Sirens

Sea nymphs who are part woman and part bird and inhabit the island of Anthemoessa; the children of the Muse, Terpsikhore (Terpsichore) and the river, Akhelous (Achelous).

The Sirens lure mariners with their seductive singing to the rocky shore and the heedless sailors die in their wrecked ships; Kirke (Circe) warned Odysseus about the destructive lure of the Sirens so that when he came near the island of the Sirens, he had his sailors put wax in their ears so that they could not hear the enchanted singing but he had himself lashed to the mast and heard the Siren song.

The Argonauts passed the island of the Sirens several generations before Odysseus; the master musician, Orpheus, played his lyre for the sailors and all but one was able to resist the Siren song; the Argonaut, Boutes, jumped into the water and swam towards Anthemoessa but before he could reach the deadly shore he was plucked from the water by Aphrodite (goddess of Love) and deposited safely in the Libyan desert.

• Odyssey, book 12, lines 39+
• Argonautika, book 4, lines 885-921