Odysseus the Great and Powerful- IX
Advised by Circe the sorceress, Odysseus and his companions are carried by the winds to the island of the Sirens, somewhere near the west coast of Italy.
The Sirens sat on the shore, and with their sweet voices attracted all that passed by, and then destroyed them. Odysseus, in order to escape the danger, filled the ears of his companions with wax, and fastened himself to the mast of his ship, until he was out of the reach of the Seirens' song.
Circe advises Odysseus how to deal with the Sirens.
… Then royal Circe said: “So, it all came to pass. Well listen now to what I tell you, and let some god remind you of it. Next you will come to the Sirens who beguile all men that approach them. Whoever encounters them unawares and listens to their voices will never joy at reaching home, his wife and children to greet him. Instead the Sirens’ tempt him with their limpid song, as they sit there in the meadow with a vast heap of mouldering corpses, bones on which hangs the shrivelled skin. Plug your comrades’ ears with softened beeswax lest they listen, and row swiftly past. And if you must hear, then let them first tie you hand and foot and stand you upright in the mast housing, and fasten the rope ends round the mast itself, so you can delight in hearing the Sirens’ voices. And should you beg your crew to free you, let them only bind you more tightly. ”
The Odyssey XII vv. 36 – 54
English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D., 1919.
Etruscan alabaster urn
3rd – 2nd century BC
Volterra, Museo Guarnacci
Odysseus the Great and Powerful- IX
Advised by Circe the sorceress, Odysseus and his companions are carried by the winds to the island of the Sirens, somewhere near the west coast of Italy.
The Sirens sat on the shore, and with their sweet voices attracted all that passed by, and then destroyed them. Odysseus, in order to escape the danger, filled the ears of his companions with wax, and fastened himself to the mast of his ship, until he was out of the reach of the Seirens' song.
Circe advises Odysseus how to deal with the Sirens.
… Then royal Circe said: “So, it all came to pass. Well listen now to what I tell you, and let some god remind you of it. Next you will come to the Sirens who beguile all men that approach them. Whoever encounters them unawares and listens to their voices will never joy at reaching home, his wife and children to greet him. Instead the Sirens’ tempt him with their limpid song, as they sit there in the meadow with a vast heap of mouldering corpses, bones on which hangs the shrivelled skin. Plug your comrades’ ears with softened beeswax lest they listen, and row swiftly past. And if you must hear, then let them first tie you hand and foot and stand you upright in the mast housing, and fasten the rope ends round the mast itself, so you can delight in hearing the Sirens’ voices. And should you beg your crew to free you, let them only bind you more tightly. ”
The Odyssey XII vv. 36 – 54
English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D., 1919.
Etruscan alabaster urn
3rd – 2nd century BC
Volterra, Museo Guarnacci