From our point of view the interesting feature of the story is that Odysseus had the option of (quite literally) binding himself now to a future course of action (by excluding the option of trying to get to the Sirens). He exercised that option, and this enabled him to choose a further option (that of listening to the Sirens) which he would not have chosen had he not been able to so bind himself. … Odysseus’s customary self had, as game theorists would call it, a first-mover advantage over his bewitched self.

XREF: This is the classic Ulysses contract concept from game theory and precommitment strategies, with parallels in behavioral economics and rational choice theory.

Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking…, loc. 828