What were the sirens. Mythology of Ancient Greece

Beautiful sirens, it's nice to hear them. But how insidious are these residents sea ​​island. Like many images of ancient Greece, girls with bird wings and fish tails have outlived their time. But what do you really know about sirens?

Sirens and Odysseus

Sirens are mentioned for the first time in the Odyssey. It describes only two sirens who lived on an island in the sea. It was predicted to them that they would certainly die if at least one ship passed by them, and its crew remained alive. Therefore, the siren sisters regularly drowned everything that floated by. But the ship of Odysseus passed by, which filled the team's ears with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast, and the beautiful creatures died. They threw themselves into the sea and turned into cliffs. Later authors settled the Sirens near Sicily. True, each of them chose his island. The number of sirens also changed frequently. Sometimes there were three of them, sometimes seven.

The image of a siren in mythology

At first, sirens were described in myths as wild chthonic creatures. But gradually, when the period of classical antiquity began, they began to be described as sweet-voiced beauties. As often happens with antiquity, there were several options for why the sirens looked like this, and not otherwise. According to one version, they were companions of Persiphone, but when Hades abducted her, they began to wander aimlessly until they appeared in the lands of Apollo. There, Dementra, Persiphone's mother, turned them into such creatures because they did not help her daughter. According to the second version, she did this so that the sirens could find the missing person. And in the third version, Aphrodite herself is involved, who gave them such a look that the sirens could not get married. The appearance of the sirens is always zooanthropomorphism. The second part of their body is either a fish tail, or paws like birds, or with a fish tail and wings on the back. Once, on the advice of the cunning Hera, the sirens and the muses staged a singing competition. The Muses won, after which they plucked the losers and made themselves wreaths from their feathers.

Sirens are not only in myths

The image of the sirens did not remain only in ancient legends. In the Middle Ages, it was often mixed with the image of mermaids. In the era of romanticism, sweet-voiced beauties are filled with refined beauty, they are often painted by artists, they often fall into the poems of poets. There was also a name - Siren. In 2014, the drama Siren was released, where the main role was played by Fiery Katniss from The Hunger Games. Of course, these days, sirens often turn out to be characters in fantasy computer games. So in the game "The Witcher 3, Wild Hunt" there is a funny moment. Arriving on the Skellige Islands, someone tells the protagonist Gerald about a sailor who wanted to hear the sirens. And like Odysseus, filled the team's ears with wax. Therefore, the whole ship crashed against the rocks, because no one heard his cry of danger. In the game, the sirens look like pretty girls for the time being, then they take on their true appearance.

All about the mythological Sirens

Sirens are sea creatures in Greek mythology who personified a deceptive but charming sea surface, under which sharp cliffs or shallows are hidden. Sirens are mixanthropic in nature, they are half-birds-half-women (in some sources half-fish-half-women), who inherited a wild spontaneity from their father, and a divine voice from their mother muse. Mycenaean texts contain the word se-re-mo-ka-ra-a-pi, which can mean "decorated with siren heads".

Origin

The father of the sirens was considered the sea god Forkis, or they are the children of Aheloy and one of the muses: (Melpomene, or Terpsichore, or Calliope), or the daughter of Steropy or Gaia, or the daughter of Forkis and Keto.

transformation

In the post-Homeric legends, the sirens were represented as winged maidens or women with a fish tail, or maidens with a bird's body and chicken legs. There were several legends explaining why they acquired such a look.

They were companions of Persephone. After the abduction of Persephone, they wandered and came to the land of Apollo, where Demeter made them winged, for they did not help Persephone; or the gods turned them into birds just so that they could look for Persephone; or they were turned into half-birds by Aphrodite, for they did not want to marry. Or mourned the abduction of Persephone, fled to the rock of Apollo and turned into birds.

On the advice of Hera, they entered into a singing competition with the Muses. The Muses won, plucked the feathers of the sirens and made wreaths out of them, which henceforth began to serve as the head decoration of the muses. The competition took place near the city of Apter (Besperykh) in Crete. Zeus gave them the island of Anthemoessu.

Sirens and sailors

They also located their island near Sicily and called as such either the Sicilian Cape Pelor, or Capreia, or the Sirenusian Islands (near the Campanian coast). According to Strabo, they are placed at Cape Pelorias, and others at Sirenussa.

In post-Homer legends, sirens are depicted as virgins of wonderful beauty, with a charming voice. With the sounds of their songs, they lull travelers to sleep, and then tear them apart and devour them. The Argonauts only escaped death from the sirens because Orpheus, who accompanied them, drowned out the singing of the sirens with his singing and playing the forming (or lyre). One of the Argonauts, Booth, rushed to their call into the sea, but was saved by Aphrodite, who settled him in Lilybae.

