Logan Armstrong
Professor Frick
INST 1501-05
19 January 2015
Ancient Monsters-Sirens Monsters, demons, witches, evil spirits, ghosts, etc… all play a major role in every culture in today’s world. From vampires to werewolves, or from Lochness to Big Foot, these creatures can cause chaos and fear in the people of these certain cultures and in many cases can become manipulated or controlled by these monsters or mythical creatures. But, these monsters didn’t just show up recently in today’s world, these monsters and many others began since the beginning of time and have shaped the type of monsters we see or portray in today’s society. But in some cases our views for similar creatures can be changed drastically over time such as the way mermaids are portrayed today compared to the way they were seen in ancient Greece where they were called Sirens. In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman of their time, and she is said to have accidentally released the troubles of the world by opening a forbidden box (Rankin NP). This is similar to today’s Biblical story of Adam and Eve and how Eve released the troubles or sins of the world by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree. Pandora’s curiosity and foolishness which drove her to opening the box were ultimately viewed as the typical attributes of women and thus justified their inferiority to men of that time (Rankin NP). Pandora’s actions led to women being labeled as sneaky, temptresses who carelessly complicate the lives of men, but mostly associated with the term trickery (According NP). The generations to follow Pandora only helped to assure these traits and attributes given to women of that time. One such group of female adversaries of ancient Greece were known as the Sirens. Sailing was a very important part of ancient Greek life, but the waters of the Mediterranean were very dangerous and the epic literature of the times reflected this awe and fear of the sea. It is most probable that out of these mixed feelings for the waters came the seed for the Sirens, reflecting the communion that sailors feel with the ocean, one that is both beautiful and deadly (Siren NP). Originally, not much was known about the Sirens, because anyone drawn to their calls never came back alive. It has been suggested that the Siren is actually the precursor for the Northern European mermaids, half-women and half-fish creatures that lured individual sailors into the water, where they were drowned and eaten (Siren NP). Sirens, in Greek mythology, were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses who had beautiful maidens’ features but from the thighs down, they had forms of birds, often described as sparrows (Parada NP). The three Sirens were skilled musicians both vocally and instrumentally, each had a different role; one played the lyre, one sang, and another played the flute. By these means, to which they added clever, knavish, and deceitful words, they persuaded passing mariners to linger, leading to their destruction. They were companions of Persephone, a Greek goddess, when she was kidnapped by Hades. The Sirens prayed that they may grow wings and that they never lose their tuneful voices and so the gods granted their wishes (Parada NP). As servants of the goddess of the underworld, they sang prophecies relating to the kingdom of the god Hades and it’s said their voices were so sweet that enchanted sailors smashed their ships upon the rocks beneath the Siren’s coastal meadow (Siren NP). Their enchanting music and voices easily lured in nearby sailors at sea where they were lead to the rocky coast of their flowery island of Anthemoessa or sometimes known as Cape Pelorum (southwestern coast of Italy between island of Aeaea and rock of Scylla) (Parada NP). The island is said to have been filled with bones and carcasses of men.
It was prophesied that when any ship would sail past their island without succumbing to the sweet song, the Sirens would leap into the sea and drown (Siren