Tone In Siren Song, & The Sirens

The Odyssey has many stylistic choices that change the story in many different ways to improve it and make the reader better understand the text they are reading.

Odysseus faces temptation with the help of Circe . She describes the obstacles he will face with his men while at sea. When approaching the islands of the Sirens he takes the advice he was given and plugs his men's ear with beeswax, and orders them to tie him up to the ship. He hears the Sirens beautiful song alone, hoping to have the future revealed to him . The song is so seductive and tempting he begs for his men to untie him , but his loyal men bind him up tighter. Odysseus , unlike Sir Gawain has help fighting the temptation, he receives both advice and help from his men who tie him up, restraining him from falling into the temptation. Sir Gawain must face a moral battle alone, does he follow the rules of courtesy and give lady bertilak what she wants or does he continue to turn her down due to honor and respect for the king and himself.

Through the imagery of both Homer and Margaret Atwood we see the difference in the Siren’s attitude in each poem. In The Odyssey, the Siren says, “honeyed voices pouring from our lips.” This imagery is a seductive tactic used by the Siren to lure the men closer. Odysseus tells us that his heart wanted more. This shows how the desire to get closer to the Siren was toxic. In “Siren Song” the Siren uses imagery to mock herself and make the reader feel bad for her. She tells us that she is “squatting on the island looking picturesque and mythical.” It is inferred that she is simply unhappy and bored where she is.

"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

The amazing epic poem by Homer entitled “The Odyssey” shares many similarities and many differences as well with the Hallmark movie of the same name. The epic poem is about the hero Odysseus who has spent twenty long years filled with toil and loss, through war and sea desperate to return to his home of Ithaca. Odysseus has angered some of the gods and goddesses of a Greek Mythology with his destruction of the mighty city of Troy. Odysseus is represented in the poem and the movie, but there are several differences between the two in the events he encountered. There are also numerous similarities

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 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.

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.

During the course of history, the world has seen many fine works of literature like Homer’s epic, Odyssey. This book is a standard against which to compare all literary novels. The symbolism permeates the pages drawing the reader into the intriguing plot that includes twists within the central theme. Also, the author intelligently uses imagery and diction painting dramatic images in the reader's mind - building upon major the themes.

First, Odysseus and his men must sail past the Sirens, however, hearing their song leads any sailor to his doom. Circe herself tells Odysseus that “the Sirens will sing his mind away on that sweet meadow lolling.” (678 ll. 666-667) How does Odysseus overcome this adversary? He simply follows Circe’s orders to “plug your oars men's ears with beeswax….” (678 ll. 670-671) Although, she urges Odysseus to listen to the song of the Sirens alone. So, to prevent himself from becoming an issue, he orders his men to tie him up “plumb, amidships, back to the mast, lashed to the mast….” (681 ll. 746-747) This solution was also given to Odysseus via word of Circe. Thus, if Odysseus had not clearly followed Circe’s instructions, from plugging his men’s ears with beeswax to ordering his men to tie him to the mast, he and his crew would have met a fatal end. Much like soldiers in real life, Odysseus and his crew had to comply and obey orders in order to guarantee success on a mission. Circe’s advice allowed Odysseus to overcome the deadly Sirens without any loss, however, his whole journey did not go as smoothly.

In the epic, Odysseus and his men traveled to an island inhabited by cyclops’. While they were exploring the island they became trapped in a cave with one of the cyclops. Without Odysseus’ clever thinking/planning, him and his men would have died. Part of Odysseus’ ingenious plan was telling the giant his name was Nohbdy, so when they injured his eye the giant would yell “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!” which wouldn’t alarm his brothers on the island because he is saying nobody had hurt him. (ll.357-358) Odysseus also proved he was a hero by devising a plan that would work to sail past the sirens while also listening to what the blind prophet Tiresias told him. He wasn’t told how to protect his men from being seduced by the sirens, he had to come up with a strategy that would work all on his own. He knew he had to listen to the Sirens but if his crew heard the sirens they would be led to their destruction so, “(Odysseus) carried wax along the line, and laid it thick on their ears.” so they weren't compelled by the sirens’ loving voices. (ll. 712-713) Without Odysseus’ clever planning they would have been led to their deaths. Odysseus wasn’t only a clever man he also had a lot of

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.

As Odysseus travels through the epic, he is constantly trying to maintain his image, always bragging about his wisdom and talents. The Sirens expose and exploit this weakness of his when he encounters them. Their “honeyed voices pouring from [their] lips” (Homer, Odyssey, p. 277, 12.203) is a sticky trap that reveals just how much Odysseus yearns for glory and fame. They call him “Archaea’s pride and glory” and tell him to “come closer, famous Odysseus” (Homer, Odyssey, p. 277, 12.200). By making “famous” the new epithet to his name, they have already won his heart. They then proceed to tempt him in with promises of more wisdom. Odysseus had to literally be tied down so that he would not jump off the ship. All the while, the Sirens most definitely knew that humans are inherently greedy and susceptible to temptation.

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