The death of the sirens

The first surviving mention of the sirens is in the Odyssey. They live between the land of Circe and Scylla on the rocks of the island, littered with the bones and dried skin of their victims. They killed many people whose bones were white in the meadow. With enchanting songs, sirens lure travelers passing by, who, forgetting everything in the world, swim up to magical island and perish with the ships. Odysseus himself escaped the insidious sirens only thanks to the warning of Circe: he covered the ears of his companions with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast.

It was predicted to the Sirens that they would die when one of the travelers passed by their island without succumbing to temptation. Therefore, when the ship of Odysseus sailed past them, they threw themselves into the sea and turned into cliffs, or shed their feathers and drowned themselves. However, they are also mentioned in the myths about the Argonauts, who were able to sail past thanks to the enchanting music of Orpheus.

Interpretations

According to Sophocles, they told him the law of Hades. Dionysus called Sophocles the new Siren.

In classical antiquity, wild chthonic sirens turn into sweet-voiced wise sirens, each of which sits on one of the eight celestial spheres of the world spindle of the goddess Ananke, creating the majestic harmony of the cosmos with their singing. Located in Hades. They are also associated with harmony and Delphi.

According to the interpretation, they were getters and differed in playing the musical instruments and sweet voice.

Sirens, according to mythology Ancient Greece, appear to be sea demonic creatures.

They are all female. There is a fish woman and a bird woman. Sirens inherited from their father a wild elemental character, from their mother - a beautiful Divine voice.

Origin of Sirens

The father of the Sirens was the sea god Phorcius or Aheloy. And their mother is one of the following muses: Melpomene, Terpsichore, Calliope.

Transformation of sirens into demonic images

At the heart of post-Homer beliefs, the sirens were represented as a winged Virgin with a fish tail. Another option is to consider the Virgin with the body of a bird and the legs of a chicken. There were many options for why they had such an appearance.

Also, some beliefs said that the sirens not only lured everyone with their voice, but also fascinated with their eyes and playing various musical instruments. Let's consider just a few of them:

1. After the abduction of Persephone, whose companion they were, the sirens wandered for a long time and, as a result of their wanderings, ended up on the land of Apollo. So that they could not help Persephone, Demera turned them into winged creatures.
2. The gods created birds from them so that they could look for Persephone.
3. Aphrodite turned them into birds. Thereby exposing them to deprive of marriage.
4. After the abduction of Persephone, the sirens mourned her for a long time and, having come to the rock of Apollo, they became birds.
5. Sirens and sailors.

In the post-Homer legends, the image of the sirens is presented in the form of a beautiful Virgin with a soft, sweet, charming voice. As a result of their voluptuous singing, they put travelers to sleep. After the traveler has plunged into a deep sleep, the sirens tear him apart and devour him. Thus, they destroyed people who, having heard the enchanting singing, forgetting about everything, swam to the island where the sirens lived, and found their death there. The entire island of the Sirens was covered in the bones and dried skin of their victims.

The death of the sirens

According to legend, it was predicted that the sirens would die if at least one satellite sailed past them and was not affected by their voluptuous singing. When the ship of Odysseus sailed past the island with sirens, he ordered all his companions to close their ears with wax, and asked himself to be firmly tied to the mast of the ship.

The Sirens failed to lure Odysseus and his companions into their lair. The angry sirens threw themselves into the sea and turned into sea rocks or threw off their feathers and drowned in the abyss of sea waters. The Argonauts were also able to avoid their death. They did not hear the singing of the sirens, due to the fact that Orpheus, who sailed with them, played the lyre and sang songs himself, thereby drowning out the singing of the sirens.

Sirens were perceived as muses from another world. Often they were depicted on tombstones, grave monuments, steles.

Cult of the Sirens

In the city of Surrent there was a temple of the sirens, and near Naples, the tomb of the siren Parthenope is presented. According to legend, this city was named after her. Sacrifices were made at the location of the tomb. Sirens' habitat. The mistress of the seas. The main habitat was considered the island of Anfemoess. According to other beliefs, the sirens found their refuge in the Sicilian Cape Pelor, Capree, the Sirenusian Islands, on Cape Pelorias, Sirenussa.

in ancient Greek mythology - half-birds, half-women who lived on an island off the coast Southern Italy. With enchanting singing, they lured sailors to their island, put them to sleep, and then devoured them.

