Myths: Siren

According to www.askoxford.com, siren is defined as: noun (1) a device that makes a loud prolonged signal or warning sound. (2) Greek Mythology each of a number of women or winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks. (3) a woman who is considered to be alluring but also dangerous.

ORIGIN: originally denoting an imaginary type of snake: from Greek Seiren.

I did not know before reading this that that word siren originally had something to do with snakes. Maybe dangerously seductive woman were considered snake-like?

In any case, Greek mythology would have as women who sang so beautifully they dazzled sailors into crashing into rocks and dying. Odysseus so longed to hear their song that he plugged his sailors ears so they could not hear the siren’s song, had himself tied to his ship, and sailed his ship past the sirens. These women are sometimes depicted as mermaids, sometimes half-woman, half-bird, or just a very sexy woman.

In the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton, the siren is a type of mermaid that is feared by other merfolk. Unlike other mermaids, sirens have the ardeur. The ardeur is a power that some vampires (and Anita Blake!!) have to inspire sexual passion in others, the ability to feed off sex and that can result in a nearly insatiably sexual appetite. Personally, I thought this was a nice use of the myth. They are mermaids and they can certainly lure men to their death with it. Her sirens don’t sing, but the result is the same.

The Arcane Society series of Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle/Amanda Quick also has a type of siren. In this case, sirens are human, musically gifted women who can hit the high “money notes” such as D’s, E, F’s and the occasional G. Notes so high and pure, the siren could lure and kill with them, just as in the siren of myth. No mermaids, of course, but the Arcane Society books doesn’t run to paranormal creatures.

Incidentally, a siren is also a type of eel that has external gills. Who knew sirens were real? Though it is probably not all that enchanting.