Siren 51017 225527019 2008-07-14T04:03:41Z Til Eulenspiegel 4237321 Revert to revision 224591242 dated 2008-07-09 15:40:40 by 90.204.205.232 using [[:en:Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation_popups|popups]] {{this|the bird-women of Greek myth}} [[Image:The Siren.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''The Siren'', by [[John William Waterhouse]] (circa 1900).]] In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Sirens''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] singular: {{polytonic|Σειρήν}} ''{{unicode|Seirḗn}}''; Greek plural: {{polytonic|Σειρῆνες}} ''{{unicode|Seirênes}}'') were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island called [[Sirenum scopuli]]. In some later, rationalized traditions the literal geography of the "flowery" island of [[Anthemoessa|Anthemoessa]], or Anthemusa,<ref>"We must steer clear of the Sirens, their enchanting song, their meadow starred with flowers" is [[Robert Fagles]]' rendering of lines in ''Odyssey'' XI.</ref> is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the Sirenusian islands near [[Paestum]], or in [[Capri|Capreae]].<ref>Strabo i. p. 22 ; [[Eustathius of Thessalonica]]'s Homeric commentaries §1709 ; Servius I.e.</ref> All locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks. Seamen who sailed near were [[Motif of harmful sensation|decoyed]] by the Sirens' enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast. Although they lured mariners, the sirens were not sea deities. When the Sirens were given a parentage they were considered the daughters of the river god [[Achelous]], fathered upon [[Terpsichore]], [[Melpomene]], [[Sterope]], or [[Chthon]], the Earth, in [[Euripides]]' ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'' 167, where Helen in her anguish calls upon "Winged maidens, virgins, daughters of the Earth". Roman writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of [[Phorcys]].<ref>[[Virgil]]. V. 846; [[Ovid]] XIV, 88.</ref> [[Homer]] says nothing of their origin or names, but gives the number of the Sirens as two [Odyssey, 12:52]. Later writers mention both their names and number; some state that there were three, Peisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia ([[Tzetzes]], ''ad Lycophron'' 7l2) or Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leucosia (Eustathius, loc. cit.; Strabo v. §246, 252 ; Servius' commentary on Virgil's ''Georgics'' iv. 562). Eustathius (Commentaries §1709) states that they were two, Aglaopheme and Thelxiepeia. Their number is variously reported{{Fact|date=November 2007}} as between two and five, and their individual names as Thelxiepeia/Thelxiope/Thelxinoe, Molpe, Aglaophonos/Aglaope, Pisinoe/Peisinoë, Parthenope, Ligeia, Leucosia, Raidne, and Teles. ==Sirens and death== According to [[Ovid]] (''Metamorphoses'' V, 551), the Sirens were the companions of young [[Persephone]] and were given wings by [[Demeter]]<ref>Ovid has asked rhetorically "Whence came these feathers and these feet of birds?" "Ovid's [[Etiology|aetiology]] is of course beside the mark," Jane Ellen Harrison observed; the [[Keres]], the [[Sphinx]] and even archaic representations of [[Athena]] are winged; so is [[Eos]] and some [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]] in the [[Gigantomachy]] reliefs on the [[Pergamon Altar|Great Altar of Pergamon]]; [[Eros]] is often winged, and the [[Erotes]].</ref> to search for Persephone when she was abducted. Their song is continually calling on Persephone. The term "siren song" refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad result. Later writers have inferred that the Sirens were [[anthropophagous]] (cannibals), based on Circe's description of them "lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses rotting away, rags of skin shriveling on their bones" (Fagles' translation). As [[Jane Ellen Harrison]] notes, "It is strange and beautiful that Homer should make the Sirens appeal to the spirit, not to the flesh."<ref>Harrison, "The [[Ker]] as siren, "'Prolegomenma to the Study of Greek Religion'." (3rd ed. 1922:197-207) p 197.</ref> "For the matter of the siren song is a promise to Odysseus of mantic truths, with a false promise of living to tell them, they sing, <blockquote>"Once he hears to his heart's content, sails on, a wiser man.<br> We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured<br> on the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so—<br> all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!"<ref>Fagles' translation.</ref></blockquote> "They are mantic creatures like the [[Sphinx]] with whom they have much in common, knowing both the past and the future," Harrison observed. "Their song takes effect at midday, in a windless calm. The end of that song is death."<ref>Harrison 199.</ref> That the sailors' flesh is rotting away, though, would suggest it has not been eaten. It has been suggested that, with their feathers stolen, their divine nature kept them alive, but unable to provide for their visitors, who starved to death by refusing to leave.