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Σειρην Seirên Siren Entwiner, Binder
pub-3887923691 Σειρηνες Seirênes Sireni (seiraô)

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Odysseus & the Sirens, Athenian red-figure

stamnos C5th B.C., British Museum

THE SEIRENES (or Sirens) were three sea nymphs who lured sailors to their death
with a bewitching song. They were formerly handmaidens of the goddess
Persephone. When the girl was secretly abducted by Haides, Demeter gave them the
bodies of birds, and sent to assist in the search. They eventually gave up and
settled on the flowery island of Anthemoessa.
The Seirenes were later encountered by the Argonauts who passed by unharmed
with the help of Orpheus, the poet drowing out their music with his song.
Odysseus also sailed by, bound tightly to the mast, his men blocking their ears
with wax. The Seirenes were so distressed to see a man hear their song and yet
escape, that they threw themselves into the sea and drowned.
The Seirenes were depicted as birds with either the heads, or the entire upper
bodies, of women. In mosaic art they were depicted with just bird legs.

PARENTS

[1.1] AKHELOIOS & MELPOMENE (Apollodorus 1.18, 1.63, Lycophron 712, Hyginus Fabulae
141)
[1.2] AKHELOIOS & TERPSIKHORE (Apollonius Rhodius 4.892, Nonnus Dionysiaca 13.313)
[1.3] AKHELOIOS & STEROPE (Apollodorus 1.63)
[1.4] AKHELOIOS (Pausanias 9.34.3, Ovid Metamorphoses 14.85)
[2.1] GAIA (Euripides Helen 167)

NAMES
[1.1] THELXIOPE-THELXINOE, MOLPE, AGLAOPHONOS (Hesiod Catalogues Frag 47)
[1.2] THELXIEPEIA, PEISINOE, AGLAOPE (Apollodorus E7.18)
[1.3] THELXIEPEIA, PEISINOE, LIGEIA (Suidas 'Seirenas')
[2.1] PARTHENOPE, LEUKOESIA (Strabo 5.4.7 & 6.1.1)
[2.2] PARTHENOPE, LIGEIA, LEUKOSIA (Lycophron 712)

ENCYCLOPEDIA
SIRE′NES or SEIRE′NES (Seirênes), mythical beings who were believed to have
the power of enchanting and charming, by their song, any one who heard them.
When Odysseus, in his wanderings through the Mediterranean, came near the
island on the lovely beach of which the Sirens were sitting, and endeavouring to
allure him and his companions, he, on the advice of Circe, stuffed the ears of
his companions with wax, and tied himself to the mast of his vessel, until he
was so far off that he could no longer hear their song (Hom. Od. xii. 39, &c.,
166, &c.). According to Homer, the island of the Sirens was situated between
Aeaea and the rock of Scylla, near the south-western coast of Italy. Homer says
nothing of their number, but later writers mention both their names and
number some state that they were two, Aglaopheme and Thelxiepeia (Eustath.
ad Hom. p. 1709); and others, that there were three, Peisinoë, Aglaope, and
Thelxiepeia (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 712), or Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leucosia
(Eustath. l. c. ; Strab. v. pp. 246, 252; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. iv. 562). They are
called daughters of Phorcus (Plut. Sympos. ix. 14), of Achelous and Sterope
(Apollod. i. 7. § 10), of Terpsichore (Apollon. Rhod. iv. 893), of Melpomene
(Apollod. i. 3. § 4), of Calliope (Serv. ad Aen. v. 364), or of Gaea (Eurip. Hel.
168). Their place of abode is likewise different in the different traditions, for
some place them on cape Pelorum others in the island of Anthemusa, and
others again in the Sirenusian islands near Paestum, or in Capreae (Strab. i. p.
22; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1709; Serv. l.c.). The Sirens are also connected with
the legends about the Argonauts and the rape of Persephone. When the
Argonauts, it is said. passed by the Sirens, the latter began to sing, but in vain,
for Orpheus rivalled and surpassed them ; and as it had been decreed that they
should live only till some one hearing their song should pass by unmoved, they
threw themselves into the sea, and were metamorphosed into rocks. Some
writers connected the self-destruction of the Sirens with the story of Orpheus
and the Argonauts, and others With that of Odysseus (Strab. v. p. 252; Orph.
Arg. 1284; Apollod. i. 9. § 25; Hygin. Fab. 141). Late poets represent them as
provided with wings, which they are said to have received at their own request,
in order to be able to search after Persephone (Ov. Met. v. 552), or as a
punishment from Demeter for not having assisted Persephone (Hygin. l. c.), or
from Aphrodite, because they wished to remain virgins (Eustath. l. c. ; Aelian,
H. A. xvii. 23; Apollon. Rhod. iv. 896). Once, however, they allowed themselves
to be prevailed upon by Hera to enter into a contest with the Muses, and being
defeated, they were deprived of their wings (Paus. ix. 34. § 2; Eustath. ad
Hom. p. 85). There was a temple of the Sirens near Surrentum, and the tomb
of Parthenope was believed to be near Neapolis. (Strab. i. p. 23, v. p. 246.)
ACHELO′IS. A surname of the Sirens, the daughters of Achelous and a muse.
(Ov. Met. v. 552, xiv. 87; Apollod. i. 7. § 10.)
LIGEIA or LIGEA (Ligeia), (Ligeia), i. e. the shrill sounding, occurs as the name
of a seiren and of a nymph. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1709; Virg. Georg. iv. 336.)
PARTHE′NOPE (Parthenopê). One of the Seirens (Schol. ad Hom. Od. xii. 39;
Aristot. Mir. Ausc. 103.) At Naples her tomb was shown, and a torch race was
held every year in her honour. (Strab. v. p. 246; Tzetz. ad Lyc. 732.)
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

