Dan Ariely sees the psychology of self control at work in the tale of Ulysses and the sirens:
Ulysses knew that the sirens’ enchanting song could lead him to follow them, but he didn’t want to do that. At the same time he also did not want to deprive himself from hearing their song – so he asked his sailors to tie him to the mast and fill their ears with wax to block out the sound – and so he could hear the song of the sirens but resist their lure. … It seems that [Ulysses'…] ability to exert self-control is less connected to a natural ability to be more zen-like in the face of temptations, and more linked to the ability to reconfigure our environment (tying ourselves to the mast) and modulate the intensity by which it tempts us (filling our ears with wax).
(Image: Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse via Wikimedia Commons)
The Dish 