{"id":5427,"date":"2026-04-27T10:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/sirens\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:34:25","slug":"sirens","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/sirens\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirens"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"5427\" class=\"elementor elementor-5427 elementor-2148 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10fdade e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"10fdade\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herohlft0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herohlft0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3ceb64 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c3ceb64\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ae5e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96ae5e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sirens, demoness of the Greek tradition<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e45238a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e45238a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Sirens are a demoness of the Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p><p>Bird-women with an unearthly song, seductresses to death, masters of allurement. The Sirens are notorious from the Odyssey, their voices luring sailors into madness and shipwreck. They are not evil, but fatal: it is their nature to seduce and to lure. Whoever hears their song wishes only to find them, and dies at sea.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klsbdg01 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"klsbdg01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klshtm01 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"klshtm01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Demon \/ demoness: A supernatural being with a mostly harmful or ambivalent effect. It stands between gods and humans, causes illness, temptation or misfortune and is warded off through conjuration, apotropaic objects and rituals.\">Demoness<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/greece\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Religion and mythology of ancient Greece from the Mycenaean period to late antiquity.\">Greece<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f74855 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f74855\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c30362 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"1c30362\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herorght0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herorght0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-heroimg00 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"heroimg00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_sirenen-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5428\" alt=\"Sirens - demons from the Greek tradition, historical and illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_sirenen-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_sirenen-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_sirenen-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_sirenen.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32917199 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"32917199\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26e916cb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"26e916cb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253a40d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"253a40d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1200c304 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1200c304\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sirens<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-11758e7f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"11758e7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><p><strong>Sirens in Homer&#8217;s Odyssey and early Greek literature<\/strong><\/p><p>In Homer&#8217;s <em>Odyssey<\/em> 12.158-200 the Sirens are not yet the fish-tailed beings of the later tradition, but winged bird-women with beautiful voices.<\/p><p>Homer does not name them, only their location (an island between Scylla and Charybdis) and their deadly function: they lure sailors with their song in order to kill them. Odysseus stops his men&#8217;s ears with wax and binds himself to the mast to withstand their song.<\/p><p>Homer&#8217;s Sirens have no individual identity or <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of the transmitted divine narratives of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>; they are pure predator functions. The Hesiodic catalogue likewise mentions Sirens in a similar manner: as demonic singers whose essence is seduction and destruction. Their closeness to the Muses (also singers) is striking; they are a corrupted or deviant form of divine song.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159dcf9a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"159dcf9a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48cee66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48cee66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Short Profile: Sirens<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f50d82c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f50d82c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Type:<\/strong> Mythical being (bird-women, hybrid)<br><strong>Tradition:<\/strong> Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of the transmitted divine narratives of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span><br><strong>Class:<\/strong> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which agency in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirits<\/span> of the undead \/ supernatural being<br><strong>Role:<\/strong> Lurers, death <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demons<\/span><br><strong>Sources:<\/strong> Homer Odyssey XII, Hesiod Theogony, Ovid Metamorphoses<br><strong>Sphere of influence:<\/strong> Sea, music, love, death, memory<br><strong>Central conflict:<\/strong> Desire vs. reason, life vs. death<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18613602 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18613602\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-262b8a9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"262b8a9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Historical Classification<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46dcb7d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"46dcb7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d3ab3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"61d3ab3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-117c166 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"117c166\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Period of the texts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73997a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"73997a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The earliest literary mention of the Sirens is the Odyssey, usually dated to the eighth or seventh century BC. It is followed by the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes in the third century BC, in which Orpheus drowns out the Sirens&#8217; song. Pictorial evidence begins in archaic vase painting, and the material was still being carried forward in Roman and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antique<\/span> literature, for instance in Ovid.