From bird to mermaid
In the Odyssey the Sirens lure sailors to their deaths with their song. The ancient Greeks pictured them as part woman, part bird; later art made them part fish, like mermaids.
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Ulysses and the Sirens
Herbert James Draper · 1909
painting
NudityRead the context
In Homer's Odyssey, the Sirens lure sailors to their deaths with their song. Draper's picture takes up that story. Like many painters of his time, Draper painted the femme fatale, the seductive and dangerous woman.
Details
Look at what kind of Siren you are given. The ancient Greeks pictured the Sirens as part woman, part bird, and later art also made them part fish, like mermaids. Nineteenth-century art cast them as seductive temptresses.
In its time
1909
Books from this period
Where it hangs
Ferens Art Gallery
In context
The Siren as temptress
Nineteenth-century art cast the Sirens as seductive temptresses. Like many painters of his time, Draper painted the femme fatale: the woman who is both alluring and dangerous.
Also used in a spark on the home page.