The song
Circe warns Odysseus that the Sirens sit in a meadow full of bones and sing to passing ships. They promise the listener knowledge of Troy, of the gods, and of everything that happens on the earth. Odysseus wants to hear them, so he plugs his crew’s ears with wax and has himself tied to the mast, instructing them not to release him however much he begs.
The episode is a reflection on the power of poetry. The Sirens offer the same thing the epic itself offers—knowledge and pleasure—but their song kills. Odysseus’s solution is to experience it without acting on it, and the image of the bound hero has become one of the Odyssey’s most famous.
After the song
The ship passes the island, and the Sirens are left behind. The poem does not describe them physically, and later art turns them into bird-women. Their appeal is verbal, not visual.
The episode marks the limit of curiosity. Odysseus can hear the song because he has arranged to be powerless to follow it. It is one of the poem’s clearest statements that survival depends on knowing what one cannot safely desire.
Relations
Backlinks 1
The following entries mention “The Sirens”.