The story of Odysseus and The Sirens has been the subject of many renditions including both textual and visual. One example of a Visual rendition is the painting Ulysses and The Sirens by John William Waterhouse. In this painting Waterhouse is showing the point of view of the men and how the Sirens are trying to attack them. An example of a Textual rendition is the poem “Siren Song” written by Margaret Atwood. She took a different approach in her rendition by giving us the point of view of the one of the Sirens. In the painting Ulysses and the Sirens, John William Waterhouse uses the Sirens with the body of a bird to lure sailors to their death to show that the sirens use their temptation to appear more beautiful than they really are, while …show more content…
in her poem “Siren Song,” Margaret Atwood uses the same scene to show that the sirens are not actually content with what they do to people. The painting Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse, depicts the story from the Odyssey in which, Odysseus also known as Ulysses and his men are sailing when they are surrounded by Sirens. In the scene Waterhouse paints the Sirens with the head a women and the body of a bird. The sirens are flying around trying to distract Odysseus’ men, one even on the side of the boat seemingly taunting one of the men. What the sirens do not know is that Ulysses’ men have their ears stuffed with beeswax so as not to hear them. The advice is given to them by Circe the Goddess and Enchantress. Also in the scene you can see Ulysses tied to the mass of the boat listening to the sirens. Odysseus was curious to find what the siren song was and what it sounded like. This act can be analyzed as quite selfish on Odysseus part, because while his men are forced to but beeswax in their ears Odysseus is listening to something no man has lived to remember instead of him also putting beeswax in his on ears. The mood of the painting can be described as Focused, which demonstrates the idea that the men are so focused on their journey that they are able to ignore the sirens and keep rowing. The painter John William Waterhouse was very prolific in his time.
Waterhouse was born April 6, 1849 in Rome, Italy. “His early works were of classical themes and he painted primarily in oils” (http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/). He painted lots of different paintings which include “Consulting the Oracle”, “Ophelia”, “A Mermaid”, “The Enchanted Garden”, and “Circe Invidiosa”. At death his painting The Enchanted Garden was left of his easel unfinished. Waterhouse painted nearly 200 paintings in his whole lifetime. Waterhouse took inspiration from both classical and Pre Raphaelite painters. Waterhouse was very influence by the great artist that game before him. “Most of his work was based on Ancient or Medieval legends and myths. Often these stories contained a strong female beauty and a tragic love story” (http://www.artble.com/). He often painted scenes from famous legends and myths. One example is his painting of Ulysses and The Sirens. Sadly Waterhouse’s romantic and dreamlike style fell out fashion around the 20th Century. He did not receive much attention after he had died. In today’s modern culture right now his paintings are starting to gain more popularity …show more content…
again. The poem “Siren Song” written by Margaret Atwood gives the world a different perspective on the idea of a siren. Atwood chose to give people the point of view of one of the Sirens that are depicted in the story Odysseus and The Sirens. When reading the story people’s first reaction is most likely that the sirens are evil creature that live their lives to kill men. No one ever stops to think about the Sirens point of view. In Atwood’s poem the siren is talking to the reader she entices them and makes them want to keep listening. In the poem the Siren makes the person believe they are unique and special. It seems like a siren is trying to tell someone the secret of the song so that she can get out of her bird body. Only by the end it seems that this was in fact the siren song all along. .The tone of the poem can be described as Irresistible and Fatal which demonstrates the idea that while you’re hearing the sirens it’s something that you can’t stop listening to but in the end it is deadly. According to the poem, people often focus on things that they think are amazing and beautiful but in the end they are really damaging. Margaret Atwood has had a very long and accomplished life.
Atwood was born November 18, 1939 in Ottawa Ontario Canada. Margaret started writing when she was 6 years old. She did not attend school full time until she was 8 years old. She attended Harvard University from 1962 to 1963. At the age of 16 is when she realized she wanted to write professionally. Atwood received many honorary degrees from a plethora of universities. When she wrote poems she would often pull inspiration from fairy tales and myths. “Atwood’s Siren becomes an object of love and passion not by promising power, but by feigning helpless” (Ruby, Mary K 195-204). Atwood showed a different side of Sirens in her poem “Siren Song”. She didn’t have her siren lie and make someone believe they would gain power, she had her siren pretend to be in need of help. She wrote this poem in the form of a free verse so there was no formal pattern of rhyme. To control the pace of her poem she used enjambments. Atwood arranged her poem to snare the reader and keep them interested. Margaret Atwood has a very interesting life, she studied at many highly proclaimed universities and taught at some too. She could be a real inspiration to some people because she decided she wanted to do something at the young age of 16, and she stuck with it and never looked back.
