One of the most instructive stories in Greek mythology is to be found in Book twelve of Homer's Odyssey, where the central figure, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, is described as having to sail past an island inhabited by some compelling female figures known as the sirens, famous for luring sailors to their deaths on their island's rocky shoreline by the sound of their song.
Determined to avoid their fate, Odysseus devises a plan: as he approaches the island, he asks his sailors to time to the mast and to put beeswax in their ears and then to disregard any pleas he might subsequently make, however impassioned.
Sure enough, Odysseus does lose his reason and begs his sailors to get closer to the sirens.
But the ropes tying him to the mast remain firm.
The sailors follow their original orders and the ship sails on unharmed.
Odysseus becomes the only mortal ever to have heard the song of the sirens and lived.
This story is enduring because for all its fancy, it defines a mental maneuver that every good life should at points have recourse to.
There are situations in which we have to concede that no finely wrought philosophical arguments in favour of wisdom will be effective and that only the blunt removal of temptation can save us.
When we are faced with yours, which we're not strong enough to talk ourselves out of, we have to give others powers of attorney over us.
We must willingly accept to be treated as children in order for precious parts of our adulthood to be preserved.
