like, so, on Circe’s advice, he had all his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied tightly to the mast, no matter how much he would beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they bound him the tighter. When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus demonstrated with his frowns to be released.
Jason and Odysseus could be described as hackers- not in the conventional computer programming sense, but in the general systemic sense, described beautifully here as applied philosophy.
Jason’s approach was to substitute the distraction with something more powerful. I think I do this by choosing to focus on what I want to accomplish. When I spend time reflecting and planning my articles and future, I develop a sense of urgency- I actually get physically excited, edgy and jumpy, eager to get to writing- and in times like this, the distractions become inconsequential. It also helps when I listen to the X-Men First Class Soundtrack. (Hey, call it cheesy- it works. A couple of minutes of mindfulness while listening to it and I feel like I can take on the world.) If Jason wanted to quit smoking, he’d pick up something life-affirming, like marathon-running, perhaps.
Odysseus’s approach was to block out the distraction entirely. I do this when I write on my laptop in my room, where I have no internet access. It’s a simple idea, but not nearly as easy to execute- mostly, I think, because we think too highly of ourselves, and often suppose that we might be able to get by through sheer force of will. We always overestimate it- saying things like “I’ll do it tomorrow,” as if You-Tomorrow is somehow going to have more willpower than You-Today. If Odysseus wanted to quit smoking, he’d consciously avoid his smoker friends, hotspots and routines, ensuring he never have enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes. He’d probably lock himself up at home for a couple of months.
Human ingenuity is all it takes to solve almost all our problems. First we need to acknowledge that it’s a problem, or at least a nagging inefficiency- something that could be done better. Violate the perceived rules once you understand the real ones. The objective, in this case, is to overcome the Siren Song. The conventional assumption is that you have to develop immense fortitude to withstand the call.
But in reality you don’t actually have to listen to the Siren- you could block it out, overpower it with something else, or simply incapacitate yourself. There’s no reason why you have do things the way they’ve always been done. Some people call this cheating- as long as you’re not doing anything outright unethical, I’d say it’s innovating. That’s how progress happens.
So what are the Siren Songs in your life that you might be able to overcome with a little ingenuity?
dealing with siren songs
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.
How beautifully tragic! There’s always something about that bittersweet sort of wistful melancholy that’s really appealing, isn’t it? Anyway that’s not what I wanted to talk about. (Herp derp.)
Siren songs exist in real life. For me, it’s internet distractions, cigarettes, and just plain bumming around, indulging in lethargy, idle-mindedness, all of that. I’m sure you have your own. And it often seems like we’re helpless to their seductive calls. But we aren’t, and we don’t have to be. Enter Jason, and Odysseus:
Jason and Odysseus could be described as hackers- not in the conventional computer programming sense, but in the general systemic sense, described beautifully here as applied philosophy.
Jason’s approach was to substitute the distraction with something more powerful. I think I do this by choosing to focus on what I want to accomplish. When I spend time reflecting and planning my articles and future, I develop a sense of urgency- I actually get physically excited, edgy and jumpy, eager to get to writing- and in times like this, the distractions become inconsequential. It also helps when I listen to the X-Men First Class Soundtrack. (Hey, call it cheesy- it works. A couple of minutes of mindfulness while listening to it and I feel like I can take on the world.) If Jason wanted to quit smoking, he’d pick up something life-affirming, like marathon-running, perhaps.
Odysseus’s approach was to block out the distraction entirely. I do this when I write on my laptop in my room, where I have no internet access. It’s a simple idea, but not nearly as easy to execute- mostly, I think, because we think too highly of ourselves, and often suppose that we might be able to get by through sheer force of will. We always overestimate it- saying things like “I’ll do it tomorrow,” as if You-Tomorrow is somehow going to have more willpower than You-Today. If Odysseus wanted to quit smoking, he’d consciously avoid his smoker friends, hotspots and routines, ensuring he never have enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes. He’d probably lock himself up at home for a couple of months.
Human ingenuity is all it takes to solve almost all our problems. First we need to acknowledge that it’s a problem, or at least a nagging inefficiency- something that could be done better. Violate the perceived rules once you understand the real ones. The objective, in this case, is to overcome the Siren Song. The conventional assumption is that you have to develop immense fortitude to withstand the call.
But in reality you don’t actually have to listen to the Siren- you could block it out, overpower it with something else, or simply incapacitate yourself. There’s no reason why you have do things the way they’ve always been done. Some people call this cheating- as long as you’re not doing anything outright unethical, I’d say it’s innovating. That’s how progress happens.
So what are the Siren Songs in your life that you might be able to overcome with a little ingenuity?