There is a theme throughout both the painting and the poem that connects them although they are both somewhat different. Both the poem and the painting express
focus on Sirens luring men and all other aspects support this. In addition, the Sirens overall seductiveness is shown threw out both the poem and painting. The theme behind both pieces of art is this: The Sirens Song is all consuming, overpowering, and controlling; it can deceive people like no other tricking them in to believing it is not dangerous but overwhelmingly beautiful. Sirens have the power to trick men into thinking they are seemingly beautiful and sincere but end up hurting them when it’s all over. This idea can be seen in the painting and poem without being very similar because both Waterhouse and Atwood took very different approaches when making their renditions of the story Odysseus and The Sirens. Both Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse and “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood use the myth of The Sirens luring men to crash there ships to show that something beautiful can end up being destructive.
In Homer's Odyssey and Margaret Atwood's Siren Song, Sirens are portrayed as creatures that trick men. Homer and Atwood use imagery, point of view, and diction to convey the image of the deceitful Sirens.
The story of Odysseus' encounter with the Sirens and their enchanting but deadly song appears in Greek epic poetry in Homer's Odyssey. The Sirens in the ‘Siren Song’ by Margaret Atwood are portrayed in a variety of ways. The Sirens are lethal,underprivileged and deluding. The Sirens are personated as lethal and menacing. In the Sirens’ song it says “..the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons.”
Both authors use figurative language to help develop sensory details. In the poem It states, “And I sunned it with my smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” As the author explains how the character is feeling, the reader can create a specific image in there head based on the details that is given throughout the poem. Specifically this piece of evidence shows the narrator growing more angry and having more rage. In the short story ” it states, “We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among bones.” From this piece of text evidence the reader can sense the cold dark emotion that is trying to be formed. Also this excerpt shows the conflict that is about to become and the revenge that is about to take place. By the story and the poem using sensory details, they both share many comparisons.
In The Sirens, Odysseus showed many examples of mental prowess. The Sirens are monsters disguised as women who try to lower the men with there songs wanting them to kill themselves. Odysseus had been warned by Circe about The Sirens and was recommended that it would be better if Odysseus is the only one that listens to their songs “yet she urged that I alone should listen to their song” (783). Odysseus had thought of a clever plan of putting wax in the mens ears so they
In the epic poem the "Odyssey" by Homer, there are creatures known as sirens. These creatures lure people to their death by singing a song in which they make a person follow what the sirens say. In the "Siren Song" by Margret Atwood, she writes the song and how she interprets it using modern English. The two literary works portray the Sirens similarly in tone and differently in point of view. The Sirens in the "Odyssey" seem dark and evil due to the author's choice of words or diction.
The sirens are known for their song that kills people. In the book, Odysseus told the men to tie him down to listen to the song even if it meant it was going to kill him. In the movie, Pete heard the sirens and told Ulisses to stop the car. He ran out to the river while the other two followed. There, there was three women singing in the river washing their clothes. The men were in a trace because the girls were giving them a sexual trance. They woke up the next day and Pete was gone. Delmer thought he turned into a frog because there was a frog in Pete’s clothing. Ulisses and Delmer continued on their journey to find the
The Sirens in the Odyssey represent more than just a maritime danger to the passing ship. They are the desires of man that he cannot have. The Sirens can also be construed as forbidden knowledge or some other taboo object. Whatever these singing women actually are, the sailors are wise to avoid them. As usual, the wily Odysseus cheats at the rules of the game by listening to their song under the restraints constructed by his crew.