BIRTH & NAMES OF THE SEIRENES

Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 47 (from Scholiast on Homer's Odyssey
12. 168) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"Their [the Seirenes] names are Thelxiope or Thelxinoe, Molpe and
Aglaophonos."
Euripides, Helen 167 (trans. Vellacott) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"Winged maidens, virgin daughters of Gaia (Earth), the Seirenes."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 18 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer
C2nd A.D.) :
"Melpomene bore to Akheloios the Seirenes, whom we shall discuss in the course
of the tale of Odysseus."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 63 :
"They [King Porthaon & his wife Euryte of Aitolia] also had a daughter Sterope,
who was alleged to be the mother by Akheloios of the Seirenes."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E7. 18 :
"The Seirenes. They were the daughters of Akhelous and the Mousa Melpomene,
and their names were Peisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia."
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 892 (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"Lovely Terpsikhore, one of the Mousai, had borne them [the Seirenes] to
Akheloios."
Lycophron, Alexandra 712 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"The triple daughters [the Seirenes] of Tethys’ son [Akheloos], who imitated the
strains of their melodious mother [Melpomene] . . . One of them . . . the bird
goddess Parthenope. And Leukosia . . . and Ligeia."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 141 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"The Sirenes, daughter of the River Achelous and the Muse Melpomene."
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 13. 313 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"Lake Katana [in Sicily] near the Seirenes, whom rosy Terpsikhore brought forth
by the stormy embraces of her bull-horned husband Akheloios."
Suidas s.v. Seirenas (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.)
:
"The names of the Seirenes: Thelxiepeia, Peisinoe, Ligeia."
Greek Names: Θελξιοπη Θελξινοη Θελξιεπεια Μολπη
Transliteration: Thelxiopê Thelxinoê Thelxiepeia Molpê
Latin Spelling Thelxiope Thelxinoe Thelxiepea
Translation: Molpe
Charming Voice Mind Charming Charming-? Song
(thelxis, ops) (thelxis, noos) (thelxis) (molpê)

Greek Names: Πεισινοη Αγλαοφωνος Αγλαοπη Παρθενοπη

Transliteration: Peisinoe Aglaophônos Aglaopê
Latin Spelling Parthenopê
Peisinoe Aglaophonus Aglaope Parthenope
Translation: Mind-Affecting Splendid Splendid Voice Maiden Voice
(noos, peisis) Sounding (aglaos, ops) (parthenos,
(aglaos, phônê) ops)