<\/p><p><strong>Mythological classification<\/strong><\/p><p>The Sirens are female <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures within itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span> from Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of the transmitted divine narratives of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>, originally not mermaids but bird-beings with the upper body of a woman. They lived on an island near the coast and were notorious for their bewitching music and song, which lured sailors to their ruin.<\/p><p>The best-known episode involving the Sirens concerns Odysseus: he was clever enough to seal his men&#8217;s ears with wax and to bind himself to the mast in order to withstand their song.<\/p><p>The Sirens are often interpreted as messengers of death, not evil but deadly. They embody the seduction through art and beauty that draws one away from the path of life. According to some sources the Sirens died of despair, because no mortal could resist their song. They are ambivalent: beautiful and terrible at once.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d47b156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d47b156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff38c2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ff38c2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Area of distribution<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e49fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e49fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Siren <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative about gods, origins and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> is at home in the Greek cultural sphere and radiated through the Homeric Odyssey across the entire Mediterranean region.<\/p><p>Already in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span> the localizations varied: the Sirens were frequently placed on the southern Italian coast, for instance at the Sirenuse Islands off the Sorrento peninsula and around Naples, whose foundation <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An edifying narrative, usually about the lives of saints.\" tabindex=\"0\">legend<\/span> is connected with the stranded Siren Parthenope.<\/p><p>Through Roman reception and medieval bestiary literature the image of the Siren reached all of Europe; in the process the originally bird-shaped Siren increasingly merged with the image of the fish-tailed mermaid. In this form she became a fixed <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> of European art, heraldry and seafaring culture.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db03c39 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"db03c39\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-229a87b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"229a87b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f471fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f471fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Source situation<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36b1201 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36b1201\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Primary sources:<\/strong><br><em>Homer, Odyssey<\/em> XII, 165, 200<br><em>Hesiod, Theogony<\/em> 259, 264<br><em>Apollodorus, Bibliotheca<\/em> I, 3, 4<br><em>Ovid, Metamorphoses<\/em> V, 551, 563<br><em>Plutarch, On the Odyssey<\/em><br><strong>Secondary sources:<\/strong> Burkert; Ker\u00e9nyi; Bremmer; Sourvinou-Inwood<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ae0637c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3ae0637c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d07739 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d07739\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name and Variants<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7642947 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b7642947\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a086266 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a086266\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span> the Sirens are depicted as bird-woman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures within itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span>: the upper body of a beautiful woman, the lower body of a large bird (often an eagle or owl). They sometimes carry instruments (lyre, flute).<\/p><p>Later, in the Middle Ages, they become blended with fish-tailed mermaids, a confusion with other sea beings. Their symbols are the unearthly song, seduction, the cliff by the sea (where they sit and sing). They are music-dominated.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-709a44a8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"709a44a8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f585873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f585873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Characteristics<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70621c12 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"70621c12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4296eb49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4296eb49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Sirens are not worshipped but used as a warning and a metaphor. Odysseus seals his men&#8217;s ears with wax so that they will not hear their voices; only he is bound to the mast so that he may hear them without being able to succumb.<\/p><p>They embody temptation and death. They are not actively evil, they do not try to hunt down ships, but are present and alluring. It is their nature to sing, and that people die is a by-product. In later cultures they become metaphors for allurement in general: lust, wealth, fame.<\/p><p><strong>Appearance and symbolism<\/strong><\/p><p>The Sirens are originally depicted as women with bird bodies, wings, feathers, bird legs. Later they became mermaids with fish tails, a confusion or new construction that prevailed through medieval reception. Their hair is long and wild, sometimes garlanded with flowers. They hold musical instruments, lyres, flutes, tambourines.<\/p><p>Their eyes are alluring and knowing. The shell and the lyre are their primary attributes. Sometimes they wear crowns or jewelry. Their color varies, sometimes golden like the sun, sometimes silver like the moon. They embody beauty and seduction, but also danger and the unconscious urge of death.<\/p><div><p><strong>Siren <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">iconography<\/span> and Hellenistic transformation<\/strong><\/p><p>Between Homer and the Hellenistic period (from the 4th century BC) Sirens underwent an iconographic shift. Vase painting and coins increasingly show them not as bird-women but as half-human and half-fish, or combined with bird wings and fish tails. This is probably connected with Egyptian or Phoenician influences, where marine hybrids were more widespread.<\/p><p>In Hellenistic literary sources Sirens are sometimes described as nymphs or daughters of the Nereids; a marine component is added to their iconography and genealogical position.<\/p><p>On grave monuments and in funerary art the Siren became a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of mourning, sweet death and transition. Their ambivalent nature, beautiful and deadly at once, made them perfect metaphors for the liminality of death itself.