Terrible mythical creatures, mesmerizing with their singing, sirens are probably familiar to every lover of ancient myths and legends. Today there are many well-known literary works, films, fairy tales, and computer games dedicated to fabulous sea creatures. What do these mythical characters hide, why did they become so popular?

Who are sea sirens and how did they originate?

Siren is a mythical creature that combines the beauty and treachery of the sea in her image. They are as unpredictable as the surface of the water, which, at first glance, may seem shallow, but in fact, is full of underwater reefs or, conversely, black depths, which may turn out to be shallows overgrown with algae.

Myths tell about two external appearances of these sea beauties. Some legends about sirens say that they are half-girls, half-birds, while others insist that sirens are relatives of mermaids, who have the same mesmerizing girlish beauty and long fish tail.

The well-known “Odyssey” tells about the existence of two fairy-tale monsters, but the author (Homer) does not name their names. Later sources already mention a third beauty. These magical creatures, like all mortals, had names. Their names were Persinoia, Aglaoa and Teskepia, respectively the eldest, middle and younger sisters. Each of them had her own special gift: one bewitched travelers by playing the kephar, the middle one lured prey with her beautiful voice, and the youngest had the talent of playing the flute. Sirens in mythology can be found under other names. So the eldest was called Parthenope, the middle - Ligeia, and the youngest - Leukosia.

There is no reliable information about who could be the parent of these terrible creatures. If you believe some legends, then their parent was one of the three main muses, according to other versions - the Goddess of Chaos Keta, while others called them mother Steropa. There is also no specific answer about the father: some believed that it was Ahelous, while others believed that it was Phorcys.

Each of the possible parents that can be found in the myths about sirens also has its own interesting history and prerequisites for the generation of these water monsters.

For example, Phorcys, the underground king of the sea, who ruled the oceans before the appearance of Poseidon, was very cruel and did not like people. For fun, he, along with his domineering wife Keta, could mock mortals with the help of water monsters. These terrible deities are the creators of such monsters as Echidna, Ladon (100-headed dragon), Gorgons, Hesperides. Therefore, it is likely that the creation of deadly singers is their doing.

If we talk about Achelous (the lord of the rivers), he was less cruel than the two previous “candidate parents”. He became one of the heroes of the Hercules myth. There, God appeared in the form of a bull, which the hero overthrew to save a beautiful girl. If you believe some sources, then thanks to the union of Melpomene with the river deity, singing mermaids appeared.

Phorcys, like Ahelous, knew how to change his appearance. Perhaps this is why the descriptions of sea sirens vary so much in different sources, because both of the alleged fathers were werewolves. Legends that appeared after the Odyssey describe ocean monsters as sweet-voiced girls with wings, as mermaids with magical voices, as creatures with the body of a bird but the head of a woman. One of the fathers gave the creatures his terrible, evil, cruel, bloodthirsty character, and the mother endowed them with talent.

You can come across a version that the sirens were cursed and therefore they remained half in human form and half in animal form. According to one legend, the sea singers were unable to protect Persephone from Hades, and after her disappearance, they made no attempts to find their patroness. For such irresponsibility, Persephone’s mother Demeter “rewarded” her daughter’s careless retinue with a curse.

According to another version, the girls still tried to find their mistress, which was not to the liking of Zeus, who was not against stealing Persephone. To get rid of the sirens, the gods transformed the beauties into birds.

According to another version, the sea beauties themselves wanted to take on this appearance.

Mythical creatures sirens in legends

One of the legends tells about a song tournament between sea singers and muses, organized by the goddess Hera in the city of Apter. It is unknown why Hera needed this tournament. There were rumors that Zeus fell in love with one of the ocean beauties, and in order to eliminate her rival, the goddess of marriage came up with such a competition. The muses won and tore off the feathers of the ocean singers, making them into decorations for their heads. Taking pity on the humiliated creatures, Zeus gave them Anthemoessa (an island in the ocean).

Ancient tales that appeared after Homer's work tell of sea monsters that sing on an island surrounded by a sharp reef. These monsters fascinate sailors with the sounds of their voices, ships crash into rocks, and girls drag their prey ashore and eat it. Lucky Orpheus and his companions managed to escape from these monsters. Thanks to the fact that Orpheus himself had a charming voice and magical playing on the lyre, the young man played and sang all the time the ship sailed past the dangerous place. However, one of the sailors miraculously was still spellbound. He jumped from the ship into the sea and swam to his death. He managed to survive only thanks to the goddess of love.

The first source that mentioned sea monsters was the Odyssey. There, Homer described in detail where the island where the ocean singers lived was located. Something terrible was happening on the island: it was “covered” with the remains of dried skin and bones. Odysseus, thanks to his ingenuity, was able to save himself and his crew. He came up with the idea of ​​putting beeswax in his ears, which could protect sailors from enchanting sounds. He himself, out of curiosity, asked to be chained to the mast in order to understand why these songs are so enchanting. The team was able to hold the captain and not send him to certain death.

