I find “The Sirens in ‘The Odyssey’ are Actually way Cooler-and Creepier-than you Thought” by Charlotte Ahlin, to be a very informative source about the Sirens and their true story. We’ve all been told the story of The Sirens. Basically, they are mythical creatures that lure sailors closer to them with seductive methods and murder them. This picture paints the SIrens to be stupid sex driven creatures that have no conscience, and while it is true that they kill and that’s bad, they are also smarter than we thought. They lure through music, and people always say through their looks and sexual appeal. Reading The Odyssey, it’s so easy to just get the big points out of the text and not read further in to truly understand what is happening and why it is happening. Also, it’s too easy to not question the things people tell you about a story. For example, in past years, I’ve heard that the Sirens simply pull in sailors through their good looks and music. However, I learned through this source that men such as Odysseus and others were lured in by their curiosity and want of knowledge. The Sirens use their music to tell sailors that they hold the knowledge which these men crave. And then once they are lured, they are murdered. Now, to even have the knowledge to know the biggest question of these men, these Sirens need to be really intelligent. As you can see, this source challenges what we are always told by bringing in a new perspective. It also goes as far to prove things from the book itself by ringing up the fact that in the story, it is never actually said that the sirens had any seductive appeal to the men. It is just said that they were lured through song and men liked them because they ‘knew things’. This source, later on, also goes over why there was this misconception of the Sirens being sexually seductive creatures, saying that “ In most other modern translations of The Odyssey, all of them authored by men, Wilson notes that this line is translated as “lips.” Songs pour from the sirens’ lips, even though the original Greek word means “mouth” and not “lip.” Lips are more kissable though, and it seems that at some point in telling and retelling The Odyssey, the sirens became all mixed up with the “Alluring Mermaid” archetype”. 

This source also gives more perspective that Homer’s piece fails to clearly portray. It does this by diving into the perspective of all the characters involved, from the Sirens, to the reader, to Odysseus. For starters it is never said in the Odyssey that the Sirens were not intended to be seductive, however due to the poor word choice of some of the translators, the impression was given off that this was true. The translation from the original text, directly translates to ‘mouth’, and some of the male writers were saying ‘lips’. Which would be such a minor and non-impactful decision to make, however, in this case, it makes the whole section of the book read the wrong way. The original text fails to dive deeper into the backstory of the sirens and how they became what they did, however that is exactly what this source does. Due to the focus of the Odyssey being around Odysseus and his triumphs and difficulties, it is understandable why this is true, however, it is really enjoyable to read through this source and learn about different aspects of the story that aren’t even told in the story itself. 

This source rewrites and explains the Sirens in a way that highlights all of their points by going through and analyzing and presenting why they are the way they are and taking us back to the roots of the original story itself and coming out with a new view on the story. From the fact that the “sirens of Homer’s Odyssey are not described as mermaid-like in any way”, to the fact that “there are even male sirens if you go back far enough”, which most courses don’t have you do. For a direct comparison, in Wilson’s The Odyssey, the Sirens are described simply as, “All those who pass this way hear honeyed song, poured from our mouths. The music brings them joy and they go on their way with greater knowledge, since we know everything the Greeks and Trojans suffered in Troy, by God’s will and know whatever happens anywhere on earth” (307). With this depiction, we are told that the sirens have the intuition to know what Doyesseus longs for most in his life, joy, empowerment, and to learn more about what is around him. I mean, heck, this man told his crew members to tie him to a pole on the boat, so that he could hear this song that is supposed to lure men to their death, solely because he wanted to see what the experience was going to be like. Directly before the quote, it talks about how the Sirens also complimented him, which is a perfect way to get on Odysseus’ good side. This is the only description that is given about the Sirens in terms of words directly coming from them and descriptions that are not possibly biased through Circe’s lens, since we were living in the moment with Odysseus as he was having these experiences. Wilson’s description does not go into any male sirens nor does it talk about things from their perspective or give any view that is not through a male’s lens. In this way Wilson’s depiction of this portion is biased through my modern eyes, and this is how I am able to gain more really important knowledge about the Sirens through this lens and give me a whole new embodiment to the text. My chosen source also does a good job at providing information about these sirens that makes it easier to picture them in my head while I read and helps me see them as more alive and relatable through describing them more in depth. After reading this source, I can confidently say that I understand the Sirens in a more well-rounded sense now. I also respect how Ahlin got me to do that by forcing me into new perspectives and making me question what I’ve learned for all of my years studying the Odyssey.