Throughout modern history the ancient Greeks and their stories have influenced our culture and way of life. Many of the ancient Greek myths are those of caution that teach us moral lessons. For example, the myth of Odysseus and the sirens, told by Homer in The Odyssey, teaches us to resist the urge to indulge in temptations. Odysseus and his crew are travelling near the island of the sirens when Odysseus plugs the ears of his crewmates with beeswax and has them tie him to the mast so that he can listen to the sirens’ song and not crash their ship onto the rocks as they pass the island. Odysseus and his crew safely pass the island of the sirens without any casualties and continue on their journey home. Author Margaret Atwood and artist John William Waterhouse both display their brilliant ideas about the myth of Odysseus and the sirens using poetry and painting. Both Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse and “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood use the myth of the sirens to show that during their lives, people often encounter bad temptations that can lead to their demise and should pay no attention to such temptations.
Sirens: the dangerous, yet beautiful majestic creatures of the sea, who led nearby sailors to shipwreck with their enchanting voices. Some say voices can’t entice people enough to lead them overboard to their death, but those people have not had the dreadful pleasure of coming in contact with the dangerously, scary sirens. Those who have read Homer’s text, “The Odyssey,” know how dangerous these creatures can be. As evidenced from Homer’s text, sirens have many strengths, they do many things to show strengths also, and finally, as shown in the text, it's obvious they play the role as antagonists.
Hold on, I might have just the thing for you. *Brings out prop* Here try this.
Odysseus uses his brain to sail past the Sirens without being entranced by their sweet song. A Siren is a bird-woman who bewitches everyone that approaches. The Siren women sing a seductive song. Their song has many powers. As Nugent says “as in the days of the musician Orpheus, music still has power to soothe the savage beast, to ally anxiety, and to connect with the divine through contemplation” (Nugent 45-54). Circe tells Odysseus, “There is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares and hears the Siren’s voices” (Homer XII, 40). . Odysseus follows the advice Circe gave him to put beeswax in his men’s ears so they will not be entranced. Odysseus then tells his men “but she instructed me alone to hear their voices…”(XII, 160), when, truthfully, Circe states, “But if you wish to listen yourself, make them bind you hand and foot on board and place you upright by the housing of the mast, with the rope’s ends lashed to the mast itself”(XII, 49). In this way, Odysseus is being selfish only wishes to know the Siren’s sing so he will...
Both versions of the story included on how Odysseus and Ulysses face temptation from the Sirens, creatures in Greek mythology that lured mariners to destruction by their singing. McCaughrean and Pope tries to explain the problems that one faces when encountering the Sirens and trying to get past them. Although the character of each piece has different names, Odysseus and Ulysses had the help from
While both works are written in first person, the narrators’ opinions differ because of their situations. As a famous man, Odysseus puts more weight on his own experience than on the Sirens’ song. As soon as they could “hear their song no more,” he stops focusing on the Sirens. By moving on quickly from the Sirens and concentrating on his success, Odysseus once again downplays their cunning nature. It is clear from Greek mythology that the Sirens are really deadly and enchanting, but because of Odysseus’s prideful perspective, they are seen as more of a manageable threat. Atwood, in contrast, shows more of the Sirens’ true nature through her poem’s perspective. The Siren uses her status as a woman to appeal directly to the men who pass. She uses the feelings of superiority that men like Odysseus have to her advantage when she says, “This song is a cry for help: Help me!” By appealing to the damsel-in-distress situation that entices many heroes, the Siren uses her feminine point of view to accomplish her ultimate task of luring men to their death. Both narrators’ depictions of the Sirens are influenced by their unique perspectives, although Atwood’s poem once again shows the Sirens as more
In Margaret Atwood’s poem “Siren Song”, she tells a story of temptation and power over another person. The speaker expresses ways that contribute to having the power over oneself. In the first three stanzas of the poem, the speaker describes the song having an irresistible sound to it. She comments on how men leap overboard to find the person singing the song, falling to their deaths.
The Romantic style was greatly used my John William Waterhouse. Romanticism was an artistic movement that started in Europe during the 1700s. Romanticism valued nature, emotion and imagination. The movement also wanted to break away from dull attitudes, classicism, and to rebellion against social rules that seemed useless. Waterhouse mainly used oils during this movement, however he has been known to use watercolor sporadically throughout his life. His canvases were made up of practical and natural settings, this was completely contrasted by his mythological and entrancing figures and themes. The artist's use of beautiful tragic characters is unquestionably faultless. His themes are filled with symbolism, lucid lighting, and perfect contrasting