Greek Names: Λιγεια Λευκωσια

Transliteration: Ligeia Leukôsia
Latin Spelling Ligea Leucosia
Translation: Clear Toned White
(ligeios) Substance
(leukê, ôsia)

SEIRENES GENERAL
Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 47 (from Scholiast on Homer's Odyssey
12. 168) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"He [Apollonius] followed Hesiod who thus names the island of the Seirenia: 'To
the island Anthemoessa (Flowery) which the son of Kronos gave them. And their
names are Thelxiope or Thelxinoe, Molpe and Aglaophonos. Hence Hesiod said
that they charmed even the Anemoi (Winds)."
Alcman, Fragment 1 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek lyric C7th B.C.)
:
"She is of course not more melodious than the Serenides, for they are
goddesses."
Alcman, Fragment 30 :
"The Mosa (Muse) cries out, that clear-voiced Seren."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 21. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd
A.D.) :
"Down to the present day men are wont to liken to a Seiren whatever is
charming in both poetry and prose."
Aelian, On Animals 17. 23 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :
"But for beauty and clarity of tone their [an Indian bird’s] singing is unsurpassed;
they might be, if the expression is not too strong, Seirenes, for these fabled
maidens as celebrated by poets and portrayed by artists had wings."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 14. 85 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st
A.D.) :
"The fleet [of Aeneas] . . . cast off and left behind Hippotades’ [Aiolos’] domain,
the smoking land of sulphur fumes, and the three Sirenes Acheloiades’ rock."
Statius, Silvae 2. 1. 10 (trans. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) :
"The triple chant of the Sicilian maidens [the Seirenes] wafted hither."
Statius, Silvae 5. 3. 82 :
"The Tyrrhenian winged maids [the Seirenes’] chant to mariners from the fatal
cliff."
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 5. 12 (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
"Like Sireni they lean out over the crag, and make the rocks resound with the
death-dealing cries!"
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 2. 10 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"When a sailor hears the Seiren’s perfidious song, and bewitched by the melody,
he is dragged to a self-chosen fate too soon; no longer he cleaves the waves, no
longer he whitends the blue water with his oars unwetted now, but falling into
the net of melodious Moira (Fate), he forgets to steer, quite happy, caring not for
the seven starry Pleiades and the Bear’s circling course."
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 22. 1 ff :
"Sang a melody of Sikelian tune like the hymns which the minstrel Seirenes pour
from their honeytongued throats."
Suidas s.v. Seirenas (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.)
:
"Seirenes : Seirenes were women with lyric voices who, in bygone Greek myth,
dwelled on a small island and so enticed passing sailors with their beautiful
voices that crews steered in and perished there. From their chests up they had
the form of sparrows, below they were women. Mythologers say that they were
little birds with women's faces who beguiled sailors as they passed by, bewitching
with lewd songs the hearing of those harkening to them. And the song of
pleasure has no good consequence, only death. But the truth of the matter is
this, that there are narrow straits in the sea created by certain mountains in
which the compressed rush of water sends up a sort of melodious lilt; when those
who sail by hear it, they trust their lives to the rushing water and perish, with
crews and ships . . . Also in the Epigrams, 'And that talking is sweeter than
Seirenes.' The names of the Seirenes: Thelxiepeia, Peisinoe, Ligeia; Anthemousa
the island they inhabited."
Suidas s.v. Sereneion melos :
"Seireneion melos (Siren Song)."