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44e71476 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44e71476\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c1fc3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3c1fc3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Profile: Sirens<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84f33b8e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84f33b8e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hqkdc67p elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hqkdc67p\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Sirens are <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites features of different creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid creatures<\/span> of Greek mythology, originally imagined as women with the body of a bird, whose song lures seafarers to their doom. Their best known story appears in the Odyssey: Odysseus has himself bound to the mast while his companions row past with wax in their ears. It was only the Middle Ages that reinterpreted the Sirens as fish creatures, bringing them close to the mermaids.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qh9oavvu iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"qh9oavvu\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-awzx8k2k elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"awzx8k2k\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Tradition<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x6rowhv0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"x6rowhv0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Genealogy:<\/strong> Daughters of the river god Phorcys or Achelous. Mother in various versions Gaia or an Oceanid. Ovid: originally nymphs, companions of Persephone, transformed into bird-women by Demeter as punishment for failing to prevent the abduction. <br><strong>Number\/Names:<\/strong> Homer gives no names; later: Parthenope, Ligeia, Leucosia.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e3o4kxs iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8e3o4kxs\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08rkdgov elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"08rkdgov\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Object of influence<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-uwjelx8s elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"uwjelx8s\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Function:<\/strong> Lurers and death demons. They sing an irresistible song that draws men in and leads them to death (shipwreck, drowning, obsessive love). Not actively murderous like predatory spirits, but seductive, desire becomes the weapon. <br><strong>Target group:<\/strong> Mainly seafarers and warriors (Odysseus, the Argonauts).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jm2n74ec iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"jm2n74ec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8vufse4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8vufse4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Appearance<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-mwb9u015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"mwb9u015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Archaic and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The era of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BCE to 600 CE.\" tabindex=\"0\">classical<\/span> art shows the Sirens as birds with a woman&#8217;s head, often with musical instruments such as the lyre or the double flute. Homer himself does not describe their appearance; the bird form is attested through vase paintings and sculpture. The image familiar today, a woman with a fish tail, arose only in medieval tradition and blended the Sirens with water women.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37ss2yr6 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"37ss2yr6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3v0wp3wx elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3v0wp3wx\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Function<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-w3247g2m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"w3247g2m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Mythic effect:<\/strong> The classic episode Odyssey XII: Odysseus has himself bound to the mast and seals his men&#8217;s ears with wax to resist.<\/p><p>The Sirens&#8217; song promises knowledge and fame, a pure contrast of intellect (binding) vs. desire. Argonauts: Orpheus outsings them with his own song. Ovid: after the abduction they become death demons over the sea.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0qpjal9w iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0qpjal9w\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ndoih0o elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6ndoih0o\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Forms of defense<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6684tyh9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6684tyh9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Symbols\/animal forms:<\/strong> Lyre or harp, wings (ability to fly), shell (connection to the sea). Originally bird-women (Greek vase paintings). <br><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Warding off evil: of signs and objects intended to keep harmful influences away.\" tabindex=\"0\">Apotropaic<\/span> objects:<\/strong> Music itself, songs of Orpheus or the Muses as protection. The conch trumpet (\u03ba\u03cc\u03c7\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2) drowns out the Sirens&#8217; song.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3lfi7x32 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3lfi7x32\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0kg99ga1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0kg99ga1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Counterparts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-n0fum6kp elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"n0fum6kp\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Counterparts to the Sirens can be found in several cultures. Within Greek mythology, the Harpies stand near them as related bird-women, though they snatch rather than beguile. Functionally comparable are water beings of other traditions that draw people into the water by voice or beauty, such as the Slavic rusalki or the German legend of the Lorelei; in the course of the medieval reinterpretation, the Sirens themselves finally merged into the idea of the mermaid.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533bc7a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7533bc7a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2447d18d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2447d18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Practical defense<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5d0260c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d5d0260c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-341be2ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"341be2ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Rituals and defense<\/strong><\/p><p>Seafarers performed rituals to appease or avoid them. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A gift to a deity, to express thanks, a request or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">Offerings<\/span> to the Nereids and Poseidon before a voyage. Singing of protective hymns (Orpheus) during the sea journey. Music contests as a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span>.<\/p><p><strong>Conjurations and invocations<\/strong><\/p><p>No invocations toward the Sirens, but <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Magical or ecclesiastical exclusion; also the binding of a power through a formula.