The Characteristics Of The Sirens In The Odyssey

The portrayals of the Siren in The Odyssey and “Siren Song” can be compared through point of view, tone, and imagery. In Homer’s poem the Siren is seen as an irresistible desire, a toxic aspiration that manipulated and captivated men to come closer. In “Siren Song” the Siren is portrayed as merely a taunting boredom. She herself tells us that to her it is boring, “But it works every

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.

There is a universal ideology that suggests that each gender plays their specific, individualized roles in society: men acting as independent, powerful alpha males, and women being their dutiful submissives. Contemporary narratives depict women as such whereas mythology is rich with goddesses and other female figures who are brave and powerful warriors equal to men. So if mythology can be overflowed with stories about female leaders, how come contemporary narratives have derived from that viewpoint? Sirens in Greek Mythology are a perfect example of the derivation to the new idea of women in society: weak. By examining the myth of Sirens through a feminist critical lens, the question of whether society is “concerned with the ways in which literature and other cultural productions reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression”(Brizee Web) will be answered. The mythological legend of the Sirens highlights the superiority of these figures who could destroy by temptation through their melodic voices; modern interpretations of sirens- as in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989)- reduce the feminine power of the siren to a contemporary stereotype of the powerless, dependent, subservient woman.

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

This woman of surpassing beauty provides an emotional test for the hero along his journey. This role is filled by Calypso in the epic, a gorgeous nymph whose love for Odysseus makes him her captive for seven years. Ulysses’s trek to his homeland is significantly altered by the appearance of the Sirens down at the river, three women who try to capture the men for the bounty through physical attraction. The Sirens of Homer’s work are a challenge along the hero’s travels, but they do not play such a profound role like Calypso. The nymph’s love for Odysseus was true, her heart fixated on the hero that landed upon her isle. The Sirens of Ulysses’s tale used sexual temptation to drag the men in, their intentions driven by greed. Both Odysseus and Ulysses face these women as their sensuous powers delay them from reaching their treasured goal: home. The presence of these characters helps establish the protagonists’ humanity, demonstrating how love and temptation also linger within the hearts of heroes. The contrast between the motivation of Calypso and the film’s Sirens shows two distinct characters: the temptress moved by love and the temptress moved by

In both, the sirens and laundry ladies are portrayed as very beautiful women who attract the men with their angelic singing. In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men are able to resist their temptations in falling for the women. In addition, Odysseus and his men used strategy by tying Odysseus down to the boat and the men using beeswax in their ears to block out the sirens’ voices. However in O’ Brother Where Art Thou, Everett, Delmer, and Pete do fall under the ‘spell’ of the laundry ladies voices, and are put into a

Analyzing different mediums can enhance an individual’s overall appreciation and understanding of a particular idea or story. While analysis of a painting can reveal the mood of the artwork, an analysis of a poem can reveal the author’s tone. Much more then that, analysis provides an opportunity to explore each work in an attempt to understand human nature through each author’s perspective. While exploring the painting “Ulysses and the Sirens” by J.W. Waterhouse and the poem “The siren song” by Margaret Atwood, a universal truth presents itself. While the painting focuses on the thematic idea of Odysseus being stubborn while his men care for his safety to get home, the poem holds a different view. In contrast, the thematic statement from the poem discusses the idea that the Siren hates singing and being in a bird suit, but is asking for help but it’s still tempting to hear the song. Although differing in point of view, both the painting and the poem explore an aspect of human nature that are relevant to society today. There are two different authors for the painting and the poem. However, the two are different when compared to each

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.

     Many people regard Homer’s epics as war stories—stories about men; those people often overlook the important roles that women play in the Odyssey. While there are not many female characters in the Odyssey, the few that there are, play pivotal roles in the story and one can gain a lot of insight by analyzing how those women are portrayed. Homer portrays the females in contradictory ways: the characters of Athena and Eurykleia are given strong, admirable roles while Melantho, the Sirens and Circe are depicted in a much more negative way. Penelope—the central female character—is given both negative and positive attributes.

The characters in Greek Mythology have multiple interpretations. Among these characters include the dangerous, yet gorgeous Sirens, bird-women who sit on a cliff singing bewitching songs that captivate the minds of innocent travelers and entice them to their deaths. In Homer’s The Odyssey and Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song,” both poets provide different representations of the Sirens. Homer portrays the Sirens as irresistible in order to establish men as heroes, whereas Atwood depicts them as unsightly and pathetic so she can prove men are foolish and arrogant using imagery, diction, and point of view.

The siren is one of the most widely used “monsters” today. By definition they are beautiful yet dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. These creatures are described as an irresistible mixture of woman and bird. Sirens, or otherwise known as “muses of the

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.

The role of women in Greek literature has demoralized them and showing them in a maligned light. The women are portrayed as frail, cruel, insensitive, or as seductresses. These characteristics have been integrated into today’s society and [have] built the standards and defined the moral outlook of women. However, in Greek mythology, powerful and strong women are not as well celebrated, such as Athena. Homer’s The Odyssey construes the positive and negative role of women through the epic poem. The women in the poem are depicted through the contrasting actions of Penelope and the maids, in addition with the opposite personalities between the goddess Athena and the nymph Calypso.

The stories that as a whole make up the body of ancient Greek mythology have treatedthe complex subject of women in various ways. Although women are generally considered to beweak and subordinate to their husbands, there exist some examples of strong, even heroic womenin certain myths. Such “extraordinary” women include Deianeira, Phaedra, Medea, Penelope,and Clytemnestra, among others. This discussion of women will focus on the latter two,comparing and contrasting them and addressing the ways in which the former is often considereda “good” wife and the latter a “bad” wife. The comparison of Penelope and Clytemnestra willultimately show that, in certain ways, the line between “good” and “bad” wife is rather blurryand the distinction between husband-killing monster and devoted, faithful wife is not as clear-cutas one might expect.The major works in which Penelope and Clytemnestra appear are Homer’s Odyssey andAeschylus’ Oresteia, particularly the Agamemnon. One of the first things to notice about theseworks is that they were both written by men, for men. Given the ancient Greek context, this is arather obvious observation, but it deserves to be pointed out because it should be expected thatmen would have a biased view of women. Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days describe thecreation of Pandora, the first of “the race of women”, as a gift and punishment from the gods.While she is made to “look like a goddess immortal, / having the lovely, desirable shape of a

The themes of both poems show the complete mental consumption of the voice’s. Their pre-dominative behaviour appears to emerge from perverted good values. The paranoid voice of a woman, angered with her supposed cheating husband runs throughout the duration of ‘Medusa,’ seeming to grow in anger as it meets every line. In addition, Carol Ann Duffy creates an extended metaphor of this women’s transformation into the monstrous character ‘Medusa,’ using members present in Greek mythology, in order to paint a metaphorical juxtaposition of a once beautiful woman, now a hideous ‘gorgon’ due to the impact of detrimental human emotion. Detrimental emotion being, as shown by the phrase: ‘My brides breath soured, stank,’ with the use of sensory imagery demonstrating how a slight ‘suspicion’ has taken hold of the voice. Moreover, this build-up and outpour of the slight ‘suspicion’ and emotion over the poem suggests that the voice has succumbed to and has allowed herself