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The SIRENS, they say, had maidens' features, but
from the thighs down they had the forms of birds.
One of them played the lyre, another sang, and
another played the flute. By these means, and by
clever, knavish, and deceitful words, they
persuaded passing mariners to linger, thus causing
their destruction. That is why the island where
they lived was full of the bones of those who had
perished. The SIRENS are thought to be three, but
the names given are more: Aglaope, Leucosia 2,
Parthenope 3, Pisinoe 1, Thelxiepia.
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Former companions of
Persephone
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The SIRENS had been companions of
Persephone before she
was ravished by Hades.
Having sought for her in vain, they prayed that
they would grow wings, and that they might not
loose their tuneful voices. Once their wishes were
granted by the gods, they sang in unison with the
music of the MOERAE.
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Their feathers plucked
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It is also told that
Hera persuaded the SIRENS
to compete with the MUSES.
But these, invincible as ever, won with their
songs, and having plucked out the SIRENS' feathers,
they made crowns for themselves out of them.
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The ARGONAUTS pass
by them
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When the ARGONAUTS
sailed past the SIRENS,
Orpheus chanted a
counter melody to protect his companions, but the
Argonaut Butes 1 (son of Zeuxippe 1, daughter of
the river god Eridanus) swam off to the SIRENS, and
would have perished had not
Aphrodite carried him
away.
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Prophecy
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It was predicted, however, that the SIRENS would
die when a ship passed them unharmed. And since
Odysseus succeeded in
escaping them, no one else has met them, which
indicates that they are forever dead and gone.
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One reason for their absence
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It is well known that no one returns from the
Underworld (except
for a few), and it has been conjectured that all
who die are being kept there, not by Compulsion
(which would not be strong enough), but by the
strongest of bonds, Desire, which Hades
himself entertains.
"... not even
the SIRENS, but they and all others have been
overcome by his [Hades] enchantments ..."
for
"... so
beautiful, as it appears, are the words which
Hades has the power to speak."
this god being
"... a great
benefactor of those in his realm."
[Socrates. Plato,
Cratylus
403e]
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How Odysseus escaped
them
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But Odysseus heard
their lovely song. For he, following
Circe's instructions,
stopped the ears of his comrades with beeswax, and
ordered that he should himself be bound to the
mast, so that he could hear the voices of the
SIRENS, who then sang:
"Draw near ...
illustrious
Odysseus, flower of the Achaean chivalry,
and bring your ship to rest that you may hear our
voices. No seaman ever sailed his black ship past
this place without listening to the sweet voice
that flow from our lips, and none that listened has
not been delighted and gone on a wiser man. For we
know all that the Achaeans and Trojans sufferer on
the broad plain of Troy by the will of the gods,
and we have foreknowledge of all that is going to
happen on this fruitful earth." [The SIRENS
to Odysseus. Homer,
Odyssey
12.184]
When he heard their persuasive song, he strongly
desired to linger and begged to be released, but
his comrades bound him tighter, until they had
sailed past them.
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Death of the SIRENS
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This is how Odysseus
defeated the SIRENS, and yet heard their voices.
According to what had been prophesied, they then
flung themselves into the depths of the sea and
perished. The body of one of them, Leucosia 2,
appeared on the shore of the island off Leucania in
southern Italy, which was called after her.
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Mourning voices
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The SIRENS were believed to join those who mourn
with their voices. That is why
Helen, in a moment of
grief, says:
"Oh, as I
begin the great lament of my great distress, what
mourning shall I strive to utter? or what Muse
shall I approach with tears or songs of death or
woe? ... Sirens, may you come to my mourning with
Libyan flute or pipe or lyre, tears to match my
plaintive woes."
[Helen. Euripides,
Helen
165 ff.]
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