Comparing Odyssey And Margaret Atwood's Siren Song

Some people have one inanimate object in their lives that they find so enticing that they are incapable of withstanding. One object that lures them into a deep trap not giving them any chance to resist. In Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” as well as Homer’s The Odyssey the one inanimate object all men cannot seem to resist is a Siren calling them in. In “Siren Song” we see a portrayal of this irresistible lure by one Siren’s song as merely a taunting boredom, while in The Odyssey the Siren is seen as a toxic desire. Both these poems portray these characteristics of the Siren through point of view, tone, and imagery.

The sirens in both texts have different views on the song and how it allures people. They describe what it does to people who come in close proximity of the song.

"The Sirens", taunt and tease Odysseus as him and his crew sail towards the, “Land of the Dead". Crossing the bumpy ocean in order to reach the Land of The Dead, Odysseus and his man sailed into trouble. Sirens were on the horizon and Odysseus had to think quickly. As his mind raced he finally came up with a solution, he grabbed a handful of wax and rolled it in his hands. “Going forward I carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears.” (Lines 712-713 The Odyssey). Whilst finishing this tedious task, Odysseus was tied down to the mast and left with his thoughts. The men continued to row while the Sirens flew in and sang

In the case of the Sirens, the theme is revisited simply for its own interest. With their ears plugged, the crew members sail safely by the Sirens’ island, while Odysseus, longing to hear the Sirens’ sweet song, is saved from folly only by his foresighted command to his crew to keep him bound to the ship’s mast. Homer is fascinated with depicting his protagonist tormented by temptation: in general, Odysseus and his men want very desperately to complete their nostos, or homecoming, but this desire is constantly at odds with the other pleasures that the world offers

In all three works of art, the epic poem (The Odyssey), Atwood’s poem (“Siren Song”), and Waterhouse’s Ulysses & The Sirens, all portray the Sirens differently by the author's tone. Waterhouse uses art to set the dramatic and threatening tone while The Odyssey uses poetry to set the dramatic tone. The tone of Atwood’s poem depicts the Sirens as being mischievous yet bored.

The sirens and laundry ladies symbolized temptation using their singing to lure captives. In The Odyssey, Odysseus evades the sirens by following Circe’s advice of having his crew’s ears be plugged with beeswax and have them bind him to the ship (Homer, Book 12, lines 161-190) However, in O, Brother Where Art Thou, Everett and his friends fall prey to the laundry ladies and they end up using one them as bounty (0:43-0:46)

The Sirens in the Odyssey represent more than just a maritime danger to the passing ship. They are the desires of man that he cannot have. The Sirens can also be construed as forbidden knowledge or some other taboo object. Whatever these singing women actually are, the sailors are wise to avoid them. As usual, the wily Odysseus cheats at the rules of the game by listening to their song under the restraints constructed by his crew.

In Greek mythology, sirens were creatures who lived in the sea that had beautiful appearances and voices that led the incoming sailors to their doom. By using their melodic voices they compel the sailors to jump into the ocean, leading them to their death. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald compares Daisy Buchanan to sirens. Similarly to the sirens, Daisy lures in men with her melodic tone to an inaccessible fantasy, compelling them towards her and leading them to destruction.

The sirens where monsters that made a noise that tricked everyone.Well Odysseus knew this and came up with a great idea.He thought putting ears wax on himself and the ears of his men would help them greatly.Odysseus was right everyone was able to leave safely.(“Plug your oasman with beeswax” pg 678 line

Homer’s tone towards the Sirens deprecates and objectifies them, while Atwood’s tone towards the Sirens is empathic and woeful, for the purpose of revealing male oppression and its effect on females. Homer describes the Sirens as an experience for the hero’s benefit. The Sirens sing their song to Odysseus, and according to Homer, the song’s purpose is to let man “hear to his heart’s content” and sail away “a wiser man” (Homer 18). The Sirens are merely an experience, an object, that a hero grabs on his journey, according to Odysseus. Odysseus is the only one to have “heard the honeyed voices pouring from [their] lips”(Homer 17). Through this imagery, Homer communicates the perspective of Odysseus. He sees women as something to elevate his status

