Ulysses Contract: Part 1

If you've read Homer's Odyssey, you will remember the hero of the Greek epic Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus), king of Ithaca. 

Once, he and many of his soldiers were sailing in a ship and the ship was about to come close to an island surrounded by cliffs and rocks and inhabited by ‘sirens’. Now the half-women half-birds sirens were very interesting not only from an anatomical point of view but also musically - as their mellifluous voices had a deadly effect on the listeners. 

In the past, listening to sirens’ melodious songs literally drove many sane sailors of countless ships crazy as they obsessively steered their ships toward the island. Seduced by songs, the ships crashed into the rocky shore, and broke into pieces, causing drowning and death. 

Now, king Ulysses was not only brave but also shrewd. He realized that his ship could not bypass the dangerous route and escaped the 'fatal attraction' of the siren's song nor did he and his men can remain rational when they will hear the song. So, he came up with an unusual but smart solution to handle the life-threatening situation.

First, he instructed his men to pour beeswax into their ears so that the siren song has zero effect on them. But the king himself was curious to listen to the death-attracting music. Hence, Ulysses passed an order to his teammates to tie him up to the mast (the tall pole on the deck of a ship with sails attached) and not to release him under any circumstances even if he screams, yells, or begs to be released. He realized that the future dumb Ulysses would be incapable to think and act rationally so he, the present smart Ulysses took charge and structured the surroundings to prevent any future foolishness.

Thus, a deal was inked between the present Ulysses and the future Ulysses. 

In the next post, I shall describe the usefulness of the ‘Ulysses Contract’ in today’s world.

Image courtesy: Dennis Jarvis https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tunisia-4725_-_Ulysses_(7864116312).jpg (Under Creative Commons License)