So Enchanting, Yet so Deadly: The Sirens

What if there is something so irresistible that all resolve is lost? The Sirens are a group of women who sing a song so captivating that ships are constantly lured to their island. They are often rendered as birds with the head of a woman. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus and his men must pass the island of the Sirens in order to return to Ithaca, their homeland. In order to prevent his men from jumping overboard towards the enchanting song, Odysseus plugs his men’s ears with wax, and then he is tied down and listens to the song. The song compels Odysseus head towards the island, but his obedient men ignore his hysterical cries. Another portrayal of the Sirens is in a poem by Margaret Atwood entitled “Siren Song.” The poem lures the reader in by making them feel pity for the speaker, who turns out to be a Siren. These two pieces of literature can be compared using poetic devices like tone, point of view, and imagery.

Homer and Atwood use different tones in order to portray the same group of creatures. Homer uses an alert and tense tone when mentioning the Sirens. The alert tone is first sensed when the crew begins to pass the island: “We were just offshore … when the Sirens sensed at once a ship / was racing past and burst into their high, thrilling song: ‘Come closer, famous Odysseus …’ ” (Homer 11, 12-14). This moment in Odysseus’s voyage is also very tense; the life of his men and his own life is in danger. The Sirens also sound attentive and ready to capture their prey. Instead of sounding tense and alert, Atwood goes with a sad, mysterious tone. The speaker sounds gloomy and forlorn, but there is a strange aura surrounding her: the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons even though they see the beached skulls

t...

... middle of paper ...

...t job of drawing the reader in with the tone. The tone creates the mood, which is necessary to make the poem leave an impact. The point of view gives more perspective as to what is going on. Without the point of view, the pieces of literature would be objective and tedious. The imagery is the icing on the cake. Using descriptive words, facial expressions, and action verbs gives the audience something to visualize as they read. When the audience has something to visualize, the story has more impact. Although Homer and Atwood wrote two different poems, they can be matched in many different ways.

Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. "Siren Song." 1976. You Are Happy, Selected Poems. 1965-1975 ed. N.p.: Houghton Mifflin, n.d. N. pag. Print.

Homer, and Robert Fitzgerald. "Book XII Sea Perils and Defeat." The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. 214-16. Print.