O21.1 SIREN O21.3 SIRENS, O21.5 SIRENS, O21.6 SIRENS,

DECORATIVE ODYSSEUS ODYSSEUS ODYSSEUS

SEIRENES HANDMAIDENS OF PERSEPHONE

Euripides, Helen 167 ff (trans. Vellacott) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"[Helene speaks :] `Winged maidens, virgin daughters of Gaia (Earth), the
Seirenes, may you come to my mourning with Libyan flute or pipe or lyre, tears
to match my plaintive woes; grief for grief and mournful chant for chant, may
Persephone send choirs of death in harmony with my lamentation, so that she
may receive as thanks from me, in addition to my tears, a paean for the
departed dead beneath her gloomy roof.'"
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 892 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"Lovely Terpsikhore, one of the Mousai, had borne them [the Seirenes] to
Akheloos, and at one time they had been handmaids to Demeter’s gallant
Daughter [Persephone], before she was married, and sung to her in chorus. But
now, half human and half bird in form, they spent their time watching for ships
from a height that overlooked their excellent harbour; and many a traveller,
reduced by them to skin and bones, had forfeited the happiness of reaching
home."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 141 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"The Sirenes, daughter of the River Achelous and the Muse Melpomene,
wandering away after the rape of Proserpina [Persephone], came to the land of
Apollo, and there were made flying creatures by the will of Ceres [Demeter]
because they had not brought help to her daughter. It was predicted that they
would live only until someone who heard their singing would pass by."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5. 552 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st
A.D.) :
"The Acheloides [Seirenes], why should it be that they have feathers now and
feet of birds, though still a girl’s fair face, the sweet-voiced Sirenes? Was it not
because, when Proserpine [Persephone] was picking those spring flowers, they
were her comrades there, and, when in vain they’d sought for her through all the
lands, they prayed for wings to carry them across the waves, so that the seas
should know their search, and found the gods gracious, and then suddenly saw
golden plumage clothing all their limbs? Yet to reserve that dower of glorious
song, their melodies’ enchantment, they retained their fair girls’ features and
their human voice."

CONTEST OF SEIRENES & MOUSAI

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. 34. 3 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd
A.D.) :
"[At Koroneia in Boiotia] is a sanctuary of Hera . . . in her [the statue's] hands
she carried the Seirenes. For the story goes that the daughters of Akheloios were
persuaded by Hera to compete with the Mousai in singing. The Mousai won,
plucked out the Seirenes’ feathers and made crowns for themselves out of them."

SEIRENES & THE DEATH OF THE KENTAUROI

Lycophron, Alexandra 648 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"Others [Odysseus] shall wander . . . the narrow meet of the Tyrrhenian Strait
and the watching-place fatal to the hybrid monsters [the Kentauroi] . . . and the
rocks of the harpy-limbed nightingales [Seirenes]."
Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 6 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon
190) (trans. Pearse) (Greek mythographer C1st to C2nd A.D.) :
"In the Alexandra which Lykophron wrote : `What sterile nightingale killer of
Kentauroi (centaurs) . . . ', these are the Seirenes who he called killers of
Kentauroi."
Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 5 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon
190) :
"The Kentauroi (centaurs) who fled from Herakles through Tyrsenia [in Italy]
perished of hunger, ensnared by the soft song of the Seirenes."

SEIRENES & THE ARGONAUTS

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 135 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer
C2nd A.D.) :
"As they [the Argonauts] sailed past the Seirenes, Orpheus kept the Argonauts in
check by singing a song that offset the effect of the sisters’ singing. The only one
to swim off to them was Butes, whom Aphrodite snatched up and settled at
Lilybaeum."
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 892 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"Before long they [the Argonauts] sighted the beautiful island of Anthemoessa,
where the clear-voiced Seirenes, Akheloios’ daughters, used to bewitch with their
seductive melodies whatever sailors anchored there. Lovely Terpsikhore, one of
the Mousai, has borne them to Akheloios, and at one time they had been
handmaids to Demeter’s gallant Daughter [Persephone], before she was married,
and sung to her in chorus. But now, half human and half bird in form, they spent
their time watching for ships from a height that overlooked their excellent
harbour; and many a traveller, reduced by them to skin and bones, had forfeited
the happiness of reaching home. The Seirenes, hoping to add the Argonauts to
these, made haste to greet them with a liquid melody; and the young men would
soon have cast their hawsers on the beach if Thrakian Orpheos had not
intervened. Raising his Bistonian lyre, he drew from it the lively tune of a fast-
moving song, so as to din their ears with a medley of competing sounds. The
girlish voices were defeated by the lure; and the set wind, aided by the sounding
backwash from the shore, carried the ship off. The Seirenes’ song grew indistinct;
yet even so there was one man, Boutes the noble son of Teleon, who was so
enchanted by their sweet voices that before he could be stopped he leapt into the
sea from his polished bench. The poor man swam through the dark swell making
for the shore, and had he landed, they would soon have robbed him of all hope of
reaching home. But Aphrodite, Queen of Eryx, had pity on him. She snatched
him up while he was still battling with the surf; and having saved his life, she
took him to her heart and found a home for him on the heights of Lilybaion."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 14 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Butes, son of Teleon, though diverted by the singing and lyre of Orpheus,
nevertheless was overcome by the sweetness of the Sirens’ song, and in an effort
to swim to them threw himself into the sea. Venus [Aphrodite] saved him at
Lilybaeum, as he was borne along by the waves."
Seneca, Medea 355 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"[On the voyage of the Argonauts :] What, when the deadly pests [the Seirenes]
soothed the Ausonian sea with their tuneful songs, when, sounding back on his
Pierian lyre, Thracian Orpheus well-nigh forced the Siren to follow, though wont
to hold ships spell-bound by her song?"

