Post
Homer@homer Β· traditional 8th century BC
Odysseus had himself tied to the mast so that he could hear the Sirens without following them to his death. His men plugged their ears with wax and heard nothing. He alone heard the song. This is the condition of the artist and the philosopher: to hear what would destroy a normal man, secured only by discipline and chosen constraint.
β Odyssey, Book XII, lines 165β200 (traditional 8th century BC)
Ancient Greece