\" tabindex=\"0\">banishing<\/span> formulas against their presence. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">Late antique<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that seek to intervene in the course of events through special actions or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magical<\/span> texts: banishing formulas against the &#8220;swift singers&#8221; <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The pleading or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invoking<\/span> the Oceanids and Poseidon. The Orphic hymn for overcoming them.<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, misfortune-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Amulets<\/span> and protective symbols<\/strong><\/p><p>The conch trumpet (\u03ba\u03cc\u03c7\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2) a popular <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, evil-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">amulet<\/span> of sailors. Depictions of Orpheus as protective <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An object to which a fortune- or success-bringing effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">talismans<\/span>. Pompeian examples: wax seals with Odysseus at the mast, a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of overcoming.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a584676 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a584676\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d0757bf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6d0757bf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sirens, parallels in other cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60563f68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"60563f68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a93fdd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a93fdd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Seductress demonesses and song deities exist everywhere: the Lorelei (Germanic, singer of the Rhine), Naiads (Greece, water nymphs), Apsaras (India, allurement). The blending of song and death resembles the Banshees (Ireland, song of death) or Valkyries (Scandinavia, lurers of battle).<\/p><p>The Sirens differ in that they are not supernaturally evil; their dangerousness is a by-product of their beauty and voice. They are natural forces, not moral agents.<\/p><div><p><strong>Sirens in Christian allegoresis and the Middle Ages<\/strong><\/p><p>When Christianity reinterpreted Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of the transmitted divine narratives of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>, Sirens became symbols of temptation and falsehood, especially of carnal sin.<\/p><p>Church Fathers such as Jerome saw in them demonic seductresses who lead men from the right path, a Christian recoding of their original function of death. In the Middle Ages Sirens were cited in bestiaries and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the doctrines of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theological<\/span> works as exempla of morbid sensuality.<\/p><p>Interestingly, the bestiaries wavered back and forth between the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> bird form and the new fish form. Throughout the Middle Ages northern European mermaid traditions merged with Greek Siren <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">lore<\/span>, which explains the modern association of Sirens with fish tails.<\/p><p>Chronologically this is a reshaping: the Homeric Siren was a bird <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which a harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demon<\/span>, the medieval one became a marine nymph.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp547ab68 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp547ab68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2649c3b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp2649c3b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Sirens in the Odyssey<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpfc65f6f e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpfc65f6f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp4c09b49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp4c09b49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The oldest detailed account of the Sirens stands in the twelfth book of the <em>Odyssey<\/em>. The sorceress Circe warns Odysseus about them before he passes their island.<\/p><p>She describes how the Sirens enchant everyone who approaches them, how around them lies a great heap of bones of decaying men, and how no one who hears their song and sails on ever again sees wife and children.<\/p><p>Circe gives Odysseus a precise instruction. He is to plug his companions&#8217; ears with soft wax, but if he himself wishes to hear the song, he should have himself bound to the mast, by hands and feet, and he should instruct his men to bind him still more tightly should he beg them to release him.<\/p><p>So it happens. Odysseus hears the song, which draws him irresistibly, but he cannot free himself, and the ship escapes.<\/p><p>Remarkable is what the Sirens in Homer&#8217;s text actually offer. They do not lure with beauty or love, but with knowledge.<\/p><p>In their song they promise Odysseus to tell him everything that happened before Troy, and indeed everything that happens on earth. In the oldest version the danger of the Sirens is thus the allurement of all-knowing hearing, not erotic seduction.<\/p><p>Homer does not state the number of the Sirens unambiguously and does not describe their appearance; he does not say that they have a bird or fish form. These traits come from other, in part later sources. The <em>Odyssey<\/em> provides the basic motif: the deadly song and the cunning of self-binding, which became proverbial.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp4f32a3c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp4f32a3c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp14f2319 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp14f2319\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Bird-women, not fish-women: the ancient form of the Siren<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpa9009c8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpa9009c8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpb691252 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpb691252\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>One of the most persistent confusions in the reception of myths concerns the form of the Sirens. In Greek and Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span> the Sirens were not fish beings but <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures within itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span> of woman and bird.<\/p><p>The usual depiction shows a bird body with a woman&#8217;s head, often also with a woman&#8217;s arms, sometimes holding musical instruments.<\/p><p>This bird form is broadly attested in ancient art, on vases, in terracottas and above all on grave monuments. Particularly revealing are Sirens as grave <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A decorative, often repeated element of a pattern.\" tabindex=\"0\">ornament<\/span>: on Attic grave stelae and as sculptural finials of grave monuments the Siren appears as a mourning, lamenting figure.