Another story of the Sirens end is that the queen of the gods, Hera, was able to get the Sirens to compete with the Muses in a singing competition. -Odysseus and the Sirens. Rocks may seem like a minor hazard, but to Greek sailors they could be a deadly danger. Anatomy of a Sirens Song: Step-by-Step Like most mythological monsters, the Sirens probably represented a read danger faced by Greek sailing vessels. Why did the sirens want to kill sailors? Although the OED makes mention only of their enchanting singing, the Sirens didnt just sing: according to Homer in the Odyssey, there were just two of them, but Apollodorus, in his The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford Worlds Classics) , added a third: one sang, one played the lyre, and another the flute. Some believe that the Sirens are cannibals who consume the sailors that they lure over. According to Greek mythology, the sirens would lure sailors towards rocky shores using their enchanting songs. Their bird-like bodies resemble those of gulls, which were often a sign of nearby land. The sirens offer a false promise of pleasure their songs appear like heaven on earth but ultimately lead sailors to their doom. Image by Sjaak Kempe. Their songs would entice sailors who were passing by their island, leading them astray and causing their ships to crash against these obstacles. The Sirens lost the contest, as Hera knew they would, and the Muses were allowed to enact a punishment on them. They are said to have driven men crazy and it would be certain death for anyone on a vessel passing too closely. . Orpheus accompanied Jason on his voyage aboard the Argo, when Jason went to find the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts travelled past the island of the Sirens without blocking their ears. However, Aphrodite took him to safety. Image by Jastrow, 2006. Commonly described as beautiful but dangerous creatures , the sirens are remembered for seducing sailors with their sweet voices, and, by doing so, luring them to their deaths. Beautiful, conniving and dangerous, mermaids would do anything to protect their homes. These sirens The most notable northern European story is "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen written in 1837. Curiously, Florence Nightingale who was named after the Italian city of that name had a sister named Parthenope, after another Italian city, Naples. My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. These early mermaids were still threatening figures in both their cannibalistic appetites and their seductive powers. Orpheus played his lyre and sang loudly enough to drown out the seductive calls of the Sirens. Only one of Jasons men, Boutes, heard the last notes of the Sirens song as the ship sailed away. In fact, they werent really creatures at all. The Sirens lure sailors in with their irresistible voices and then crash their ships on the sharp rocks of their island. Art from after the time of Classical Greece often shows the Sirens much differently than they were originally depicted. The Odyssey. It is this intellectual curiosity that drives him to hear the Sirens song despite the pain he must endure while being tied up to the mast of his ship. Like much of The Odyssey, Book 12 generates excitement through the tension between goals and obstacles. What can nations do to fix global warming? I guess the distinction between both is harder to tell in Spanish? Why did the sirens want to kill sailors? When they hear the siren song, they convince themselves that theyre powerful enough to resist it. Perhaps: after all, Sirens are more famous for their song than mermaids, and the oceanic associations of both, combined with their half-woman half-animal composition, may have contributed to a confusion or conflation of the two mythical beings. While we may never know exactly how the sirens were able to kill sailors, one thing is certain: their legend has endured for centuries. It might be best to cover your ears or risk meeting a tragic fate at the hands of the deadly sirens. This curse resulted in the horrific fate of any sailor who hears their songs, causing them to steer their ships off course and crash onto rocky shores. (Or, as the Bible bluntly puts it, the love of money is the root of all evil.). Oannes between Cultures, in Interactions Between Animals and Humans in Graeco-Roman Antiquity, Thorsten Fgen and Edmund Thomas, eds, pg 253-274. And find -Bas-relief of an Apkallu figure from the Temple of Ninurta at Nimrud, from Layard, Austin Henry. In Greek mythology, the sirens (Ancient Greek: singular: , Seirn; plural: , Seirnes) were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. As an expert on Greek mythology, I can attest that the sirens were cunning and deadly creatures, luring sailors to their doom with their enchanting songs. Today, sirens have become part of popular culture and reference points in a modern world without obstructions on oceanic travel. 2. A siren song typically refers to the song of the siren, dangerous creatures in Greek mythology who lured sailors with their music and voices to shipwreck. Finally, theres an element of pride involved as well. Their psychological manipulation It is believed that the Sirens enchanting song also had a psychological effect on sailors, making them hear things that werent there or see illusions of beautiful landscapes on barren coasts. The beautiful music of Orpheus drowned out the song of the Sirens.