Odysseus and the Sirens

(Top: "Odysseus and the Sirens") Greek red-figured stamnos vase from 480BC-470BC. Height: 34 cm, width: 38 cm, depth: 29 cm. (Bottom: "The Sirens and Ulysses") Oil painting on canvas from 1837, 14'6.2" x 9'8.9" (442.5 x 297 cm).

In the Odyssey, the enchantress Circe has warned Odysseus about the Sirens, creatures that take the form of women-animal creatures with beautiful voices who lure unsuspecting sailors to their doom with the Sirens' song. As Odysseus and his crew pass the island of the sirens, his crew wishes to land. Odysseus, heeding Circe's warning, plugs his crew's ears with beeswax to prevent them from being charmed by the Sirens' song. Odysseus, meanwhile, wishes to know what the Sirens are singing. He has his crew tie him to the mast to physically prevent him from being lured to his death while he listens to their song. Interestingly, the vase portrays the Sirens as half-bird half-woman, whereas much later Victorian depictions of the Sirens like Etty's tend to show them as very humanlike, emphasizing their human beauty instead of their song.