The Cross And The Odyssey

Saeculi ferunt fabulae Ulyssem illum, qui decennio marinis jactatus erroribus, ad patriam pervenire non poterat, cum in locum quemdam cursus illum navigii detulisset, in quo Sirenarum dulci cantus crudelis varietate resonabat; et advenientes sic blanda modulatione mulcebat, ut non tam spectaculum voluptatis caperent, quam naufragium salutis incurrerent. Talis enim erat illis oblectatio cantilenae, ut, quisquis audisset vocis sonitum, quasi quadam captus illecebra, non jam tenderet ad eum quem volebat portum, sed pergeret ad exitium, quod nolebat. Igitur cum Ulysses incidisset hoc dulce naufragium, et suavitatis illius vellet declinare periculum; dicitur, inserta cera auribus sociorum, seipsum ad arborem navigii religasse: quo et illi carerent perniciosa auditus illecebra, et se de periculo navigii cursus auferret. Si ergo de Ulysse illo refert fabula, quod eum arboris religatio de periculo liberavit: quanto magis praedicandum est quod vere factum est; hoc est, quod hodie omne genus hominum de mortis periculo crucis arbor eripuit? Ex quo enim Christus Dominus religatus in cruce est, ex eo nos mundi illecebrosa discrimina velut clausa aure transimus; nec pernicioso enim saeculi detinemur auditu, nec cursum melioris vitae deflectimus in scopulos voluptatis. Crucis enim arbor non solum religatum sibi hominem patriae repraesentat, sed etiam socios circa se positos virtutis suae umbra custodit. Quod autem crux ad patriam post multos errones redire nos faciat, Dominus declarat dicens latroni in cruce posito: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso. Qui utique latro diu oberrans, ac naufragus, aliter ad patriam paradisi, de qua primus homo exierat, redire non poterat, nisi fuisset arbori religatus; arbor enim quaedam in navi crux est in Ecclesia, quae inter totius saeculi blanda et perniciosa naufragia incolumis sola servatur. In hac ergo navi quisquis aut arbori crucis se religaverit, aut aures suas Scripturis divinis clauserit, dulcem procellam luxuriae non timebit. Sirenarum enim quaedam suavis figura est mollis concupiscentia voluptatis, quae noxiis blandimentis constantiam captae mentis effeminat. Ergo Dominus Christus pependit in cruce, ut omne genus hominum de mundi naufragio liberaret. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia XLIX, De Passione et Cruce Domini Source: Migne PL 57.339b-340b

The ages tell of fabled Odysseus who for ten years was adrift at sea and was not able to reach his homeland, and in a certain place during the course of his sailing he came upon the cruel song of the Sirens which resounded with such sweet variety, and with its charming melody it beguiled all who came near, and there was no one they seized on with this exhibition of pleasure but rushed into the shipwreck of their salvation. 1 Such was the delight of the song that whoever heard the sound of it was captured by its allure, and then unable to hold to that desination where he wished to come, he turned to the ruin he did not wish. Therefore when Odysseus came upon this sweet shipwreck he wished to avoid the peril of that sweetness, and it is said that he placed wax in the ears of his crew and bound himself to the mast of the ship, by which the crew would be prevented from hearing that ruinous allure, and he would be borne off from danger on the way of his sailing. If the tale tells that thus Odysseus freed himself from danger by binding himself to wood, how much more must it be preached what is true, that is, that today the wood of the tree delivers all mankind from the peril of death? For the Lord Christ was bound on the cross, by which we, as with closed ears, pass by all ruinous perils, for we are neither detained by wicked hearing, nor are we turned from our better course of life onto the rocks of pleasure. For the wood of the tree does not only represent the binding of the man himself for the fatherland, but he even guards His companions set around him by the shelter of His virtue. For after much wandering the cross makes us return to the fatherland, which the Lord declares to the thief who was set on the cross, saying: 'Today you shall be with me in paradise.' 2 He who, as a long erring thief and shipwreck, was not able to return to the fatherland of paradise, from which the first man was expelled, unless he was bound to the tree, for that tree in the ship is the cross in the Church, which alone can protect us among all the charms and perilous shipwrecks of the world. In this ship, then, whoever either binds himself to the cross, or closes his ears with Scripture, should not fear the sweet storm of luxury. Indeed the sweetness of the Sirens is a certain figure of the ennervating desire of pleasure, which noxious allure weakens the strength of the mind it seizes upon. Therefore the Lord hung on the cross, that every race of men might be freed from the shipwreck of the world. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 41, On The Passion And Cross of the Lord 1 Hom Od 12.39-54, 166-200 2 Lk 23.43