O21.2 SIRENS, O21.2B SIRENS,, O21.2C SIRENS, O21.4 SIRENS,

ODYSSEUS ODYSSEUS ODYSSEUS ODYSSEUS

SEIRENES & ODYSSEUS

Homer, Odyssey 12. 39 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"[Kirke advises Odysseus on his journey :] You will come to the Seirenes first of
all; they bewitch any mortal who approaches them. If a man in ignorance draws
too close and catches their music, he will never return to fine wife and little
children near him and to see their joy at his homecoming; the high clear tones of
the Seirenes will bewitch him. They sit in a meadow; men’s corpses lie heaped up
all round them, mouldering upon the bones as the skin decays. You must row
past there; you must stop the ears of all your crew with sweet wax that you have
kneaded, so that none of the rest may hear the song. But if you yourself are bent
on hearing, then give them orders to bind you both hand and foot as you stand
upright against the mast-stay, with the rope-ends tied to the mast itself; thus
you may hear the two Seirenes’ voices and be enraptured. If you implore your
crew and beg them to release you, then they must bind you fast with more bonds
again. When your crew have rowed past the Seirenes [you reach the Wandering
Rocks & the straight of Skylla and Kharybdis]."
Homer, Odyssey 12. 200 ff :
"Then with heavy heart I [Odysseus] spoke to my comrades thus : `Friends it is
not right that only one man, or only two, should know the divine decrees that
Lady Kirke has uttered to me. I will tell you of them, so that in full knowledge we
may die or in full knowledge escape, it may be, from death and doom. Her first
command was to shun the Seirenes--their enchanting notes, their flowery
meadow. I alone was to hear their song, she said. You for your part must bind
me with galling ropes as I stand upright against the mast-stay, with the rope-
ends tied to the mast itself; then I shall stay there immovably. And if I beg and
beseech you to set me free, you must bind me hard with more ropes again.’
Thus I told my comrades and made things plain, point by point. Meanwhile the
trim ship sped swiftly on to the island of the Seirenes, wafted still be the
favouring breeze. Then of a sudden the wind dropped and everything became
hushed and still, because some divinity lulled the waters. My men stood up,
furled the sails and stowed them in the ship’s hold, then sat at the thwarts and
made the sea white with their polished oars of fir. I myself, with my sharp sword,
cut a great round of wax into little pieces and set about kneading them with all
the strength I had. Under my mighty hands, and under the beams of the lordly
sun-god whose father is Hyperion, the wax quickly began to melt, and with it I
sealed all my comrades’ ears in turn. Then they bound me fast, hand and foot,
with the rope-ends tied to the mast itself, then again sat down and dipped their
oars in the whitening sea. But them, the Seirenes saw the quick vessel near
them and raised their voices in high clear notes : `Come hither, renowned
Odysseus, hither, you pride and glory of all Achaea! Pause with your ship; listen
to our song. Never has nay man passed this way in his dark vessel and left
unheard the honey-sweet music from our lips; first he has taken his delight, then
gone on his way a wiser man. We know of all the sorrows in the wide land of Troy
that Argives and Trojans bore because the gods would needs have it so; we know
all things that come to pass on the fruitful earth.’
So they sang with their lovely voices, and my heart was eager to listen still. I
twitched my brows to sign to the crew to let me go, but they leaned to their oars
and rowed on; Eurylokhos and Perimedes quickly stood up and bound me with
more ropes and with firmer hold. But when they had rowed well past the
Seirenes--when music and words could be heard no more--my trusty comrades
were quick to take out the wax that had sealed their ears, and to rescue and