It was disastrous for the sirens to let at least one ship pass without casualties. They were predicted to die soon after such an incident. Having missed Odysseus's ship, the water monsters went crazy. Some of them rushed into the water. The sirens in the sea turned into large rocks. And others began to pluck themselves and the others, after which they drowned. Most often you can find the version that the death of the siren was brought not by Odysseus, but by Jason and the Argonauts.

According to Sophocles, he managed not only to meet living sirens, but also to communicate with them. According to his narrative, these aerial maidens dwell in Hades and create true harmony through their songs.

There is also a connection between water beauties and a creature called the Delphic Oracle.

Pictures of mysterious creatures were placed on graves during the times of Ancient Greece. Many stories and legends were created about these creatures, and a temple and tomb were erected in their honor.

Sea Monsters during the Middle Ages

With the advent of the Middle Ages, all ancient myths began to be interpreted from a perspective beneficial to Catholicism.

The Physiologist, a medieval work, says the following about sirens:

This text was rewritten in other words from the work of Homer. By the image of sirens, the medieval author meant all two-faced people, including those who came to power.

In the treatises of these times there is a comparison of Odysseus with Christ, who was chained not to the mast, but to the cross. The church was compared to a ship, and the sirens to vices. The vices tried to seduce man with sweet singing, but only faith (represented in the form of ropes) could save him. In the medieval translation, sirens acquired fish tails.

Sirens in modern culture

Today, these mythical creatures appear as one of the main characters in many fairy tales, works and films. Photos of ocean beauties can be found on many sites on the Internet. They even film multi-part series about them and create computer games.

The mystical creatures of sirens truly fascinate people to this day with their mystery and beauty. After all, we still haven’t been able to figure out what the magical property of their voice is.

In ancient times, everything dangerous and incomprehensible was perceived as something magical and divine. Thus, the sea surface attracted sailors with its beauty. She frightened them with the sharp cliffs and shoals that were hidden under her. This is how myths appeared, the main characters of which were sirens. In Greek mythology, these sea creatures received a divine voice from their mother, and a wild disposition from their father.

Characteristics

Sirens are considered the most popular characters in ancient Greek legends. The mythology that has come down to us describes them in the form of birds that have the likeness of women. Sometimes they are represented as a mixture of fish and women.

It is believed that they were hetaeras. They differed from each other in that they played different musical instruments. They all had sweet voices. The characters were often compared to harpies. Sometimes they were perceived as muses from the other world. Therefore, their images were found on tombstones.

According to one legend, they were companions of Persephone, who was considered the goddess of fertility. In addition, she ruled the kingdom of the dead after she was kidnapped by Hades. The gods turned the maidens into half-birds so that they would find Persephone. According to another version, the girls themselves turned into birds, mourning Persephone, who was taken to the kingdom of the dead.

Who created these half-women?

Pedigree of singing creatures

Ancient Greek authors had different views on who was considered the father of the siren. The mythology of Sophocles, who lived in the fifth century BC, calls the sea deity Phorcys the father. There were other versions on this matter.

Possible parents of sirens:

• father is the river god Aheloy, mother is the muse Melpomene or Terpsichore;
• mother - Sterope;
• mother - Gaia, father - Pontus;
• Keto.

Character introductions

Sirens appeared in ancient Greek mythology a long time ago. The first mention of them came to us from Homer's Odyssey. According to the time frame, this is the eighth century BC. The work describes two sirens who, with the help of their enchanting songs, lured travelers to them. Their listeners swam to the island and died there along with the ships. No one has seen these creatures.

Modern researchers believe that sailors heard all these enchanting sounds from caves, which abound in the Greek seas. Maybe that’s why no one has seen singing creatures. But let's return to mythology.

What did the sirens look like?

The mythology of the post-Homeric era presents them in the form of maidens with bird wings, a body and clawed paws. There is an option in the form of maidens with a fish tail.

Based on the works of Apollodorus, one can judge the sirens as incredibly beautiful maidens with a charming voice, which they inherited from their mother-muse. One of the three sisters played the cithara, another played the flute, and the third sang. The travelers, lulled to sleep by the music, were torn apart by the sirens and eaten. They had such a wild temperament from their father Forkis.

In the work of Apollonius of Rhodes we are talking about many sirens. How many sirens are described in mythology?

List of mythical creatures

Throughout the history of the development of ancient Greek culture, several variants of mythical maidens have been described.

