Also called Seirenes.
The tale
In Homer the Sirens sit in a meadow beside the sea, surrounded by the bones of sailors who could not resist their song. Circe warns Odysseus of them, so he plugs his crew's ears with beeswax and has himself tied to the mast. As they pass, the Sirens promise to tell him everything that happens on earth, and he begs to be untied, but his men only bind him tighter. In the tale of the Argonauts, Orpheus simply out-sings them on his lyre.
When they are met
- before a sea voyage
- when facing temptation
Staying on their good side
- none; the old stories advise resisting rather than feeding them
- music played for its own joy
- knowing your own limits
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- When you feel tempted to go against your better judgement, plan ahead, as Odysseus had himself tied to the mast.
- Make or listen to music thoughtfully and notice how it moves you.
- Read book twelve of the Odyssey.
- Keep a piece of beeswax as a token of self-control.
What their tales teach
- resisting temptation
- planning for weak moments
- the lesson that some knowledge costs too much
- music
Symbols
- a flowery meadow heaped with bones
- a bird with a woman's head
- a lyre and pipes
- wax
- a ship's mast
From Homer and Apollonius; Greek art showed them as bird-women, and the fish-tailed mermaid Siren is medieval.
More Greek folklore
- The Nymphs The spirits of spring, tree and mountain
- Medusa The Gorgon whose gaze turns flesh to stone
- Circe The enchantress of the island of Aeaea
- Satyrs The wild revellers of Dionysus
- Kallikantzaroi The goblins of the Twelve Days
- The Neraides Fairy women of springs and hills
- Vrykolakas The restless dead of Greek villages
- The Lamia of folk tales The glutton ogress of Greek tales