Sirens In The Odyssey Book 12-14

Through the imagery of both Homer and Margaret Atwood we see the difference in the Siren’s attitude in each poem. In The Odyssey, the Siren says, “honeyed voices pouring from our lips.” This imagery is a seductive tactic used by the Siren to lure the men closer. Odysseus tells us that his heart wanted more. This shows how the desire to get closer to the Siren was toxic. In “Siren Song” the Siren uses imagery to mock herself and make the reader feel bad for her. She tells us that she is “squatting on the island looking picturesque and mythical.” It is inferred that she is simply unhappy and bored where she is.

The sirens in both texts have different views on the song and how it allures people. They describe what it does to people who come in close proximity of the song.

The Siren herself uses words like “squadrons” and “feathery maniacs” to describe her surroundings and what happens when they sing. This prompts the reader to imagine what the Siren is facing and how they visually appear, contrary to Odysseus who only describes their voices. A quote from the “Siren Song” to back up the claim is “ I don’t enjoy it here squatting on this island looking picturesque and mythical”. This proves that the how the Sirens appear and their portrayal. They are visually beautiful and lovely sounding. They have a purpose to be guile, but their over all looks and sound mask it. Their sound captivates the men and makes them jump over the boat, and their appearance helps disguise any doubt the men face. In both works the Sirens are viewed as beautiful and captivating by sound as in The Odyssey and appearance as in the “Siren Song”.

The sirens and laundry ladies symbolized temptation using their singing to lure captives. In The Odyssey, Odysseus evades the sirens by following Circe’s advice of having his crew’s ears be plugged with beeswax and have them bind him to the ship (Homer, Book 12, lines 161-190) However, in O, Brother Where Art Thou, Everett and his friends fall prey to the laundry ladies and they end up using one them as bounty (0:43-0:46)

The Sirens in the Odyssey represent more than just a maritime danger to the passing ship. They are the desires of man that he cannot have. The Sirens can also be construed as forbidden knowledge or some other taboo object. Whatever these singing women actually are, the sailors are wise to avoid them. As usual, the wily Odysseus cheats at the rules of the game by listening to their song under the restraints constructed by his crew.

Beautiful women who lure men to their death from song. According to the text, “Sirens weaving a haunting song over the sea, we are to shun,  she said, [Circe] and their green shore all sweet with clover; yet she urged that I alone should listen to their song” (Homer 690-694). The following stanza from the text informs readers that Odysseus alone is to listen to the Siren’s song, nobody else.  Odysseus wholeheartedly tells his crew the dangers of the Sirens and arms his men with knowledge to prevent disaster when sailing past the Siren’s island. In the text it is later stated, “Therefore you are tie me up, tight as a splint, erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, and if I shout and beg to be untied, take more turns of the rope to muffle me” (Homer 694-698).

This, and Odysseus’ encounter with them, is the only information about the Sirens in The Odyssey. Therefore, only two connections to the Sirens, Circe and Odysseus, are portrayed in The Odyssey. Since Circe is the first to paint the picture of the Sirens as monstrous, there seems to be a history between the two. As they are both island dwelling mythological creatures, they are likely to have crossed each other’s path. In Atwood’s Circe/Mud poems, immediately before the poem of the “Siren Song” is the “Owl Song”.

Once the men are drawn to the Sirens, they are stuck and there is no way for them to escape. Additionally, Homer explains Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens from Odysseus’ point of view. The Sirens try to attract Odysseus by singing compliments to “famous Odysseus,” so he will assume he is the object of their desire (14). The Sirens are intelligent, and therefore determine what Odysseus’ true weaknesses: flattery and the desire for recognition. His faults are similar to other men; however no other men share Odysseus’ unique wish. When Odysseus sails by, they attack his weaknesses, just as they do to the other ships, but Odysseus already is prepared. The Sirens sing to him and promise he will be able to “[sail] on a wiser man” if Odysseus listens to their song (18). His plan almost fails because the song captivates Odysseus and, thus, attempts to join the Sirens, risking his life to gain the knowledge that the Sirens guarantee. Odysseus navigates himself through the sea with hopes of becoming more intelligent. Homer describes the Sirens as beautiful yet cunning because of their ability to identify men’s weaknesses easily. Their beauty attracts men and thus draws them toward their death. Homer’s view of the relationship between Odysseus and the Sirens prove that the Sirens are extremely tempting and the men cannot help but fall for them.