Great Definition

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SIRENS

Virgins on the island of the western sea, located between the island of Kirki and Scylla; they attracted those passing by with their pleasant singing and dragged them into destruction. They sit in a meadow dotted with flowers, and around them lie heaps of male corpses smoldering to the bone, the skin of which is pulled together everywhere. The danger lies only in their singing, as it attracts sailors to the disastrous shore. Nom. Od. 12, 39 sl. They were seen either as seductive muses of the sea, or as acting with the help of the magical power of singing sorceresses, or as a simple fairy tale of sailors, or a moral principle (Welcker III, 164), or bewitching deities, or, finally, demons of decay. Their name matches the word (Sirius), denoting the bringer of heat; both words lead to the same concept, namely, to the concept of light and burning; they are deities of burning, drought. But this is not the yearly return of the heat, which denotes Syria, but the tiring heat that kills all living things and is taken for a degenerate of the earth heat (sirocco). Their actions are the silence of the wind, the rotting of the skin. They enjoyed a cult near Surrent, in Aetolia (where their father is called Achela), they were companions of Persephone before her abduction in Sicily. In their most ancient form, they represent a large, clumsy bird with a female head - from where their singing and knowledge come. Already in Alcman they are represented by singing creatures. The sad, mournful nature of their singing suggested comparing their singing with lamentation for the dead (?????????) on the graves. Plato cites them in connection with the harmony of the spheres. Since the time of Alexandrian scholars, S.'s father has always been Aheloy, and among more ancient writers - Fork. Homer mentions only two, while later ones usually accept three S.; their names are Parthenon, Leukosia and Ligeia; or also: Felxiepeya, Molna, Aglaofema. Finally, the Romans associated with them the concept of seduction and temptation (impoba Siren desidia, Horat. sat. 2, 3, 14). When Odysseus rode past them, he covered his comrades' ears with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast with his ears uncovered. Nom. Od. 12, 158 sl. When the Argonauts drove past S., Orpheus sang a response song. Since, according to the prophecy, they could only live until someone passes by them without being seduced, they rushed because of Orpheus or because of Odysseus into the sea and turned into cliffs. A later tradition represented them as creatures whose upper half of the body was female, while the lower half was avian. They received the form of birds in order to search for Persephone. Ov. met. 5, 552 sl. Later they were transferred to their residence on Cape Pelorsky or the so-called Sirenusian Islands at the entrance to the Poseidon Gulf or to Capreia. Temple S. was at Surrente, and the tomb of S. Parthenons near Naples; the latter had an annual torch race. Art depicts them initially as birds with a female head, then as women with bird legs, and finally as women in long robes. Many images are found on the tombs, either in the form of reliefs or in the form of statues. They are depicted as inspired beings, with a lyre and a flute. cf.: Schrader, die Sirene nach ihrer Bedeutung und K?nstlerischen Darstellung, (1868).

Sirens are one of the most famous monsters from Greek mythology. About the sirens modern world they are also known thanks to numerous films, books, comics, games that refer to ancient Greek history in a mythological way. Let's look at them through a magnifying glass.

In the article:

Sirens - origin and characteristics

These creatures personify the beautiful, changeable and treacherous expanse of the sea - seafarers have repeatedly encountered the fact that, at first glance, reliable depth turned out to be shallow or, even worse, fraught with sharp cliffs. Sirens belong to mixanthropic creatures - their bodies are half female, half bird. In some legends, they have fish tails, which are reminiscent of.

In the Odyssey, Homer wrote that there were two sirens, but he did not call them by name. Later there were three of them, like. The eldest was called Persinoia, the middle one was Aglaotha, and the youngest was Telskepia. The first was fluent in playing the cithara, the other had a beautiful voice, and the third fascinated by playing the flute. In addition, they had a bewitching look. According to other myths, the sirens were called Parthenope, Ligeia and Leukosia.

Who gave birth to creatures enchanting with singing is not known for certain - it could be Forky, or chthonic goddess Keto, or deity Aheloy. Sometimes one of the muses is called their mother. - Melpomene, Terpsichore or Calliope. In addition, myths indicate that the mother of the sirens could be Steropa, as well as Gaia.

Another possible father, Aheloy, was a powerful river deity, a descendant of Tethys and Oceanus, or else the son of Oceanus and Gaia, or Gaia and Helios. From the union of Aheloy with Melpomene or Terpsichore, sirens appeared. In his wanderings, Hercules fought with Achelous. God took the form of a bull to fight the hero, but Hercules broke one of his horns and saved Princess Dejanira from an unwanted suitor.

Frame from the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Phorky also took on various forms - thus, the possible fathers of the sweet-voiced creatures were werewolves, hence the duality in the description of their bestial parts. The post-Homeric tales of the Sirens describe them as bird-winged maidens, or mermaid-like women, or maidens with human heads but bird-like bodies and legs. From their father they inherited a furious, spontaneous, unbridled disposition, and their mother-muse gave her charming voice.

