The Lure of the Sirens in the Odyssey Isn’t What You Think It Is
One of the many fascinating adventures of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey is his encounter with the Sirens. The Sirens have the appearance of beautiful women, but are half bird. They sing, and their song is so compelling that men are irresistibly drawn toward them. In the Odyssey they are situated on rocks in the ocean. Men coming towards them on boats would have their boats smashed on the rocks and drown. The Sirens were counterparts to the Muses. While the Muses inspired greatness in music and poetry, the Sirens’ songs led to death.
Odysseus came up with a clever scheme to get his ship past the Sirens while getting to hear their song. He sealed the ears of his sailors with wax so that they would be unable to hear the Sirens. He had his sailors tie him firmly to his ship’s mast so that he would be unable to move.
On the surface, this story seems to be a cautionary tale about the influence beautiful women can have over men. This, however, is not what the story is about. Cicero tells us the true meaning of the story in De Finibus V.18:
…it was not the sweetness of their voices or the novelty and diversity of their songs, but their professions of knowledge that used to attract the passing voyageurs; it was the passion for learning that kept men rooted to the Sirens’ rocky shores. Homer was…
