Comparing Odyssey And 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.

In the story of the Sirens, Homer uses diction to describe the tone as mystical and oblivious to the audience. Homer presents the intricacy of the myth of the Sirens through different point of views, tones, and imagery. He tells a story of a man who is clever enough to hear the Siren’s song and not lose his life. Odysseus knows what the sirens will do to him, so he takes precautions by plugging his crew’s ears with wax and asking them to tie him to the ship.. An example is, “My faithful company rested on their oars now, peeling off the wax that I had laid thick on their ears…” (line 754-755) This implies that the crew was exhausted of hearing the Sirens voices and trying to ignore it, as the Sirens leave, they remove the wax from their ears.

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.

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.

Odysseus was very good at covering up his true identity and feelings when he needs to get information that will help him home. Hermes gave Odysseus the advice to visit Circe, for Circe could give Odysseus a major clue on how to get home. Without the help of Hermes, Odysseus would not have made it to Circe in order to get the information on the monsters of the sea, which he needed to pass through to get home. Circe told Odysseus how to defeat Scylla, Charybdis, and the Sirens. The Sirens were quite beautiful on the outside, but deadly on the inside. Sirens sang a song of forgetfulness, those who heard their song forgot about their values and what was most important to them. The Sirens sang a song that lured sailors to their deaths. Odysseus had already lost many men and could not have afforded to loose anymore. Circe gave valuable advice to Odysseus on how to get through the Sirens unharmed. Odysseus took Circe’s advice and had given all the men wax so they would not hear the alluring song. Odysseus, however, had his men tie him up so he could hear the song of the Sirens. I believe the reason for this is due to the fact that he misses his family so much. Odysseus needed time to forget about his family, so he could face what was ahead with a clear mind. The fact that Odysseus needed to hear the sirens is proof that he wants to hear the siren song to help him

Depicting the “Siren Song” as seductive and alluring using the guile likings of a female sirens voice with point of view, tone, and diction. Atwood presents her poem in the point of view of the Sirens as she tries to entice the men with her song she cries out “I will tell you a secret to you/ to you, only to you./ Come closer. This song/ is a cry for help: Help me!/. As a result the Siren tries to sound helpless and desperate, needing to be saved by a strong sailor such as Odysseus and other sailors. In addition Atwood uses tone when the Sirens seductiveness try to make the men feel more masculine and special, when they do this by using their cunningness as female Sirens. To seduce the men the Siren sings “Shall I tell you the secret/ and if I do, will you get me/ out of this bird suit?” Therefore this challenges the men by giving them a mission to rescue a desperate and lonely Siren, yet the Sirens plans are different and they rather have an afternoon snack. Furthermore Atwood draws a detailed image using diction when the Sirens use their cunning wits to get the men to their island with their song, they know it works almost every time, the Sirens even state that “the song that forces

In Homer’s “The Odyssey” the sirens are depicted as dangerous creatures who are set out to ruin the men’s lives through alluring voices. Evidence of this can be seen when Circe tells Odysseus that there is,”no wife rising to meet him”(12.48) who draws to close to the sirens, and that there will be “no happy children beaming at their father’s face”(12.49). By these quotes, it is evident that emphasis is placed on the man and that the sirens (the women) will ruin his

The Sirens sing you a song and then lure you and kill you. Another example of a trait that describes Odysseus represents

The poem is seen in Odysseus' point of view and how even with this beeswax covering his ears he still wants to be set free. In the Siren song written by Margaret Atwood, Atwood uses imagery to depict the image of the sirens. The Sirens says "...the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons even

Her love is true, and she uses her heart and her brain to try to make Odysseus stay. The sirens use their voices to hold an overbearing power over men as Odysseus and his crew pass through their irresistible hymns. “The lovely voices in ardor appealing over the water made me crave to listen, and I tried to say ‘Unite me!’ to the crew, jerking my brows; but they bent steady to the oars. Then Perimedes got to his feet, he and Eurylokhos and passed more line about, to hold me

In the songs “Song to the Siren” by Tim Buckley and “Sirens Song” by Miss May I, the allusion to the Siren song and the Sirens has the effect of influencing the reader into feeling sympathetic for men manipulated by deadly women. This illustration is evident in the female character in these songs, which presents the femme fatale archetype by being alluring yet quite dangerous. In the song “Song to the Siren,” Tim Buckley writes “Now my foolish boat is leaning/ broken lovelorn on your rocks” (Buckley). This allusion relates to the outcome many sailors faced when moving past the alluring Sirens. The Siren song influenced sailors to abandon their ships and swim to the Siren’s island, where they were promptly devoured. Sirens caused the shipwrecks of many vessels in this

The interior walls of wealthy Roman houses were often covered with painted decoration. This painted panel shows the moment when Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus) and his crew have to steer their ship past the coastline where the sirens lived. The sirens were creatures, half-woman and half-bird, who used their skills in music and singing to draw ships and their crews onto the rocks. The sailors who survived the shipwreck would be devoured. The painting shows one siren playing the twin pipes, another the lyre, and the third presumably singing.

Aigul Samb Professor Avra Spector Great Works November 31, 2014 The Silence of the Siren In the short story ‘The Silence of the Sirens’, Kafka rewrites the myth of how Odysseus escapes the sirens in his own distinctive way. The sirens are best known for failing to trick Homer’s Odysseus with their alluring song, but there exist numerous other, occasionally conflicting, myths concerning them. This ambiguity contributed to various interpretation of physical appearance and symbolic significance of sirens ever since it was composed by Homer 2800 years ago.

Here they awaited passing ships and with their lovely music enticed sailors to their doom. The meadows of the Sirens home island were said to have been layered with the rotting corpses of their helpless victims. The Sirens were the companions of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, also the daughter of goddess Demeter. Yet, the Sirens song was beautiful, yet sad melody, eternally calling for Persephone’s return. They had beautiful singing voices and were gifted lyre players.