unbind myself. But the island was hardly left behind when I saw smoke above the
heavy breakers and heard a great noise [the whirlpool of Kharybdis]."
Homer, Odyssey 13. 322 ff :
"[Odysseus tells Penelope of his travels :] How he heard the Seirenes singing and
came to the Wanderers, to grim Kharybdis and to Skylla."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E7. 18 - 19 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek
mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"[Odysseus] sailed past the island of the Seirenes. They were the daughters of
Akheloios and the Mousa Melpomene, and their names were Peisinoe, Aglaope,
and Thelxiepeia. One played the cithara, the second sang, and the third played
the flute, and in this manner they used to persuade passing sailors to remain
with them. From the thighs down they had the shape of birds. As Odysseus
sailed past, he wanted to hear their song, so, following Kirke’s instructions, he
plugged the ears of his comrades with wax, and had them tie him to the mast,
When the Sierenes persuaded him to stay with them, he begged to be set free,
but his men tied him even tighter, and thus he sailed past. An oracle had said
that the Seirenes would die if a ship ever made it past them; and indeed they
died."
Lycophron, Alexandra 648 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"Others [Odysseus] shall wander . . . the narrow meet of the Tyrrhenian Strait
and the watching-place fatal to mariners of the hybrid monster [Skylla] . . . and
the rocks of the harpy-limbed nightingales [Seirenes]."
Lycophron, Alexandra 668 ff :
"What Kharybdis shall not eat of his [Odysseus’] dead? What half-maiden Fury-
hound [Skylla]? What barren nightingale [Seiren], slayer of the Kentauroi [the
Kentauroi who escaped Herakles were so charmed by the song of the Seirenes
they forgot to eat and so perished], Aetolis or Kouretis, shall not with her varied
melody tempt them to waste away through fasting from food?"
Lycophron, Alexandra 712 ff :
"And he [Odysseus] shall slay the triple daughters [the Seirenes] of Tethys’ son
[Akheloos], who imitated the strains of their melodious mother [Melpomene] :
self-hurled from the cliff’s top they dive with their wings into the Tyrrhenian Sea,
where the bitter thread spun by the Moirai (Fates) shall draw them."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 14d (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to
C3rd A.D.) :
"The Seirens sing to Odysseus the things most likely to please him, reciting what
would appeal to his ambition and knowledge. `For we know,’ say they, `all other
things and all that shall befall upon the fruitful earth as well."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 125 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"He [Odysseus] came to the Sirenes, daughters of the Muse Melpomene and
Achelous, women in the upper parts of their bodies but bird below. It was their
fate to live only so long as mortals who heard their song failed to pass by.
Ulysses, instructed by Circe, daughter of Sol [Helios], stopped up the ears of his
comrades with wax, had himself bound to the wooden mast, and thus sailed by."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 141 :
"The Sirenes, daughter of the River Achelous and the Muse Melpomene . . . It
was predicted that they would live only until someone who heard their singing
would pass by. Ulysses proved fatal to them, for when by his cleverness he
passed by the rocks where they dwelt, they threw themselves into the sea. This
place is called Sirenides from them, and is between Sicily and Italy."

Z41.1 SIRENS Z41.1B SIRENS,

ON THE ROCKS ODYSSEUS SHIP

SEIRENES & TELEMAKHOS

Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 7 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon
190) (trans. Pearse) (Greek mythographer C1st to C2nd A.D.) :
"Telemakhos was put to death by the Seirenes when they learned that he was
the son of Odysseus."