Odysseus is finding his way back home. He was warned to what awaits him. “Square in your ship’s path are Sirens.”(916) He tells his men of what is ahead of them and what they should do to pass the Sirens safely. Odysseus tells them to put beeswax in their ears. He has his men tie him up against the mast. He told his men not to untie him until they had pasted the Sirens.

In this chapter the sirens are two sisters that lay on bones of men that they have eaten, they attract sailors with their beautiful voices and then the sirens sister eat them! The sirens sister are two women that have a body of birds with feet and hands made of claws, and with faces of little girls. Since Ulysses already knew what he was going to go threw, he thought ahead to not get his men killed by the sirens. Ulysses wanted to prevent being eaten by the siren sisters, so he stuffed his crew’s ears with wax so they would not hear the sirens voices. In the book it says, “Then he went to each man of the crew and plugged his ears with soft wax; he caulked their ears so tightly that they could not hear nothing but the thin pulsing of their own blood (p 87).” Here is where the readers see that Ulysses thought a head on saving his men's lives from being eaten by the sirens. Unlike other sailors, they might have fallen into the trap of the sirens of their beautiful voices and then being eaten alive. Ulysses is a very intelligent man, who found a way to cross away from the

In the three texts these are the things that are emphasized. In “The Odyssey” ,written by Homer, it states the heroism of Odysseus, the magic powers of the horrid Siren, and the steps Odysseus took to get past the sirens. However, in “O’ Brother Where Art Tho?” it mentions how Pete turns into a frog, the men drink moonshine, and the siren song plays in the background. Also, in Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” it implies that the sirens do not like being trapped on the Island, the contribution to the song, and how they are disinterested on the island. Even though the authors emphasize on multiple things, they often leave details out of their stories.

They have the ability to use a singing spell to attract any man within earshot to the Sirens. Once the man has reached them, they make the man think they are extremely attractive, and then eat the man while he is vulnerable. This shows that the Sirens have great power over any man. The Sirens also have experience in conflict. The Sirens fight against the man’s will to resist the Sirens magical song.

In the painting Ulysses and the Sirens by John Williams Waterhouse, he depicts Odysseus’ leadership skills that avoid the fatal Sirens from seducing and killing his crew. Margaret Atwood’s poem, exhibits just how deadly the sirens were. The painting was painted in 1891 and it was purchased for the National Gallery of Victoria by Sir Hubert Herkomer, for £1200, in June 1891 (Bonollo 1). In the painting Ulysses and the Sirens by John Williams Waterhouse and the poem “Siren’s Song” by Margaret Atwood use the myth of bird like women who seduce men into a trance only to tear them apart to show that the enchanting women were beautiful yet dangerous.

What if there is something so irresistible that all resolve is lost? The Sirens are a group of women who sing a song so captivating that ships are constantly lured to their island. They are often rendered as birds with the head of a woman. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus and his men must pass the island of the Sirens in order to return to Ithaca, their homeland. In order to prevent his men from jumping overboard towards the enchanting song, Odysseus plugs his men’s ears with wax, and then he is tied down and listens to the song. The song compels Odysseus head towards the island, but his obedient men ignore his hysterical cries. Another portrayal of the Sirens is in a poem by Margaret Atwood entitled “Siren Song.” The poem lures the reader in

The sirens were fallen protectors of Persephone and was banished to sirens island after Persephone was kidnapped and raped. Once the sirens were banished to their island, they discovered their singing voices and lured sailors in from near and far in as a way to seduce them and to kill them. These sirens were beautiful women who were sexually arousing and could sing are the basics of how men felt about women in Greek culture. The idea of