Perhaps a little over-confident in their gifts the Sirens once even challenged the Muses to a musical competition but, alas, without success.Īccording to legend the Sirens were fated to die if a mortal ever resisted their beckoning.Īnother hero the Sirens tried to capture was Jason as he and his Argonauts passed on their way to find the Golden Fleece. So wonderful was their musical talent that it was said they could even calm the winds. The Sirens had beautiful singing voices and were gifted lyre players. Historically, the creature is of Eastern origin and came to Greece during the orientalizing period of Greek art. One tradition states their origin as companions of Persephone and, failing to prevent her rape, they were transformed into Sirens as punishment. The Sirens were hybrid creatures with the body of a bird and the head of a woman, sometimes also with human arms. In art, sirens usually appear as birds with the head of a woman. The most famous appearance of sirens in literature is in Homer's Odyssey where the hero Odysseus, on his long voyage home following the Trojan War, successfully escapes their enchanting call. Sirens were creatures from Greek mythology that enticed sailors to their destruction with their irresistibly beautiful singing.
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