The Sirens: Are They Misunderstood?

You have heard stories about the Sirens. Mythical creatures that lure sailor in with their beautiful song, leading them to their death. But is this all there is to them? Are they really the merciless killers stories make them out to be, or are they simply misunderstood? The Sirens are creatures greatly misunderstood. Singing this melody of death is their punishment for not fulfilling their job, they do not actually want to sing it, and by singing this, they do not want to kill anyone, but rather kill themselves to free themselves.

Before the Sirens were known as merciless killers, they were given to Persephone as handmaidens and were meant to protect her. However, the Sirens were not the best at this job. Persephone was abducted by Hades,

God of the Underworld. Demeter was furious with the Sirens and cursed them with winged bodies, beautiful voices, and banished them to an island to draw in sailors and kill them with their eternal call for Persephone.
Believe it or not, the Sirens do not actually want to do kill sailors.

“I don’t enjoy it here squatting on this island looking picturesque and mythical… I don’t enjoy singing this trio, fatal and valuable,” (Atwood, Siren Song) The Sirens are not singing this song because they want to, they are singing it because it is their “cry for help”. But the flaw in their cry for help is that it is too enticing and makes the sailor forget all reality and not care that beached skulls are on the shore line because the message in the song is “Help me! Only you, only you can, you are unique.” This message makes the sailor think that they are special and makes them want to come closer to hear someone else tell them that they are unique and that only they can help--leading them to disaster. “The sailors’ flesh is rotting away… would suggest it has not been eaten. It suggests that… their divine nature kept them alive, but unable to provide for their visitors, who starved to death by refusing to leave,” (Crystalinks.com) This quote proves that the Sirens did not want to kill their visitors, but the visitors, rather, killed themselves by refusing to leave even though no food was available. Even if they died on the rocks heading towards the island, the Sirens were not the ones to

kill.
The mind-blowing part about all of this, is that the Sirens are doing this to kill sailors, but are trying to kill themselves. As mentioned before, the Sirens do not want to be there, luring sailors to their death. But alas, this is their punishment. According to Hyginus, “Sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them,” (Crystalinks.com) The Sirens had been punished long enough and have had to live with the deaths of so many sailors. They do not want to kill anyone anymore so they sing their song to passing mortals in hopes that one will hear and not die so their punishment may finally be at an end.
So many stories of Sirens being evil creatures, luring in men to their death have been recorded but not enough stories have shown the other side. The Sirens are being punished and forced to kill sailors, they do not want this is the least, and by doing this, they are trying to kill themselves to save future deaths caused by them. So in conclusion, the Sirens are not merciless killers, but are simply misunderstood.