![\"the-sirens\"](\"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Sirens-1024x585.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nIn Homer’s Odyssey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the most famous story about the Sirens<\/a> comes in Homer\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d as Odysseus<\/a> and his men sailed by them. Circe<\/a> had warned Odysseus prior to the encounter about the dangers of the Sirens. He prepared his men by having them put beeswax in their ears to block out the song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They then tied Odysseus to the mast of the boat, as he wanted to hear what the Sirens sang about. The beautiful song caused Odysseus to order that his men untie him, but instead they tightened the ropes and waited until they were clear of the danger to release him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Homer\u2019s tale has two Sirens, other myths have reported between two and five individuals. Their song is both sad and beautiful, and is said to call to Persephone, asking her to return. Those who hear the song can\u2019t resist and are lured to the Sirens location, which ends in their death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why the sailors who succumb to this song end up dead is open to interpretation. Some believe that the Sirens are cannibals who consume the sailors that they lure over. Others believe that the Sirens are unable to provide food to their visitors, which eventually leads to starvation, as the visitors can\u2019t leave because of the Sirens\u2019 song. The Sirens survived because their divine nature means they don\u2019t need to eat anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another appearance of the Sirens takes place in \u201cArgonautica<\/a>.\u201d Jason passes by the Sirens on his journey, but like Odysseus, he too had been warned of their dangerous song, this time by Chiron<\/a>. Jason brought Orpheus<\/a>, a musician, poet and prophet, along with his crew. When Orpheus heard the Sirens singing, he played music even more beautiful than their song to drown them out. One crew member with excellent hearing, Butes, was still able to hear their tempting song and jumped overboard to swim to them. However, Aphrodite<\/a> took him to safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There have been several stories of these mythological beings after Homer. At least 17 different ancient Greek authors wrote about them. Across these different accounts 7 different lines of parentage are suggested, and at least 15 different names are mentioned for individual sirens. Some authors wrote that when a person heard their song and escaped, the Sirens were fated to die. These authors claim that after Odysseus was able to escape the Sirens despite hearing them, that they threw themselves into the sea and died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another story of their untimely end is that the queen of the gods, Hera<\/a>, was able to get them to compete with the Muses<\/a> in a singing competition. The Muses defeated the Sirens, and then plucked all their feathers to create crowns from them. The Sirens were so devastated by their defeat that they turned white and then fell into the water, each of them becoming a white island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sirens are the origin of the term \u201csiren song,\u201d which refers to something that\u2019s hard to resist, but which will end badly. One of the most unique aspects of these temptresses, particularly in Homer\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d is how it\u2019s not their appearances that attracts sailors, but their voices. Their song is said to occur in the middle of the day, when it’s calm and quiet. The Sirens are said to know both the past and the future, but they make false promises to lure sailors to come to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn Argonautica<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In Later Myths<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"medieval-sirens\"](\"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Medieval-Sirens-2.png\")
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