The image I chose of Odysseus is his encounter with the sirens while being tied to the mast of his ship. In this image, you can see the power the sirens hold over these men. Odysseus is in a trance while they swarm around him, his crew staring straight ahead with their ears plugged with wax. This image paints the sirens to be beautiful winged creatures with dark clothing, while they swarm Odysseus and his crew and sing with their entrancing voices. You can see his crew working hard to continue rowing, one siren leaning close to one of his men though he is completely unphased due to his plugged ears keeping him safe. Odysseus is portrayed in what I believe to be typical masculine clothing for that time period, he is wearing a white tunic. White is generally perceived to be a pure color, I found it interesting for Odysseus to be dressed that way while condoning and being a part of many acts that are morally wrong, taking away the innocence you could assume at first glance.

From the research I have done, I believe this image is how I envisioned Odysseus and his crew’s interaction with the sirens. The image captures Odysseus being the only man to listen to the siren’s enchanting voices while he enforced the plugging of his crew’s ears and for them to continue rowing. He also directed his crew not to lower him down from the mast regardless of his pleas, in a way this tested their loyalty towards Odysseus. Towards the beginning of my research of Odysseus’s adventures and specifically this interaction, I thought Odysseus was being a selfless leader and using his power as this superior for the greater good. While continuing to read about his adventures, and now researching this image, it has been put into perspective for me the selfishness he truly possesses. He tends to put his crew in danger to get his point across about who he is and the role he plays as “a hero”. The more closely you look at this image and pair it with this thought process you can see the manipulation with this scene. Odysseus gave his crew no option to experience the siren’s song and only let himself be enchanted while still in the safety of being tied to the mast. His crew never fought back and showed constant loyalty towards Odysseus. I believe this is a good example to the readers to show the person Odysseus is and where his priorities truly lie.

One thing this image focuses on that I was surprised by is how darkly clothed the sirens are and how they are presented fully clothed. Interestingly enough, though they are not very exposed, their beauty is still shown through the structure of their faces and their wispy long hair. Though this beauty is still prominent and recognized by Odysseus, the sirens were fooled by his plan and they managed to make their way safely past them. I interpreted this representational strategy to go hand and hand with the intention of showing Odysseus in his white clothes as an innocent hero.