Sirens

=**Sirens**=

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== In classical mythology, sirens are creatures, usually an unscrupulous half bird half woman. Birds were chosen due to their uncanny ability to sing. These were marvelous sea nymphs whose voices would make a man forget all else, and leave him breathless. An appeal truly irresistible but, if heeded, would spell out a disastrous outcome. Moldering skeletons of those they lured to their graves lay piled high up around them where they sat singing on the shore. Figuratively speaking, a siren is any lady of splendid promise, dissembled purpose and disappointing performance. In fact, they are famous for a vain attempt to dissuade Odysseus from a life on the ocean. In Homer's Odyssey, there are two of them who live on an island near Scylla and Charybdis. One terrible trial happened while passing the smooth, sheer rocks, where the sea forever roared and the furious waves mounted up. Odysseus told his men that the only possible way to pass them safely was for each man to fill his ears with wax. He himself, however, was confident to hear them, and proposed that the crew tie him to the mast. All except Odysseus were deaf to the enchanting song, finding the words more enticing compared to the melody. The songs would give knowledge, ripe wisdom and a quickening of the spirit to each man who came. They are mantic beings, aware of both the past and the future. Odysseus' heart ached with longing. In one tale of Jason and the Argonauts, Orpheus, by playing on his lyre more sweetly than the Sirens sang, saved them from listening to their song. According to later legend, sirens were destined to die if ever someone heard their singing and escaped them, by drowning themselves.

Words from Sirens Siren:A woman who sings with enchanting sweetness. A device often electrically operated for producing a penetrating warning sound. http://rhadamanthus.vox.com/library/post/words-derived-from-mythology.html

Siren: an eel-like American amphibian with tiny forelimbs, no hind limbs, small eyes, and external gills, typically living in muddy pools. (oxford) SIREN: A device in which compressed air or steam is driven against a rotating perforated disk to create a loud, often wailing sound as a signal or warning.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Siren

Edith Hamilton Mythology Timeless Tales Of Gods And Heroes http://www.answers.com/topic/siren-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mosa%C3%AFque_d%27Ulysse_et_les_sir%C3%A8nes.jpg http://rhadamanthus.vox.com/library/post/words-derived-from-mythology.html