A siren is a water-nymph related to the mermaid and the harpy, she was originally represented as a creature with the head of a woman and the lower body of a bird, later she had the body of a woman and the legs of a bird. She is also depicted with the lower body of a fish and occasionally with the feet of a falcon and the tail of a fish.

In Greek mythology, the sirens were sea maidens who lived on an island littered with the bodies and bones of sailors that they had lured with their sweet singing and then destroyed. When Ulysses approached their island he covered the ears of his crew with wax and bound himself to the mast of his ship and they escaped, the sirens then threw themselves into the sea where they turned into large stones.

As a sea-nymph the siren represents the destructive power of the ocean that lies just below the calm surface, as well as the hot winds that wither fresh young plants. They are also a symbol for beauty, eloquence, and song.

She can be heard singing just before a storm and weeping during good weather, she also sings laments for the dead.

Also known as syren.

See Also: Creatures by Type » Birds

References

Encyclopedia Britannica New York: Encyclopedia Britannica Company, 1911.

Vinycomb, John. Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art. London: Chapman & Hall, 1906.

Image: Bocklin, Arnold. (1827-1901) Die Sirenen, 1874. Tempera on canvas, 46 x 31 cm.