Sirens in Greek mythology:

• Aglaope - her name means the one with a “sparkling voice.” She is considered the daughter of Achelous and Melpomene.
• Pisinoe is the creation of Achelous and Melpomene.
• Levkosia - there was an island named after her, it is located near Cape Sirenus. According to legend, her body washed ashore near Poseidonia.
• Molpa - has the nickname "Dance". The daughter of Achelous is believed to be with Melpomene.
• Ligeia - the body of the maiden was washed up near the shore near Terina.
• Parthenope - the grave of this siren was shown in Naples.
• Felxiope - the name means "delightful to the eye." It is also the creation of Achelous and Melpomene.

Habitats

There is a legend according to which the sirens (mythology of Attica) decided to compete with the muses in singing. Hera advised us to hold the competition. As a result, the muses won the victory, plucking the sirens and making wreaths from their feathers. From then on, such decoration became the headdress of muses.

The characters competed near the city of Apter, which was located on the island of Crete. The main Olympian god allocated the island of Anthemoessa for the mythical maidens.

Characters' habitats:

• Sicilian Cape Pelor;
• Sirenus Islands;
• Cape Peloriada;
• Caprea;
• Sirenuss.

Using the image

They have written about sirens since ancient times. There are separate works about mythical maidens, for example Nikofon’s comedy “Sirens”. The characters are also mentioned in the works of Homer and Apollonius of Rhodes.

At all times, sea maidens have been depicted in works of art. One can note such artists as Armitage, Waterhouse, Draper, Krupinski, Korolkov and others.

In medieval heraldry, these characters are used as shield holders.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, an asteroid was discovered, which was named (1009) Siren.

The Complete Encyclopedia of Mythological Creatures. Story. Origin. Magical properties of Conway Dinna

Sirens

Although sirens were associated with the ocean and water in Greek mythology, they were originally birds with human characteristics. Their name comes from a Greek root word meaning “to bind or bind.” This word came to Latin as sirena, and in French it was transformed into sereine; therefore, these female sea nymph-birds were sometimes called seirens. Their temple was located in Sorrento.

Various sources claim that there were two, three, four and even eight sirens. These sea nymphs with bird-like features had a bird-like body the size of a human, as well as the heads, arms and breasts of women. With their beautiful, seductive voices, they lured sailors to their death on huge coastal cliffs. Their favorite musical instrument was the lyre or double flute. Sitting on the cliffs, the sirens sang love songs, and anyone who heard them sing was instantly enchanted by them. He jumped overboard and drowned. Sirens, like the Minotaur, loved human meat.

There are many conflicting legends about the origin of sirens. According to one of them, they were once sea nymphs, daughters of the river god Achelous and the nymph Calliope. Ceres turned them into half-birds and half-women. In addition, they may have some connection with Persephone, the ruler of the underworld.

The most common names they were given were Aglaophon (with a brilliant voice), Felxepea (enchanting with words), Peisinoe (persuasive) and Molpa (song). Other authors also add the names Parthenope, Ligeia and Leukosia.

The myth tells that the vanity and pride of the sirens because of their voices and musical talents was so great that one day they challenged the Muses to a competition in music.

The Muses won and punished the sirens by plucking all the feathers from their wings. Ashamed of their appearance, these half-birds, half-women left the springs and valleys where they lived and hid among the steep coastal cliffs of southern Italy. They settled on Cape Pelorus, Capri, the island of Antemuse and the Sirenuse Islands.

When Ulysses had to sail past the islands where the Sirens lived, he covered the ears of his crew with wax, and then ordered them to tie him to the mast. So the Greek hero could hear the song of the sirens, but could not jump overboard and swim to them.

Greek myths tell of only one more hero who managed to escape the spell of the Sirens - the Argonaut Jason. On the ship of Jason and the Argonauts was Orpheus, a skilled musician who played the harp. When the Argonauts' ship reached the island of the Sirens, Orpheus began to play his harp and sing, and all but one of the Argonauts were able to resist the temptation of these sea nymphs. Only Buto jumped overboard, but Aphrodite saved him.

According to an ancient prophecy, when the sirens fail to lure sailors to their deaths, they will turn into huge cliffs. When they failed to attract the Argo sailors, the Sirens jumped into the ocean and became dangerous underwater rocks. Tradition says that the body of one of them, Parthenope, was washed ashore in the place where Naples was later built.

Much information about the sirens is contained in the works of Aristotle, Pliny, Ovid and Hyginus, as well as in the Physiologus (circa 2nd century AD) and medieval bestiaries.

Perhaps the sirens lived not only in Greece. Columbus, during one of his travels, recorded that he and his people saw sirens.

Psychological characteristics: The temptation to spend too much time delving into paranormal and spiritual matters, which leads to imbalance in a person's personal life.

Magic properties: singing; love spells.

Sirens

Sirens Sirens (SeirhneV, Sirenes) - in Greek mythology, sea muses, personifying the deceptive but charming sea surface, under which sharp cliffs or shoals are hidden. The first mention of S. is in the Odyssey. They live in the west, on an island between the earth