CULT OF THE SEIRENES

Lycophron, Alexandra 712 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"And he [Odysseus] shall slay the triple daughters [the Seirenes] of Tethys’ son
[Akheloos], who imitated the strains of their melodious mother [Melpomene] :
self-hurled from the cliff’s top they dive with their wings into the Tyrrhenian Sea,
where the bitter thread spun by the Moirai shall draw them. One of them
[Parthenope] washed ashore the tower of Phaleros shall receive, and Glanis
wetting the earth with its streams. There the inhabitants shall build a tomb for
the maiden and with libations and sacrifice of oxen shall yearly honour the bird
goddess Parthenope. And Leukosia shall be cast on the jutting strand of Enipeus
and shall long haunt the rock that bears her name, where rapid Is and
neighbouring Laris pour forth their waters. And Ligeia shall come ashore at
Tereina spitting out the wave. And her shall sailormen bury on the stony beach
nigh to the eddies of Okinaros; and an ox-horned Ares shall lave her tomb with
his streams, cleansing with his waters the foundation of her whose children were
turned into birds. And there one day in honour of the first goddess [Parthenope]
of the sisterhood shall the ruler of the navy of Popsops [historical Athenian
admiral Diotimos] array for his mariners a torch-race, in obedience to an oracle,
which one day the people of the Neapolitans shall celebrate."
Strabo, Geography 5. 4. 7 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st
A.D.) :
"A monument of Parthenope, one of the Seirenes, is pointed out in Neapolis
[Naples in Italy], an in accordance with an oracle a gymnastic contest is
celebrated there."
Strabo, Geography 5. 4. 8 :
"Surrenton [in Italy], a city of the Kampanoi (Campani), whence the Athenaion
(of Athena) juts forth into the sea, which some call the Cape of Seirenoussai (of
the Sirens) . . . It is only a short voyage from here across to the island of Kaprea
(Capri); and after doubling the cape you come to desert, rocky isles, which are
the called the Seirenes."
Strabo, Geography 6. 1. 1 :
"Sailing out past the gulf [Poseidonian Gulf of Leukania in Italy], one comes to
Leukosia, an island, from which it is only a short voyage across to the continent.
The island is named after one of the Seirenes, who was cast ashore here after
the Seirenes had flung themselves, as the myth has it, into the depths of the sea
[following their encounter with Odysseus]. In front of the island lies that
promontory which is opposite the Seirenoussai and with them forms the
Poseidonian Gulf."
Virgil, Georgics 4. 563 (trans. Fairclough) (Roman bucolic C1st B.C.) :
"I, Virgil, was nursed by sweet Parthenope [i.e. the town of Naples, where the
Seiren was worshipped], and rejoiced in the arts of inglorious ease."

Sources:
○ Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C.

○ Hesiod, Catalogues of Women - Greek Epic C8th-7th B.C.

○ Greek Lyric II Alcman, Fragments - Greek Lyric C7th B.C.

○ Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.

○ Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.

○ Lycophron, Alexandra - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.

○ Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C> - C1st A.D.

○ Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Geography C2nd A.D.

○ Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History - Greek Scholar C1st-2nd A.D.

○ Aelian, On Animals - Greek Natural History C2nd - C3rd A.D.

○ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae - Greek Rhestorician C3rd A.D.

○ Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.

○ Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.

○ Virgil, Georgics - Latin Bucolic C1st B.C.

○ Seneca, Medea - Latin Tragedy C1st A.D.

○ Statius, Silvae - Latin Poetry C1st A.D.

○ Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Epic C2nd A.D.

○ Nonnos, Dionysiaca - Greek Epic C5th A.D.

 ○ Photius, Myriobiblon - Byzantine Greek Scholar C9th A.D.

○ Suidas - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.

Other references not currently quoted here: Argonautica Orphica 1271 & 1284;
Eustathius on Homer's Odyssey 1709; Tzetzes on Lycophron 712; Servius on Virgil's
Eclogues 4.562; Servius on Virgil's Aeneid 5.364; Plutarch Table-Talk 9.14

Theoi Project Copyright © 2000 - 2007, Aaron Atsma