Sirens
Return Home
Return To Mystical Creatures Page
"In Greek mythology, huge birds with women's heads who lived on an island off the coast of Sicily. By their sweet singing, they lured seafarers on to dangerous rocks. Curious, Odysseus escaped them by blocking his crewmen's ears with wax abd tying himself to the mast. He was the only man ever to hear their song and live. The Argonauts were saved from the Sirens by the musician Orpheus, who drowned their singing." The name Siren derives from a Greek root meaning 'to bind or attach' and clearly alludes to the role the Sirens played in mythology. One is inclined, however, to consider them as divinities who symbolised the souls of the dead. They would thus be funerary genii, avid for blood and hostile to the living. With their bird's body and woman's head, they recall the human-headed Egyptian hawk who also incarnated the souls of the dead. The Sirens were invoked at the moment of death, and their images were frequently found on tombs. Legend, however, has retained nothing of this conception of them, and depicts the Sirens only as malevolent monsters of the sea. At first they were represented with the head and bust of a woman and the body of a bird, and only later depicted as women whose bodies terminated in fish tails. Their attribute was a musical instrument - a lyre or a double flute. They had a temple at Sorrento. They had not always been like this. In primitive times the Sirens, who were daughters of the river Achelous, had been river deities. In number they were - depending on different authors - two, three, four or even eight. They had names which emphasized the charm of their voices: Aglaophonos or Aglaophone (of the brilliant voice); Thelxepeia (of the words which enchant); Peisinoë (the persuasive); Molpe (song). There were various explanations of their strange shape. According to some they were with Persephone when she was ravished by Hades, and it was at their request that Zeus gave them wings so that they could fly in pursuit of the ravisher. According to others they owed their birds' bodies to the wrath of Aphrodite who punished them in this way for having been rebellious to love. The Sirens were excessively proud of their voices and their musical talent and had, it was said, dared one day to challenge the Muses. But the Muses vanquished them and pulled out their wing feathers. They then abandoned the springs and dales and went to hide their shame among the jagged rocks along the coasts of Southern Italy. Their abodes were Cape Pelorus, Capri, the isle of Anthemusa, and the Siren Isles. There from the shores they attracted sailors by their songs and devoured the unhappy wretches who had been unable to resist their seduction. In the end, however, they found their master. When the ship of the Argonauts sailed past their island they tried as usual to exert their power. But only Butes, son of Zelion, jumped overboad to join the treacherous goddesses. The others were prevented by Orpheus who was with them. He tuned his lyre and began to sing; and his persuasive voice overcame the allure of the Sirens. Vanquished, the Sirens from that moment lost all powers to do harm and were changed to rocks. One of them, Parthenope, threw herself into the sea in vexation. Her body was tossed on to the shore by the waves, and a tomb was erected for her on the very spot where later the city of Naples rose."