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The Role Of The Sirens In William Butler's Odyssey

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Myths have been told for centuries in order to explain natural phenomena that frequently involve supernatural creatures or events. When people hear the name Siren they usually think of a beautiful mermaid-like creature that sings alluring melodies, but there is more to it. The myth of the Sirens began when Demeter decided to punish them, the Sirens, after they were unsuccessful in finding her daughter Persephone. Persephone was kidnapped from Earth by Hades and her mother, Demeter, was furious. She gifted Persephone's friends, wings to go and find her, yet they failed. The women were banished to the Li Galli islands, where they would spend their lives singing to passing sailors. These characters from ancient Greek mythology have been alluded …show more content…

Butler’s Odyssey has a heroic tone, a line to support this idea is when Odysseus is telling his men to “bind [him] as [he] stands upright, with a bond so fast that [he] cannot possibly break away” (Butler). In this example, Odysseus is sacrificing himself for the sake of his crew, and so he can hear the Siren’s song. Another example is “they sang, renowned Odysseus, honor to the Achaean name” (Butler). In that part of the text, Odysseus is addressed authoritatively. The words renowned, and honor, present a heroic tone while reading. Which sets him apart from the Sirens by building up his name. Yet, “Siren Song” by Atwood has a melancholic to seductive tone throughout the piece. An example of this is when the Siren says, "I don't enjoy it here-squatting on this island" (Atwood 13-14). The reader is intended to feel remorse for her. This sets a melancholy or sad tone. However, the seductive tone is introduced when she says, "I will tell the secret to you-to you, only to you" (Atwood 19-20). Atwood sets a slow and seductive tone by using words meant directly to the reader. The tone of the Siren captures the reader until it is too late for them; it develops the Siren by showing how manipulative and strong-willed they are just by using their voice. It is visible that both authors use tone to develop their

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Some of the things in the text are similar, but some things are absent within the text. In “The Odyssey”, the Sirens are not bird-like, there is no skulls and bodies laying around everywhere, and nobody on the boat is killed(Homer). “O’Brother, Where Art Thou?” removes the ocean setting, Odysseus heroism, and the men having wax in their ears. Within the stanzas of the poem “Siren Song”, the story lacks the men and Odysseus, the heroism of Odysseus, and the men “fall for it everytime” (Atwood). Authors of these stories removed these things so that their more appealing to the eye.

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Homer’s Odyssey, a Greek epic poem, introduces mythological creatures, like the sirens, to an audience that becomes highly influenced and mesmerized by these creatures that it inspired new piece of literature. For example, Margaret Atwood dedicates a whole poem to the sirens, which is the first mentioned in The Odyssey as creatures that lures sailors to their death, but ,unlike the Odyssey, it is written in the point of view of the sirens. Even though the depiction of the sirens are distinct and told in different point of view, both pieces of writing, Homer’s Odyssey and Atwood’s “ Siren Song”, have similar elements of cleverness. Homer describes Odysseus as wise, which is a characteristic needs to help the crew escape disasters and deaths.

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The Odyssey written by Homer and the Siren Song, by Margaret Atwood both use imagery, symbolism, different tones and different point of view to depict Sirens. The Odyssey surrounds a man who hears the Sirens song, but uses different tactics to survive it, although the Siren Song is written as if the written is a siren trying to prey on the readers. The difference of narrators tells the story of the Sirens in two very different

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Both "The Odyssey"and the "Siren Song" is a work of literature, however in "The Odyssey" the focus is on resolving the problem of the sirens, no different than any other obstacle. " The Odysseus" and the "Siren Song" both illustrate similar themes. Similarly, the sirens ask the victim to "help

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The poem “Sirens Song” alludes to the Sirens of the Odyssey. The Sirens’ portrayal is to deceive as they scheme and seduce men in their direction. The author claims, “The song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons even though they see beached skulls.” In other words,

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Sirens are devious creatures found in Greek mythology and The Odyssey. There are many depictions of them with different traits, but none are more well-known than the Sirens from "Siren Song" and The Odyssey. The sirens in "Siren Song" are portrayed to be smarter by being more manipulative and calmer. The Sirens in "Siren Song" are shown to be smarter than the Sirens in The Odyssey by being more manipulative. The Sirens in this poem make the hero feel special and convince them that only they can save the sirens and listen to their song which is said to "Work every time,"(Atwood 27), while the Sirens from The Odyssey are not as convincing, only yelling at people to listen to their songs.

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The Odyssey and the poem "Siren Song" both portray sirens ;however, in The Odyssey, the focus is on resolving the "problem" of the sirens, no differently than any other obstacle on his journey, whereas "Siren Song" focuses on the siren as more than merely an obstacle. They share, however, the preying of the siren upon hubris and the desire to be special, as well as, by what happens, illustrating the allure of the sirens in the spite of the pain that may be suffered to get there. The Odyssey initially describes the actions of Odysseus much more than the sirens. The beginning discussion does describe the sirens at all;it merely states that they were approaching the island of the sirens, and then for the first ten lines it does not even begin to consider the sirens.

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In conclusion Sirens are mythical creatures that exist in mythology stories and religion. Some of the connections i 've made with this topic are that the “modern day sirens” (such as vampires) aren 't as different but also don 't seem realistic like the stories. Ive also made the connections between Modern day women and the most popular way to get the attention is by deception. Sirens are one of the most deceiving mythological creatures. the three most important things about sirens is They have many different appearances, They are known for their way of seduction, and they take place in many different stories.

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Sirens feel that the song they lure sailors is boring and singing in a trio with two feathery maniacs contains of boredom. One of the sirens feels trap on an island inside of a bird suit that wants to escape from the island as a human. In The Odyssey sirens tone is joyful since

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