The major theme in all depictions of the Sirens is temptation. They lure men to their demise on rocky waters. The painting “Ulysses and the Sirens” by Austrian painter Carl von Blaas vividly demonstrates this with his use of color, framing, and movement. To start, something we have in common with the ancient Greeks is reading direction. We both read left to right, meaning that that is also the way we expect movement to happen in images. Odysseus and crew start from the calm, sunny left side, and move into the dark and stormy right side. Using just the background elements, the painting already gives us some context. Odysseus comes from relative peace and safety, into a large amount of peril. Another big thing is the colors. Most of the painting is quite muted. Very dull blues, greys, and greens. The Sirens, however, are shown in very vivid color. They pop out as the only sign of life for many miles. They are also noticeably naked, which is absent from the Odyssey. Prior to reading the book, I assumed that the Sirens were supposed to be alluring and seductive. I was quite surprised when they ended up tantalizing Odysseus with knowledge instead. The Sirens have been retroactively adjusted to fit society’s needs. Plus, just behind the Sirens lay a pit of snakes, revealing their true intentions to the reader, while also following the natural movement of the eyes.  

There exists very little information on this painting that I could find. It was made in 1882 and is now part of a private collection in Vienna. That’s it. It does follow the somewhat recent trend of making the sirens all human, likely as a way to play up the seduction angle. They were originally bird people, with no actual physical descriptors located in the Odyssey. Due to lack of images and similarities to mermaids, the two became conflated and we ended up with something that is not true to either story.  

Before reading the Odyssey, I already was aware that the Sirens were quite sexist, but I’m amazed at how little the book had to do with it. It is all the fault of the translators coming into the story with biases and expectation on how the Sirens look and act. The emphasis has been taken away from their voices and knowledge and was instead placed solely on their looks. It interesting how well this small piece of translation mimics the current state of women in the U.S. The Sirens originally were meant to be a warning sign for seeking too much knowledge. Birds in ancient Greek times, were closely associated with wisdom, namely for their all-seeing eyes, and Athena being able to take the form of an owl. By revoking their bird forms, they lose all interesting depth and meaning, and turn into a much less interesting Circe and Calypso. An obstacle meant to destroy the nuclear family unit and leave the man blameless for his actions. What was an interesting albeit still iffy politically monster has been warped into something bland and harmful.