Some legends indicate that the sirens acquired a semi-animal appearance as a result of a curse. If you believe the legends, they made up the retinue of Persephone, and after her abduction by Hades, they wandered aimlessly on the ground. Eventually, they joined Apollo. Angered by the loss of her daughter, Demeter cursed the sirens, causing them to grow bird wings.

There is another version of this legend - the gods turned the sirens into birds for a desperate search for the missing goddess, since Zeus himself allowed his brother to kidnap her. Or the curse was sent by Aphrodite, because they rejected marriage. According to the third version, the new look was the desire of the sirens themselves, which was fulfilled by the gods.

Sirens in legends

Orpheus and the Sirens, Herbert Draper, 1909

One of the legends describes the competition of sirens and muses in the art of singing in the city of Apter. Hera advised the sea maidens to challenge the Muses to a duel - her goal is unknown, but perhaps Zeus liked one of the sirens, and the goddess of marriage became angry. One way or another, the victory remained with the muses. They plucked their rivals, making victory wreaths out of feathers. Zeus gave the island to Anthemoessu to the humiliated sirens.

Post-Homer legends described them as possessing incredibly beautiful voices. By singing they lured sailors, and when their ship was smashed against sharp coastal rocks, they looked for people thrown ashore to tear them to pieces and eat them. The Argonauts managed to escape - Orpheus sailed with them, capable of drowning out the song of the sirens with his music. All the time while the ship sailed past the disastrous island, Orpheus played the forming (lyre) and sang. One of the crew members, Booth, nevertheless happened to hear the voices of the sirens - he rushed from the ship into the sea waves, trying to swim to the island, but Aphrodite saved him. Booth spent the rest of his days in Lilibey.

The oldest source with references to these creatures is the Homeric "Odyssey". Homer described the location of the island of the Sirens - it was located between the possessions of Circe and the abode of Scylla. The island is littered with the withered skin and whitened bones of the victims. Odysseus' team managed to escape thanks to Circe's warning and cunning - they covered their ears with beeswax, so they did not hear the songs. Odysseus himself, wanting to understand the destructive secret of magical songs, ordered him to be tied to the mast. No matter how violently he wanted to go to the source of the sound, the sailors did not untie him, and the ship safely passed the deadly island.

Long before these events, it was predicted to the sirens that death would come to them along with a ship that passed by their island without casualties. When Odysseus' ship passed unscathed, they went mad. Most of them threw themselves into the sea and turned into cliffs, while the rest pulled out their feathers and drowned themselves. But often a ship is called a death ship Jason and the Argonauts.

Sophocles claimed that he met the surviving sirens, that they revealed to him the law of Hades. An admirer of classical antiquity, Sophocles imagined them as good, wise virgins, each living on their own celestial sphere on the world spindle of the all-mother goddess Ananke. By their singing they generate majestic cosmic harmony. The abode of the classic sirens - Hades. Later legends connect them with the Delphic Oracle and world harmony.

Over time, these creatures became close to and. Images of sirens can be found on tombstones of the late Greek period. Nicomon and Theopompus created comedies of the same name about these creatures. The South Italian city of Surrente once had a magnificent temple in honor of the sirens, and near Naples there is a tomb of an elder siren.

Sirens in the Middle Ages

With the beginning of the Middle Ages, Christian vision intervened in the ancient vision of the universe and its monsters. Homeric myths began to be perceived from the point of view of Catholics, who saw biblical canons and interpretations in everything. The perception of the canonical myth of Odysseus has also changed.

AT "Physiologist", the very first work, from which later bestiaries were written, the episode with the sirens was borrowed from the Homeric text. The author rewrote it in his own way:

The moralist says that sirens bring death. Their abode is the sea, and their songs fascinate. Sailors who hear the sirens lose consciousness, fall into the sea waves and die there. Up to the navel, their bodies are female, and from the navel they are bird-like.

Thus, the author concluded that two-minded people are cunning in everything. And those who came to the church, but did not depart from their sins, are like sirens. With affectionate words, sinners deceive the gullible and lead them to destruction.

Medieval authors compared Odysseus with Christ, and the mast to which he was tied with a cross. The ship became an allegory of the church, the siren - carnal desires. Their sweet songs expressed worldly blessings, destructive for the soul. Only the ropes, symbolizing faith, could keep Odysseus from falling into sin and eternal torment in the afterlife. Three siren sisters have become an expression of greed, pride and debauchery. Ignoring the descriptions of Pliny and Ovid, medieval monks deprived the sirens of wings and bird paws, rewarding them with fish tails. The "heavenly" past of the virgins was forgotten.

Sirens in modern culture

In the modern world, images of sirens are common in many works of art. Often, the authors refer directly to the ancient primary sources in order to recreate the exact image of the creature. Sea maidens-destroyers are not forgotten today.