Siren (mythology)

In Greek mythology, sirens (Ancient Greek: singular: Σειρήν, Seirḗn; plural: Σειρῆνες, Seirênes) are female humanlike beings with alluring voices; they appear in a scene in the Odyssey in which Odysseus saves his crew's lives.[1] Roman poets place them on some small islands called Sirenum Scopuli. In some later, rationalized traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa,[2] is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae.[3] All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks.

Sirens continued to be used as a symbol of the dangerous temptation embodied by women regularly throughout Christian art of the medieval era. "Siren" can also be used as a slang term for a woman considered both very attractive and dangerous.[4]

  1. ^ Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey 12.168 with Hesiod as the authority, translated by Evelyn-White
  2. ^ "We must steer clear of the sirens, their enchanting song, their meadow starred with flowers" is Robert Fagles's rendering of Odyssey 12.158–159.
  3. ^ Strabo i. 22; Eustathius of Thessalonica's Homeric commentaries §1709; Servius I.e.
  4. ^ "Siren". dictionary.cambridge.org. Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
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