So heartwarming to see someone trying to grasp more of the Odyssey than the movie dramatized. I have lived with this epic my whole life (I’m eighty and studied it in ancient Greek in college) and know how superior-but-arrogant Odysseus was, how the thought of going home bored him, he wanted “more” and how that “more” whittled down his arrogance, pared away at his ego until he was psychologically ready to go home and face the music of what he had ignored/lost through his vain adventurousness. His lessons were made palpable for us readers without our having to suffer the pains, scrapes, humiliations he went through. For that I am forever grateful for this poem.
A lot of what gets sold as “freedom” is really just being easy to command by whatever feels good for five minutes. That distinction between enjoying something and being governed by it is everything.
I loved the lecture. I completely agree with you..but here is an Intriguing question. What if what you call "Pleasure" is actually two different things joined by simple confusions. What if the pleasures of the sirens would be called Whims, and the pleasures of the being are actually called Pleasures. What if the Whims are like pleasures but they turn you away from your own wellbeing and the real pleasures are the ones that allow you to be yourself.
This disction doesn change a bit what you wrote. But it makes it different.
What do you wanna imply by mentioning only 'beautiful women' ? Are you trying to imply that they are merely a distraction here ? What would you say the same for the female readers ... and my problem is why isn't it neutral ?
First of all the comparisons to myths are not quite right. The Lotus Eaters did not just offer a vacation they gave people a drug that made them forget. Saying that people who are really tired or need to rest are just being childish is not a comparison…..It is like saying that being tired is a thing.. What about Odysseus and the Sirens? He did not plug his ears because he was a person. He had his men tie him to the ship so he could hear the Sirens and still get to his destination!!¡ He wanted to enjoy the experience without it ruining his life. He was finding a way to have fun without getting hurt.
Importantly the essay uses a bad argument. It says you are either a worker or a lazy person. NO. This ignores the idea of otium which means leisure time that is meaningful, the ancient Greeks and Romans did not think of rest as a quick break to work harder later they thought of rest as the part of life a time for art, philosophy and spending time with people.
Finally bringing up Camus is not relevant the Myth of Sisyphus is about finding pride and fighting against a world that does not make sense.. being disciplined is great advice but we should not make ourselves feel guilty for not suffering and working all the time. We should not think that the only way to live a life is to always be working and suffering. The essay talks about hustle culture and philosophy and mythology it uses the philosophy and mythology to make a point about hustle culture. The problem is that the essay gets the philosophy and mythology wrong. It uses them to make a bad point, about hustle culture
So heartwarming to see someone trying to grasp more of the Odyssey than the movie dramatized. I have lived with this epic my whole life (I’m eighty and studied it in ancient Greek in college) and know how superior-but-arrogant Odysseus was, how the thought of going home bored him, he wanted “more” and how that “more” whittled down his arrogance, pared away at his ego until he was psychologically ready to go home and face the music of what he had ignored/lost through his vain adventurousness. His lessons were made palpable for us readers without our having to suffer the pains, scrapes, humiliations he went through. For that I am forever grateful for this poem.
A lot of what gets sold as “freedom” is really just being easy to command by whatever feels good for five minutes. That distinction between enjoying something and being governed by it is everything.
I loved the lecture. I completely agree with you..but here is an Intriguing question. What if what you call "Pleasure" is actually two different things joined by simple confusions. What if the pleasures of the sirens would be called Whims, and the pleasures of the being are actually called Pleasures. What if the Whims are like pleasures but they turn you away from your own wellbeing and the real pleasures are the ones that allow you to be yourself.
This disction doesn change a bit what you wrote. But it makes it different.
What do you wanna imply by mentioning only 'beautiful women' ? Are you trying to imply that they are merely a distraction here ? What would you say the same for the female readers ... and my problem is why isn't it neutral ?
I had someone say to me “just don’t piss off Poseidon.”
First of all the comparisons to myths are not quite right. The Lotus Eaters did not just offer a vacation they gave people a drug that made them forget. Saying that people who are really tired or need to rest are just being childish is not a comparison…..It is like saying that being tired is a thing.. What about Odysseus and the Sirens? He did not plug his ears because he was a person. He had his men tie him to the ship so he could hear the Sirens and still get to his destination!!¡ He wanted to enjoy the experience without it ruining his life. He was finding a way to have fun without getting hurt.
Importantly the essay uses a bad argument. It says you are either a worker or a lazy person. NO. This ignores the idea of otium which means leisure time that is meaningful, the ancient Greeks and Romans did not think of rest as a quick break to work harder later they thought of rest as the part of life a time for art, philosophy and spending time with people.
Finally bringing up Camus is not relevant the Myth of Sisyphus is about finding pride and fighting against a world that does not make sense.. being disciplined is great advice but we should not make ourselves feel guilty for not suffering and working all the time. We should not think that the only way to live a life is to always be working and suffering. The essay talks about hustle culture and philosophy and mythology it uses the philosophy and mythology to make a point about hustle culture. The problem is that the essay gets the philosophy and mythology wrong. It uses them to make a bad point, about hustle culture
Se of these ideas sound Hindu.