<\/p><p>The geographer Pausanias mentions a group of statues in which the Sirens are defeated in a contest with the Muses, and this <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> too is tangible in pictorial works.<\/p><p><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ancient<\/span> writers gave the Sirens names and genealogies. They were mostly regarded as daughters of the river god Achelous and one of the Muses.<\/p><p>Various sources tell that the Sirens were originally companions of Persephone and after her abduction by Hades received wings to search for her, or that they were transformed into bird form as punishment.<\/p><p>The fusion with the image of the fish-woman, the mermaid, occurred only in the Middle Ages. In medieval bestiaries and in the visual arts the fish-tailed type gradually prevailed, and the languages supported this: in the Romance languages the word derived from <em>sirena<\/em> today denotes the mermaid.<\/p><p>Scholarship traces this shift back to the blending of various water-<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which effects in the world are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> conceptions. Anyone who wishes to understand the ancient Sirens must deliberately set aside the medieval and modern image of the fish-woman.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpdee381b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpdee381b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp331dd9a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp331dd9a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sirens, the Argonauts and the end through Orpheus<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpb8ec24b e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpb8ec24b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp4e45df0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp4e45df0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Besides Odysseus, the Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> knows a second great encounter with the Sirens, and it took an entirely different course.<\/p><p>The Argonauts too, who were traveling with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece, had to pass the Sirens&#8217; island. The account stands in detail in the <em>Argonautica<\/em> of Apollonius of Rhodes from the 3rd century BC.<\/p><p>On board the ship Argo was the singer Orpheus. When the Sirens struck up their song, Orpheus took up his lyre and sang louder and more beautifully, so that the sound of the Sirens was drowned out by the sound of his song.<\/p><p>The crew sailed past unhindered. Only a single Argonaut, Butes, was nonetheless lured by the song of the Sirens, leaped into the sea and swam toward the island; according to the account he was rescued by Aphrodite.<\/p><p>A widespread <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> tradition connected the fate of the Sirens with a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The prediction of future events by religious or magical means.\" tabindex=\"0\">prophecy<\/span>: they would die as soon as a ship passed them unharmed.<\/p><p>Some sources relate this death to the passage of Odysseus, others to that of the Argonauts. It is told that the Sirens thereupon threw themselves into the sea and turned to rocks.<\/p><p>The two episodes form a revealing pair of opposites. Odysseus withstands the Sirens through cunning and self-restraint, by having himself bound. The Argonauts withstand them through a superior art, through the song of Orpheus. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ancient<\/span> and later interpreters have repeatedly juxtaposed and interpreted these two paths, that of discipline and that of higher beauty.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36dd7469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36dd7469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13760ab4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13760ab4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further links<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c87796 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"28c87796\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d6538df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d6538df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Nereids, protective goddesses of the sea<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/persephone\/\">Persephone, originally mistress of the Sirens<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-grl4kl40 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"grl4kl40\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bzsbfrmh elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bzsbfrmh\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sources and Literature<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c13224a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"2c13224a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eymh9ub elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eymh9ub\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><span data-nosnippet>Ker\u00e9nyi, Karl: The Gods of the Greeks. 1951<\/span><\/li><li>Bremmer, Jan N.: Greek Religion. 2008<\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane: Reading Greek Death. 1995<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Dodds, E.R.: The Greeks and the Irrational. 1951<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n<p class=\"iwg-bib-more\"><span data-nosnippet>Further standard works in the <a href=\"\/en\/literature\/\">literature index<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-sirenen-sec e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgca-sirenen-sec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-ca-sirenen\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-sirenen-te iwg-ca-textwrap elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgca-sirenen-te\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p class=\"iwg-ca-bridge\">The protective practice described here is a religious-studies classification of historical traditions. iWell Guard ties in with this cultural-historical line of wearable protective objects and represents a contemporary form of it. <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/about-iwell-guard-the-protective-pendant-in-detail\/?utm_source=iwell-guard.com&#038;utm_medium=text-link&#038;utm_campaign=schadwesen-tradition\">More about the iWell Guard \u2192<\/a><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sirens, demoness of the Greek tradition Sirens are a demoness of the Greek tradition. Bird-women with an unearthly song, seductresses to death, masters of allurement. The Sirens are notorious from the Odyssey, their voices luring sailors into madness and shipwreck. They are not evil, but fatal: it is their nature to seduce and to lure. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5428,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Sirens","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Sirens: Seductresses of Death in the Odyssey","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Bird-women with an unearthly song, seductresses to shipwreck. Odysseus, mythology and the danger of allurement.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,80,88,83],"class_list":["post-5427","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultures","category-demons","category-greece","category-seduction-demons"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sirens: Seductresses of Death in the Odyssey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bird-women with an unearthly song, seductresses to shipwreck. 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