
The SirensΣειρῆνες · singers of the rocks
Bird-bodied women whose song is so sweet that sailors steer to their island and die there, in a meadow heaped with the bones of the men who came before.
Why do Sirens have wings?
Ancient Greek art pictured Sirens as part woman, part bird. Look for their faces in Waterhouse’s painting.
Michelle Bonollo · NGV essay ↗Context
To hear their song and live, Odysseus had his crew stop their ears with wax and bind him to the mast, so he alone could listen as they passed.
Appears in
📖 Homer, The Odyssey🎬 Draper & Waterhouse; a byword for fatal temptation
John William Waterhouse · Ulysses and the Sirens · 1891 · National Gallery of Victoria
The Night Parade
35 beings
ZeusΖεύς · father of gods and men
AthenaἈθηνᾶ · the grey-eyed
PoseidonΠοσειδῶν · the earth-shaker
CirceΚίρκη · the enchantress
MedusaΜέδουσα · the Gorgon
The SirensΣειρῆνες · singers of the rocks
PolyphemusΠολύφημος · the one-eyed
The MinotaurΜινώταυρος · the bull of the maze
PersephoneΠερσεφόνη · queen of the dead
Psyche & ErosΨυχή · the soul and love
ApolloἈπόλλων · the far-shooter
ArtemisἌρτεμις · the huntress
AphroditeἈφροδίτη · foam-born
HermesἙρμῆς · the guide of souls
Hadesᾍδης · lord of the dead
DionysusΔιόνυσος · the twice-born
HephaestusἭφαιστος · the smith of the gods
PrometheusΠρομηθεύς · the fire-bringer
HeraclesἩρακλῆς · the strongest of men
PerseusΠερσεύς · the Gorgon-slayer
TheseusΘησεύς · the hero of Athens
OrpheusὈρφεύς · the singer
CerberusΚέρβερος · the hound of Hades
PegasusΠήγασος · the winged horse
The HydraὝδρα · the many-headed
The ChimeraΧίμαιρα · the fire-breather
The SphinxΣ φίγξ · the riddler
The FatesΜοῖραι · the three spinners
The FuriesἘρινύες · the avengers
CharonΧάρων · ferryman of the dead
AchillesἈχιλλεύς · the greatest of the Greeks
OdysseusὈδυσσεύς · the man of many turns
IcarusἼκαρος · the boy who flew too high
ChironΧείρων · the wise centaur