Once the men are drawn to the Sirens, they are stuck and there is no way for them to escape. Additionally, Homer explains Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens from Odysseus’ point of view. The Sirens try to attract Odysseus by singing compliments to “famous Odysseus,” so he will assume he is the object of their desire (14). The Sirens are intelligent, and therefore determine what Odysseus’ true weaknesses: flattery and the desire for recognition. His faults are similar to other men; however no other men share Odysseus’ unique wish. When Odysseus sails by, they attack his weaknesses, just as they do to the other ships, but Odysseus already is prepared. The Sirens sing to him and promise he will be able to “[sail] on a wiser man” if Odysseus listens to their song (18). His plan almost fails because the song captivates Odysseus and, thus, attempts to join the Sirens, risking his life to gain the knowledge that the Sirens guarantee. Odysseus navigates himself through the sea with hopes of becoming more intelligent. Homer describes the Sirens as beautiful yet cunning because of their ability to identify men’s weaknesses easily. Their beauty attracts men and thus draws them toward their death. Homer’s view of the relationship between Odysseus and the Sirens prove that the Sirens are extremely tempting and the men cannot help but fall for them.

The Hero’s Journey is portrayed and widely known in many of the most popular films, songs, and novels. The Odyssey follows this format, and many of these entertainment pieces were inspired by this epic, such as The Chronicles of Narnia. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is led through many different adversities while trying to return home from the Trojan War. He finds himself and his crew in many situations that lead to death or put them in danger, before eventually making it home and being reunite with his family with the help of the goddess Athena. In the Chronicles of Narnia, three children are led into a strange new world in the wardrobe, where they face challenges with their enemies and have to eventually return home. They

The Odyssey and The Penelopiad’s storyline are both based off the same social context as Homer recorded the epic poem during Homeric society (when he was alive) however when the story was composed the literary context is completely different in comparison to Atwood, as Atwood wrote her novella - The Penelopiad, in the 21’st century and homer recorded the epic poem during 8th C BCE. The difference between each time period meant there were societal differences which had different impacts on each of the stories literary context. The odyssey is a historical epic poem that was verbally told by bards around ancient Greece and recorded by homer in 8thC BCE, following the dark ages. During this time there was no real sense of freedom or self expression and people were not very opinionated.This was because during this time, Homeric society was overruled by patriarchal views and a hierarchy within their time, meaning some people were seen as much less than others. In contrast to Margaret Atwood where her fictional Novella the Penelopiad was crafted in 2005, during a modern society where freedom of speech was more or less accepted than in Homeric society. The Odyssey has a major influence on Margaret Atwood’s novella the Penelopiad, as she based her opinions and perspective off the facts and historical content from the Odyssey. The Penelopiad’s central theme consists of the double standards that occurred against the women within the Odyssey such as the maids and Penelope. Margaret

In applying this image to a female, and especially to a female playing a role in the realm of relationships gives the idea new meaning. To think of a woman as a siren is to impose the notion that she lures men into a trap to play with them, almost as a cat would toy with a mouse. Atwood's siren describes her song as, "…The song that forces men / to leap overboard in squadrons / even though they see the beached skulls," (ll 4-6). With those words, Atwood describes exactly the effect that this songstress has on her victims. It is as if those men that are lured into her clutches are well aware of the consequences of their involvement with her - as they can very well see the "beached skulls" - yet they cannot resist the temptation she presents. Just as the seafarers were to be broken on the rocks of the island inhabited by the sirens, the men that involve themselves with this modern-day siren will also be destroyed. The song remained the same over the centuries, lethal and beautiful as ever.

Odysseus is warned by Circe that the sweet voices of the Sirens’ bewitch anybody who comes near to them and that “there is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares and hears the Sirens’ voices” (Pauline Nugent). As curious as Odysseus is she knows he can’t pass up the opportunity of getting to hear the sweet seductive voices of the Sirens’. Circe knowing very much how Odysseus so helps him devise a plan so that he can hear the Sirens, and his fellow shipmen cannot. She tells Odysseus to have his men melt beeswax and plug there ear and if he wants to listen “...make them bind you hand and foot on board and place you upright by the housing of the mast, with the ropes ends lashed to the mast its self”(12;48-51). Odysseus