Destruction In The Odysseus And The Sirens

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Sirens are beautiful creatures that lure the sailors with their beautiful voices to their doom. There is one encounter with sirens in The Odyssey where Odysseus, advised by Circe, made his men tie him up to the ship and told his men to plug their ears with wax so they could not hear the “beautiful” song. He told them that no matter how much he begged, they should not untie him, because he wanted to be the first man to hear the sirens and survive. In the painting, Ulysseus and the Sirens, John WIlliam Waterhouse uses the sirens trying to seduce the men to their deaths to show that distractions can lead to destruction, while in the poem “Siren Song”, Margaret Atwood uses the same scenes to show that losing focus can lead to consequences. John William Waterhouse’s painting Ulysseus and the Sirens demonstrates the idea that distractions can lead to destruction. In the painting, the sirens are trying to seduce the men and bring them to their deaths. They are using distraction in an evil way to get the men off their course. Ulysseus is tied up to the pole because he wants to be the first man to hear the sirens and not get distracted or killed by them. He was brave for doing this and should feel accomplished for completing his goal. If the men …show more content…

He was born in Rome, Italy. His family called him Nino, which was short for Giovannino. His mom’s name was Isabelle Mackenzie. His siblings were Edwin (1851), Jessica (1853), and Charles (1855)(Hobson 11). He was a Romantic Classicist. He was popular for his art in the 19th and 20th century (Hobson 9). His first paintings were on old reused canvases. He was taught by his father, and a working apprenticeship in his father’s studio led to his entry into the Royal Academy School (Hobson 11). Later, he was admitted as a Probationer in the Sculpture School on July 28th 1870. F.R. Pickersgill became his obligatory sponsor in 1857 and was his obligatory sponsor for many years (Hobson

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