<ref>liner notes to ''[[Fresh Aire VI]]'' by Jim Shey, Classics Department, University of Wisconsin</ref> ==Appearance== [[Image:Syrenka warszawska0205.jpg|thumb| 150 px|left|Statue of a [[melusina]] in [[Warsaw]].]] Sirens, like [[harpies]], partake of women and of birds, in various ways. In early Greek art sirens were represented as birds with large women's heads, bird feathers and scaly feet and sometimes{{Fact|date=November 2007}} 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 tenth century Byzantine encyclopedia ''[[Suda]]''<ref> [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin//search.pl?search_method=QUERY&login=&enlogin=&searchstr=sigma,280&field=adlerhw_gr&db=REAL Suda on-line]</ref> 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. Later Sirens were sometimes also depicted as beautiful women, whose bodies, not only their voices, are seductive. The fact that in Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Romanian or Portuguese, the word for mermaid are respectively ''Sirena'', ''Sirène'', ''Sirena'', ''Syrena'', ''Sirenă'' and ''Sereia'' creates visual confusion, so that sirens are even represented as [[mermaid]]s. "The sirens, though they sing to mariners, are ''not'' sea-maidens," Harrison cautions; "they dwell on an island in a flowery meadow."<ref>Harrison 198f.</ref> The first century [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historian [[Pliny the Elder]] discounted sirens as pure fable, "although [[Dinon]], the father of [[Clearchus]], a celebrated writer, asserts that they exist in [[India]], and that they charm men by their song, and, having first lulled them to sleep, tear them to pieces."<ref>[[Pliny's Natural History]] 10:70.</ref> In his Notebooks [[Leonardo da Vinci]] wrote of the siren, "The siren sings so sweetly that she lulls the mariners to sleep; then she climbs upon the ships and kills the sleeping mariners." In 1917, [[Franz Kafka]] wrote in ''The Silence of the Sirens'': ''Now the Sirens have a still more fatal weapon than their song, namely their silence. And though admittedly such a thing never happened, it is still conceivable that someone might possibly have escaped from their singing; but from their silence certainly never.'' [[Image:Sirena de Canosa s. IV adC (M.A.N. Madrid) 01.jpg|thumb|upright|The "Siren" of Canosa]] The so-called "Siren" of [[Canosa]], a site in [[Apulia]] that was part of [[Magna Graecia]], accompanied the deceased among [[grave goods]] in a burial and seems to have some [[psychopomp]] characteristics, guiding the dead on the after-life journey. The cast terracotta figure bears traces of its original white pigment. The woman bears the feet and the wings and tail of a bird. It is conserved in the [[National Archaeological Museum of Spain]], in [[Madrid]]. ==Encounters with the Sirens== [[Image:Odysseus Sirens BM E440 n2.jpg|thumb|left|Odysseus and the Sirens, eponymous vase of the [[Siren Painter]], ca. 480-470 BC, ([[British Museum]])]] In ''[[Argonautica]]'' (4.891-919) [[Jason]] had been warned by [[Chiron]] that [[Orpheus]] would be necessary in his journey. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew out 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]]. [[Odysseus]] was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like, so, on [[Circe]]'s advice, 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 demonstrated with his frowns to be released (''[[Odyssey]]'' XII, 39). Some post-Homeric authors state that the Sirens were fated to die if someone heard their singing and escaped them, and that after Odysseus passed by they therefore flung themselves into the water and perished.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 141; [[Lycophron]], ''Alexandra'' 712 ff.</ref> A varying tradition{{Fact|date=October 2007}} associates this event with their encounter with Jason, though the incident does not appear in [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]]'s ''[[Argonautica]]''. Many scholars{{who|date=October 2007}} believe the above vase depicts a drowning attempt on the part of one of the Sirens. It is also said that Hera, queen of the gods, persuaded the Sirens to enter a singing contest with the [[Muse]]s. The Muses won the competition and then plucked out all of the Sirens' feathers and made crowns out of them. <!--the following simply concerns another Parthenope ("virgin-like"), not a Siren: "According to one story the Sirens were religious celibates, though Parthenope had a brief unconsummated romance with a man named Metiochus. Supposedly she met with an accident after deciding to end her relationship with him, cutting her hair and dedicating herself to worship of [[Dionysus]], and the place where she fell is known as the Tomb of Parthenope, which was supposedly located in what is now [[Naples]].