Odysseus wanted to hear the Sirens sing, so he had his crew tie him to the mast.1 They got wax in their ears and kept rowing.
Odysseus wanted to hear the Sirens sing, so he had his crew tie him to the mast.1 They got wax in their ears and kept rowing.
Phone face down, notifications off? Odysseus had a plan like that.
Circe warns him about the Sirens, whose song draws sailors onto their island. So he kneads a wheel of wax soft in his hands, stops his crew’s ears with it, and has them tie him to the mast. He hears the whole song and begs to be let go. They tie him tighter, and the ship sails on past.
Homer, Odyssey 12.39–54 and 12.173–196.
The warning siren is the same word. English had it by 1879, at first for the ones on steamboats.Put your phone in another room for one hour and notice what you reach for.
1 Homer, Odyssey 12.173–196
