Freely made decision designed and intended to bind oneself in the future
Ulysses and the Sirens, painting by John William Waterhouse
A Ulysses pact or Ulysses contract is a freely made decision that is designed and intended to bind oneself in the future. The term is used in medicine, especially in reference to advance directives (also known as living wills), where there is some controversy over whether a decision made by a person in one state of health should be considered binding upon that person when they are in a markedly different, usually worse, state of health.
The term refers to the pact that Ulysses (Greek name Ὀδυσσεύς, Odysseus) made with his men as they approached the Sirens. Ulysses wanted to hear the Sirens' song although he knew that doing so would render him incapable of rational thought. He put wax in his men's ears so that they could not hear and had them tie him to the mast so that he could not jump into the sea. He ordered them not to change course under any circumstances and to keep their swords upon him and to attack him if he should break free of his bonds.
Upon hearing the Sirens' song, Ulysses was driven temporarily insane and struggled with all of his might to break free so that he might join the Sirens, which would have meant his death. His men, however, kept their promise, and they refused to release him.
The term refers to the pact that Ulysses (Greek name Ὀδυσσεύς, Odysseus) made with his men as they approached the Sirens. Ulysses wanted to hear the Sirens'...
Living will Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration Power of attorney Ulyssespact Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act Mental health law "Health Care...
Johnson. The 2021 C-SPAN poll showed a continued recent rehabilitation of Ulysses Grant, showed George W. Bush improving, Obama remaining high, and Trump...
U.S. Secret Service agents who work together to protect U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (Kline in a dual role) and the United States from all manner of...
by plotting the assassinations of both her mother and her stepfather. Ulysses 1954 1200–1150 BC Set in the aftermath of the Trojan War, based on the...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781851096145. Ulysses Simpson Grant; John Y. Simon, Editor (1998). The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 1, 1870 – May 31, 1871...
"France's rightwing Les Républicains vote out leader Éric Ciotti over election pact with far right". France 24. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024. "Court...
Random Hits (9 June 2023). "Jonathan Giovanni Di Bella Inks Promotional Pact With GYM". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 10 June 2023. "2014 IKF World Classic...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
Bharat Aur Europe: Pratishruti Ke Kshetra (1991). Jury member Lettre Ulysses Award for the art of Reportage −2003. He was a fellow with the International...
Tennessee when Gideon Pillow occupied Columbus, Kentucky (in response to Ulysses S. Grant's occupation of Belmont, Missouri, directly across the Mississippi...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
truly bizarre deaths". Listverse.Com's Ultimate Book of Bizarre Lists. Ulysses Press. pp. 12–14. ISBN 978-1-56975-817-5. J. C. McKeown (2013). A Cabinet...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
well as meeting many influential New Yorkers, Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant, who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain the...
of the Spiders (1977) as Mayor Connors "Toyota Signs Roy Engel to Exhibit Pact". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. April 7, 1964. p. 20. Retrieved...
Cassavetes, London: Faber and Faber, 2001: pp. 52-53. Cassavetes Signs Seven-Year Pact: Will Direct Sidney Poitier; Elvis on Movies, Cooking. Hopper, Hedda. Los...
legend, particularly the first part of the Goethe interpretation, The Devil's Pact, which goes back to the 4th century; Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus (where...
Bolivarianism Saladin Sun Yat Tse [zh] Thomas Aquinas Thomas Jefferson Ulysses S. Grant Warren G. Harding Yuan Shikai [zh] Zhou Enlai [zh] Zhuge Liang [zh]...
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