The Serins: Half-Bird Women of Greek Mythology

The Sweet Singing Sirens

The Sirens in Greek mythology, were the daughters of Phorcys the sea-god. Writers generally claimed to say they were a group of three. Also that their home is an island in the western sea between Aeanea, the island of Circe, and the rock of Scylla. They are nymphs, or beautiful girls, of the sea. Their way of living was to lure mariners to the island by their sweet songs, and viciously kill the mariners. Unfortunately, mariners weren't ever able to escape the sirens once they heard the sweet songs because the sirens songs were hypnotizing. As soon as the mariners were hypnotized by the music the Sirens would then fulfill their duty and eat the mariners. Most did not know how to avoid the Sirens songs until Odysseus, warned by Circe what to do. Odysseus and his crew stopped their ears with wax and Odysseus bond himself to the mast of the ship until he was out of hearing range of the island. The Sirens were destined to live only on the island until someone heard their song without being hypnotized. Then the Sirens would fling themselves into the sea and were changed into sunken rocks. When the adventures of Odysseus were localized on the Italian and Sicilian coasts, the sirens were transferred to the neighborhood of Neapolis and surrentum. The Sirens wanted to be closer to the tomb of one of them, parthenope, was shown in time at neapolis, where a gymnastic contest with a torch-race was held in her honour. Various explanations are given of the Sirens. The Sirens were beautiful women of the sea, which is know known as deceiving calm seas. The sea is known as this because of the Sirens behavior, which is hiding their horrible killing by a deceiving smiling they show. Or, they symbolize the magic power of beauty, eloquence, and song. The Sirens images are placed over the graves of beautiful women and maidens. Another conception of them is that of singers for the dead, which they are often used in the adornment of tombs, and represented