Sirens In The Odyssey

Most people today have heard some legend about a siren. It is believed by a lot that they look like mermaids. But actually, a siren is a mythical creature that has a woman’s head with a bird body that sings to sailors perched on a cliff. The idea of a song often has a sense of calm and beauty. But the songs that the sirens sing are in fact a little different. The songs they sang tricked the sailors into coming to their land. Little do they know that they will soon be in rest forevermore, realistically death. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the sirens sing to the ship that is passing by, holding Odysseus and his men. The sirens try to trick Odysseus into coming onto their land by presenting knowledge. On the other hand, in Lowell’s poem, “The Sirens”,

Before Odysseus and his men sail by the siren’s cliff, he has his men tie himself against the mast of the boat so he can not be taken away by the sirens. He also has his men put beeswax in their ears so they can not hear the song when they row the boat. As they approach the cliff of the sirens, Odysseus then starts to hear the song. The song that they sing recites the past events of what had happened to Odysseus. The poem states, “All feats on that great field/ In the long warfare,/ Dark days the bright gods willed,/ Wounds you bore there,/ Argos’ old soldiery/ On Troy beach teeming,/ Charmed out of time we see” (Homer XII, 237-243). This section of the song sings to Odysseus about his time in Troy. Odysseus is someone who is smart and has the knowledge but is always seeking for more. So when Odysseus hears the song about past occasions that the sirens happen to know about, he is tempted to listen and follow them. Although he has the desire to go with the siren’s, the rope tied to the mast holds him back. The idea of knowledge is the main way temptation is used by the siren’s in the

In this poem, there is this siren who is singing to this sailorman. She is drawing her victim in by tricking him that if she tells him a secret, he will get her out of the bird suit. The siren is crying for help to the clueless sailor. Her cleverness, singing, “Help me!/ Only you, only you can,/ you are unique” (Atwood, 22-24) gets the attention of the sailor man to help her get out of the bird body. Hearing the siren say, you are unique and you are the only one, makes the man feel special in that he could be a hero if he helped her get out of her poor life in that ugly bird suit. The desire of being a hero ends up making the siren get another