Sirens were sea nymphs in Greek mythology who lived on an island. Two Sirens are mentioned in the Greek epic poem the Odyssey. Most later authors wrote about three. The Sirens’ sweet singing lured sailors to destruction on their island’s rocky shores. In some stories, the Sirens would die if someone sailed past unmoved by their singing. The hero Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin) put wax in his sailors’ ears so they could not hear the Sirens. Then he had them tie him to the mast. Odysseus could thus listen to the Sirens without endangering his ship. In art, Sirens were first portrayed as birds with women’s heads and later as women with birds’ legs and sometimes wings. See also Capri.
