For years I have been writing stories about sirens… the
fierce, winged women who live on desolate rocks amid a wild
and stormy sea. Each story begins with a single line 'The Siren
who….' These sirens reawakened my love of mythology and
took me to a world rich in symbolism and inexplicable resonance
where I felt truly alive. But for many people the name siren
has lost most of its mythological power and evokes only a beautiful,
seductive woman or, even less evocatively, the noise of police
cars and ambulances warning us to get out of their way.
In Homer's Odyssey the Sirens are one of the many perils the
hero must pass on his way home from the Trojan War. The Sirens
sing only to lure passing sailors to their death. They inhabit
an island which is not the desolate rocks conjured up by my
imagination, but a green, flowery meadow. The unwary sailor
who listens to their song fails to see the blood stained bones
which litter the shore of their home.
No mortal can hear the Siren's song and survive. Even Homer's
hero Odysseus needs the help of the goddess Circe. She tells
him to melt honey wax to block the ears of his crew and to order
them to bind him hand and foot to the mast. Even so, she warns,
the ship must sail straight past. However much he begs, his
crew must not untie him.
As with all Greek stories, there are many different versions
of the Sirens' number, names and birth. None of the names are
familiar to us now.. Aglaopheme, Thelxiepeia, Peisinoe; or Parthenope,
Ligeia and Leucosia. In some versions there are two, in others
three Sirens…. one sang, one played a lyre and another
a flute. Their music was so irresistible that sailors put down
their oars and failed to work the sails. Some even jumped overboard.
One story tells how the Sirens were the companions of Persephone,
the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of earth, agriculture
and fertility. When Persephone is abducted by the god of the
Underworld, her mother is so distressed that all she can do
is search for her daughter. Crops fail and famine follows. In
one version of the story the sirens asked for wings so they
could help Demeter, in another the wings are their punishment
for refusing to search.
In another story the Sirens challenge the Muses to a singing
contest (always a mistake). As a punishment the Muses pluck
the feathers from their wings and wear them in their own hair.
The defeated Sirens tumble into the sea and drown.
But the Greeks were fascinated by the Sirens and their images
can be found decorating many vases. On a recent trip to Berlin
I was surprised how often I came across them in the Alte and
Pergammon Museums. Muses were much harder to find.
Even in the original stories, the Sirens are different from
the other terrifying creatures that inhabit the ancient world.
They are not monsters to be slain by heroes … like the
Medusa with her snaky locks or the many headed Hydra (cut one
head off and two more appear). The Sirens can't be defeated
with swords or muscle, and they can only be resisted if the
listener is forewarned. Their power is to awaken the urge to
self destruction within.
The Sirens continued to enchant me for many years. Even that
word, from the French chanter to sing, filled me with wonder.
To sing, to seduce, to tempt… to give in to passion, indulge,
escape a dreary or difficult reality… what could be more
desirable than that? Like the sailors of the classical world,
I'd failed to notice the bones that litter the Sirens' shores.
Writing was difficult, painful… I had long periods of writer's
block. Then one day I read the Sirens described as the Muses
of the Underworld and I began to question my own fascination
for these seductive, but ultimately destructive creatures.
I believe the Sirens are a potent presence in the modern world.
While their origins and stories may have been forgotten, their
voices are as compelling as ever…. perhaps more than ever…
they call so many of us to oblivion in one way or another. They
are the goddesses of addiction and their realm is the dark side
which sustains so much of our popular culture. We hear them
too in the powerful negative voices within us which tell us
we are too fat, too ugly, too untalented….
But the underworld is also the realm of soul. The Sirens can
transport us there… give those glimpses of our own psyches
… of the world of our own dreams and desires… They
can still inspire us…. if we can find our way back.
