The Sirens episode allegorizes art’s promise of happiness under self-preservation’s rule

Evidence

Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens figures in their account as an allegorical anticipation of the role of art in modernity. The song of the Sirens, which tells of all that has ever happened, promises happiness through relief from the relentless striving that is the meaning of the future under the aegis of the drive for self-preservation. Death, however, is the price the Sirens exact for their enchantment. Cunning Odysseus devises two strategies of escape: his men, who must row with all their strength through the danger, have their ears stopped with wax; Odysseus has himself bound firmly to the mast of the ship. The rowers, like modern labourers, must not be distracted from their work; while Odysseus, who can hear the beauty of the Sirens’ song, is impotent to realize the happiness it promises. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 17

Categorization

• SEED: The Sirens-as-art allegory could anchor a critical essay on how streaming-era recommendation algorithms reproduce Odysseus’s bind: endless access to the song, structurally impotent to enjoy it.
• XREF: connects to: The Sirens episode allegorizes how art becomes separated from labor under domination. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 48; Odysseus’ bound listening to the Sirens models how art becomes merely contemplative under domination — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1409