Women, Weird and Wonderful: Sirens and Mermaids

Nowadays, the terms mermaid and siren are used interchangeably, but not so in ancient times. The Sirens used to be the playmates of young Persephone. When she went missing, her mother, Demeter, fitted the girls with wings, to fly away and find her. They never did, and when they learned that Persephone had been abducted by the king of the underworld, they took revenge on all men. They lured sailors with their singing and caused them to drown and their ships to perish. Only two men ever heard them and lived to tell the tale: the bard Orpheus, who saved his mates by crowding the sirens out, and Odysseus, tied up to the shipmast, while his crew had put wax in their ears. And what about mermaids then? Well, here’s one: Eurynome, the most gracious of Zeus’ wives. She didn’t sing, just moved elegantly through the water. And next, meet merman Triton, crown prince of the ocean empire. He didn’t sing either, but raised and calmed the waves by blowing his conch. So to recap: merpersons swam and did not sing, while sirens flew, and did.

Siren, Lekythos, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Triton, Hellbrun Palace, Salzburg, Austria

Did you know...

• The Sirens lost some of their plumes to the Muses after losing a singing contest, hence the expression “ruffling some feathers” (or “losing your feathers” in lots of languages).

• Merman Triton is known for one big feat during the Gigantomachy: putting the Giants to flight by the horrendous noise he produced on his conch shell.

• Some mention the river god Acheloös and the Muse Melpomene as the parents of the Sirens.