--> [[Image:John William Waterhouse - Ulysses and the Sirens (1891).jpg|thumb|right|''Odysseus and the Sirens''. An 1891 painting by [[John William Waterhouse]].]] ==In Christian thought== By the fourth century, when pagan beliefs gave way to [[Christianity]], belief in literal sirens was discouraged. Although [[Jerome]], who produced the Latin [[Vulgate]] version of the Scriptures, used the word "sirens" to translate Hebrew ''tenim'' (jackals) in Isaiah 13:22, and also to translate a word for "owls" in Jeremiah 50:39, this was explained by writers of Church doctrine such as [[Ambrose]] to be a mere symbol or allegory for worldly temptations, and not an endorsement of the Greek myth<ref>Ambrose, ''Exposition of the Christian Faith'', Bk 3, Chap. 1, 4</ref>. Sirens continued to be used as a symbol for temptation regularly throughout Christian art of the medieval era; however, in the 17th century, some [[Jesuit]] writers began to assert their actual existence, including [[Cornelius a Lapide]], Antonio de Lorea, and [[Athanasius Kircher]], who argued that compartments must have been built for them aboard [[Noah's Ark]]<ref>Kircher's account of sirens in ''Arca Noë'', translated in ''Literature and Lore of the Sea'', 1986, Patricia Ann Carlson, p. 270</ref>. ==In popular culture== As with many [[mythological creatures]], sirens are directly featured in many artistic works and get passing mentions in many more. ===Selected examples=== <!-- This section is not an exhaustive list of popular culture references. It is for selected notable examples only. Other uses of the word "siren" in popular culture can be found at the disambiguation page: [[Siren (disambiguation)]]--> In modern [[literature]], mythological sirens have influenced everything from plant names (for example, a [[carnivorous plant]] by the same name in [[Terry Brooks]]' ''[[Shannara]]'' series) to comic book characters ([[Marvel Comics]]' [[superhero]] [[Siryn]]). In [[television]], sirens have appeared in shows ranging from [[sci-fi]] (the [[BBC]] comedy ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' episode [[Psirens|''Psirens'']]) and fantasy (an episode of ''[[Charmed]]'' titled "Siren Song") to action (the [[Batman]] TV series episode 97, featuring The Siren played by [[Joan Collins]]) genres. The popularity of siren characters extends to films as well with sirens being the main focus of [[John Duigan]]'s ''[[Sirens (film)|Sirens]]'' [[1994 in film|(1994)]] and appearing in the [[2000]] [[film]] ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]'' (the latter drawing particularly on the myth of Odysseus and the sirens). The idea of the lure of the siren also features in the [[lyrics]] and composition of many musical pieces such as [[Erasure]]'s ''[[Siren Song (Erasure song)|Siren Song]]'', numerous variations of ''[[Song to the Siren]]'', [[Savatage]]'s song and album ''[[Sirens (Savatage album)|Sirens]]'', [[Nightwish]]'s song and [[Single (music)|single]], '[[The Siren (song)|The Siren]]' and [[New Order]]'s album [[Waiting for the Sirens Call]]. Due to the bewitching powers suggested by the [[Greek mythology|traditional mythology]], sirens also tend to be used as characters in [[computer and video games]] such as the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, the video game series ''[[Star Control]]'''s species "[[Syreen]]s" and many others. Sirens also appeared in the animated film ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]''. They did not, however, appear as a half-woman half-bird creature, nor mermaids but as water, shaped into the body of beautiful women. They seemed also to be capable of controlling the water around them. The story nevertheless retained sirens' ability to lure sailors to their deaths by song; women however remained unaffected by the sirens' singing. As a classical image the sirens and their story have been reproduced in countless sculptures, engravings and other works of art throughout history, including the paintings by [[John William Waterhouse]] which accompany this article. The image remains popular and iconic in a woodcut rendition (reproduced as a logo) representing the global coffee company [[Starbucks]]. ==See also== * [[Cecaelia]] * [[Melusine]] * [[Banshee]] * [[Pincoya]] * [[Naiad]] * [[Nix]] * [[Nymph]] * [[Lorelei]], an area of the Rhine River where fishermen were drawn to their doom by enchanting songs and music * [[Water sprite]] * [[Slavic fairies]] * [[bird-people]] * [[Huldra]] * [[El Trauco]] * [[Syrenka]], the Coat of Arms of Warsaw * [[Rusalka]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== {{Commonscat|Sirens}} * [http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Seirenes.html Theoi Project, Seirenes] the Sirens in classical literature and art *[http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?db=REAL&search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&user_list=LIST&page_num=1&searchstr=sigma%2C280+&field=adlerhw_gr&num_per_page=100 The Suda (Byzantine Encyclopedia) on the Sirens] [[Category:Greek mythology]] [[Category:Greek legendary creatures]] [[Category:Mythological hybrids]] [[Category:Motif of harmful sensation]] [[Category:Legendary creatures in popular culture]] [[bs:Sirena (mitologija)]] [[da:Sirene (græsk mytologi)]] [[de:Sirene (Mythologie)]] [[el:Σειρήνες]] [[es:Sirena]] [[eo:Sireno (mitologio)]] [[fa:سیرن]] [[fr:Sirène (mythologie)]] [[ko:세이렌]] [[hr:Sirena]] [[id:Siren]] [[it:Sirena (mitologia)]] [[he:סירנה]] [[la:Sirenes]] [[lt:Sirenos (mitologija)]] [[nl:Sirene (halfgodin)]] [[ja:セイレーン]] [[no:Sirene (mytologi)]] [[pl:Syrena (mitologia)]] [[pt:Sereia]] [[ro:Sirenă]] [[ru:Сирены (мифология)]] [[simple:Siren]] [[sl:Sirena]] [[sh:Sirena]] [[fi:Seireenit]] [[sv:Sirener]] [[th:ไซเรน]] [[uk:Сирени]] [[zh:塞壬]]