When it comes to the legend of the sea siren, many tend to relate this mythical creature to the mermaid, a half human and half fish creature (which we will cover in the next FFL Friday!). But a small amount of research will conclude that this is actually not the case.
Sea sirens were bird-women inhabiting remote Greek islands. In some illustrations, they are shown with clawed feet, wings, and weren't what many would consider beautiful.
With the legend of the mermaid, it was - in many cases - their physical beauty that would lure sailors to swim toward them, only to be drowned upon arrival. A siren - on the other hand - would use their song to lure an unsuspecting person.
A siren's song was enchanting, bewitching, and quite dangerous, causing the listener to forget their human existence. If a sailor happened to be steering a ship when he heard the siren singing, he might forget about what he was doing and end up steering his ship onto the rocks. It is interesting to note that there aren't many stories of sirens physically attacking humans, and that the men likely died from starvation, as opposed to being killed by the sirens.
According to ancient writers, sirens often travel in twos or threes. Homer also discusses them in his writings, though does not describe the amount of numbers they commune in nor does he give them names. The island on which sirens dwell is usually described as being a rather gruesome scene with decomposing bodies and sun bleached bones.
When it comes to the origins of the siren, theories vary depending on the story. In some myths, they are described as being the daughters of a muse and river god, and sometimes a sea god. Calliope, Melpomene or Terpsichore have been suggested as potential mothers. Euripides, however, suggests Sterope as their mother.
As for the reason behind the siren's song, many believe that the songs avenge the sirens for the wrongs bestowed on them by Demeter's curse and Hera's exploitation.
There’s also a theory that the sirens were lonely and wanted human company, making their singing an 'invitation' for the sailors to join them.
Others think they might have sung the songs out of grief for their fate, the sadness in the world (as they are said to have told Odysseus). Their way of handling this level of pain and foresight was to share it.
The siren and perceptions of them also evolved over time. In early 4th century BC, sirens were appearing as women from the waist up and birds from the waist down. Then in 1st century BC, sirens were given full female bodies but kept their wings. In the Early Modern Period, European scholars had the texts of the ancient Greeks, but no images and without the latter, scholars had to piece together the rather vague descriptions. These scholars were also far more familiar with what mermaids were, so the two became conflated and thus the siren became superimposed onto the mermaid. A noteworthy tale is one of the water nymph Lorelei, who did lure men to their death on the Rhine.
Song Loreley by Blackmore's Night
Source:
https://www.worldhistory.org/Siren/
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