Siren
In Greek mythology the Sirens or Seirenes (Greek Σειρήνες or Acheloides) were creatures who lived on a remote island surrounded by rocky cliffs, later identified as Sirenum scopuli. The sirens lured passing sailors by their singing, which would enchant any listening to the point that they lost all will-power, and crashed their ships upon the Sirens' rocky shore and cliffs, killing all the men aboard. While the Sirens were used frequently by the most famous of the classical authors, they appear rarely in contemporary fiction.
Origin
Sailing was a very important part of ancient Greek life, but the waters of the Mediterrean were very dangerous and the epic literature of the times reflected this awe and fear of the sea. It most probable that out of these mixed feelings for the waters came the idea for the Sirens, reflecting the communion that sailors feel with the ocean, one that is both beautiful and deadly. Originally, not much was known about the Sirens, because anyone drawn to their calls never came back alive. However, later Roman Empire authors expanded on the idea of the Sirens, giving us the general depiction we have today. Their number is variously reported by such authors as between two and five, and their individual names as Thelxiepia/Thelxiope/Thelxinoe, Molpe, Aglaophonos/Aglaope, Pisinoe/Peisinoë, Parthenope, Ligeia, Leucosia, Raidne, and Teles. As far as partanage, they have been linked to Phorcys, Achelous, Melpone, Sterope and Terpsichore. It was Ovid who came up with the origin tale; originally, the sirens were playmates of young Persephone and were changed into the monsters of lore by Demeter for failing to intervene when Persephone was abducted.[1]
It has been suggested that the siren is actually the precussor for the Northern European mermaids, half-women and half-fish creatures that lured individual sailors into the water, where they were drowned and eaten. In fact, the words for mermaid in Spanish,Siren, French, Sirène, Italian,Sirena, Polish, Syrena, and Portuguese, Sereia, shows the influence that the siren had on the development of mermaids. However, it should be noted that while the sirens were an influence, in the English langauge, Siren and mermaid are not used interchangiably.[2]
Appearance
In early Greek art the Sirens were represented as birds with large heads and scaly feet, and sometimes manes, of lions. Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps. The 10th century encyclopedia Suda [1] says that from their chests up Sirens had the form of sparrows, below they were women, or, alternatively, that they were little birds with women's faces. Birds were chosen because of their characteristic, beautiful voices. However, later in history Sirens were sometimes also depicted as beautiful women (whose bodies, not only their voices, are seductive).
Encounters with the Sirens
Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like, so he had all his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied to the mast, no matter how much he would beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they stuck to their orders (or they couldn't hear him). When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus stopped thrashing about and calmed down, and was released (Odyssey XII, 39).
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Jason had been warned by Chiron that Orpheus would be necessary in his journey. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played his music more beautifully than they, drowning out their voices. One of the crew, however, the sharp-eared hero Butes, heard the song and leapt into the sea, but he was caught up and carried safely away by the goddess Aphrodite. It is said that after a ship successfully sailed by the Sirens, they threw themselves into the water to show protest. Varying traditions associate this event with their encounters with Jason or Odysseus, though the incident appears in neither Homer's Odyssey nor Apollonius Rhodius's Argonautica. It is also said that Hera, queen of the gods, persuaded the Sirens to enter a singing contest with the Muses. The Muses won the competition and then plucked out all of the Sirens' feathers and made crowns out of them.
Literature and Pop Culture
Because of the resurgance of interest in Classical literature during the European Rennasiance, the sirens were often used in fictious narrative and poetry. Like many other aspects of ancient Greek mythology, the sirens were often employeed as narrative devices, such as allusions, and outside of the Roman authors, few actually delved deeply into the personal story of the sirens. Yet, the sirens survived, and have contuined to been used in fiction and new forms of literature, such as TV and movies. In 1994 there was even a movie Sirens, which was premised on the often misplaced sexual drawl of sirens, a characteristic that is more attributal to the mermaid than the traditional siren. In pop culture, the siren is sometimes used in video and role-playing games, mentioned occasionally in comic books and music.
Footnotes
External links
- Theoi Project, Seirenes the Sirens in classical literature and art
- A definition of Siren from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities edited by William Smith (1870)
- The Suda (Byzantine Encyclopedia) on the Sirens
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