THE SIRENS SEA MONSTERS PROJECT FACTS The Sirens

THE SIRENS SEA MONSTERS PROJECT

FACTS The Sirens were characters in Greek mythology and featured in the Odyssey. Odysseus warned about them by Circe. In order to stop his men from being seduced by the sirens’ singing, Odysseus had his men block their ears with wax. As Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens singing, he ordered his men to tie him tightly to the mast of the ship. As their ship sailed past the island which the sirens inhabited, the men were unaffected by their song, as they could not hear it. Odysseus heard the sirens sing, but lived to tell the tale, as he was bound to the mast. They also featured in Jason and the Argonauts. Sirens were beautiful but dangerous and sang songs to lure sailors to their deaths. They were the daughters of a Sea God, and were a mixture of women and birds. Originally Sirens were male or female, but the male disappeared from sources around 5 BCE. Over time the Sirens became known as mermaids.

CHOSEN IMAGE SOURCE Title Ulysses and the Sirens Artist Léon Belly Medium. Oil on Canvas Date 1867 Notes Acquired at the Salon 1867

ULYSSES AND THE SIRENS by Léon Belly

The depiction is of Odysseus and the Sirens, from Homer’s Odyssey. The painting shows a half-naked Odysseus tied to the mast of his ship, while his half naked colleagues row the ship past the Sirens’ island. The Sirens are floating in the water, naked. These Sirens do not have fish tails, nor do they look like birds – they are simply women. One of the sirens has a musical instrument, to accompany the songs which the Sirens are singing in order to lure the sailors to their deaths. This painting was made by Leon Belly in 1867. The light is focused on the Sirens making them the most important part of the painting. The nudity of the men and women points towards their strength and beauty. The painting is a romantic version of horrific myth. The painting makes the viewer feel intrigued by the beautiful mermaids and by Odysseus attempt to resist them by being tied to the mast. IMAGE ANALYSIS

CHOSEN FILM SOURCE Title Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Director Rob Marshall Date 2011

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

In the film the Sirens are killers who prey on men, using their voices in song. The Sirens look like underwater vampires with fishtails. They are scary as they kill sailors. Although they look like mermaids with fish tails, on one occasion a mermaid out of water grows legs. The mermaids are naked although as the film is for children, it does not show this. There is a nod to the original myth when one of the characters calls one of the mermaids Sirena. It is a funny entertaining film, mainly for kids and the Sirens are not too scary, but they do kill people. However, the deaths are not shown. They kill indiscriminately, both Royal Navy sailors and pirates. FILM ANALYSIS

CHOSEN TEXT SOURCE Title Siren Song Book Selected Poems 1965 -1975. Copyright © 1974, 1976 Author Margaret Atwood Genre Poetry

SIREN SONG MARGARET ATWOOD I don't enjoy it here squatting on this island looking picturesque and mythical This is the one song everyone would like to learn: the song that is irresistible: with these two feathery maniacs, I don't enjoy singing the song that forces men this trio, fatal and valuable. to leap overboard in squadrons even though they see the beached skulls I will tell the secret to you, only to you. the song nobody knows because anyone who has heard it is dead, and the others can't remember. Come closer. This song is a cry for help: Help me! Shall I tell you the secret Only you, only you can, and if I do, will you get me you are unique out of this bird suit? at last. Alas it is a boring song but it works every time.

The poem is a siren song, written to entertain but also to show us the Siren’s point of view. The Siren is trying to trick the reader so she can kill them. The Siren is one of three, probably female. She is not a mermaid as she doesn’t have a tail. Instead she has feathers and wings. Margaret Atwood is a feminist, and this poem is written from that perspective. It’s from the Siren’s point of view. She hates singing to kill sailors, but she is trapped and has no choice on the island. However she does win at the end, drawing in the reader to her song and overpowering them as expected. The poem makes you feel tricked into listening right until the end when she kills you. It has elements of humour but it also makes you feel quite sad because it seems she has no choice. The depiction of the Siren is successful as she is intelligent and persuasive, having a lot of power, but no choices. It is a feminist depiction of a woman’s life. POETRY ANALYSIS

IS THERE ANY TRUTH IN STORIES OF THE SIRENS? The stories could have come from: Manatees or Sea Cows The 3 species of manatees - Amazonian, West Indian and the West African manatee. They live in shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon basin and West Africa. Manatees are also called sea cows, as they are slow planteaters, peaceful and similar to cows on land. Manatees spend approximately 50% of the day sleeping submerged, surfacing for air regularly at intervals of less than 20 minutes. The remainder of the time is mostly spent grazing in shallow waters. They swim in salt water but drink fresh water.

Mermaids A mythological creature with the body of a woman and the tail of a fish. Usually depicted as beautiful and with long flowing golden hair. The word mermaid is a compound of the Old English mere (sea), and maid (a girl or young woman). The first known mermaid stories appeared in Assyria c. 1000 BCE. The goddess Atargatis loved a mortal and unintentionally killed him. Ashamed, she jumped into a lake and took the form of a fish, — human above the waist, fish below. Mermaids appear in British folklore as unlucky omens, both foretelling disaster and provoking it. Mermaids can also be a sign of approaching rough weather. Atargatis depicted as a fish with a woman's head, on a coin of Demetrius III.

MERMAID SIGHTINGS 1493 Christopher Columbus observed three mermaids on the coasts of Africa. He recorded that they were not as beautiful as they are painted…although to some extent have a human appearance in the face… 1608 The explorer Henry Hudson, near Norway recorded that one of his men saw a mermaid, with long black hair and a tail like a speckled mackerel. 1614 The sailor John Smith spotted a mermaid swimming in the West Indies. She was an attractive woman with green hair and a fish tail. 1830 In the Outer Hebrides, a mermaid was spotted off the coast, then a few days later washed up on shore. She had long dark hair and white skin. The lower part of the body was like a salmon, but without scales. they 1866 Russian print

1943 In Kei Islands, Indonesia, several mermaids or “Orang Ikan” were spotted by Japanese soldiers on the shore. They were 150 cm tall, pinkish skin, human looking face and limbs, spikes along its head, and a mouth like a carp. 2008 In Kiryat Yam, Israel, there were dozens of sightings of a half girl, half fish jumping like a dolphin at sunset. A $1 million reward to anyone who can prove her existence. 2017 In Gokwe, Zimbabwe two boys died under unclear circumstances after they were reportedly snatched by a suspected mermaid at Pachemumvuri Dam. Previously there had been another two deaths and the community had performed rituals to calm down the water spirits. Work on the pumps at Gwehava Dam once stopped after terrified workers complained of machines breaking down under mysterious circumstances, and blamed mermaids.

WHY DID PEOPLE BELIEVE IN SIRENS AND MERMAIDS? My Opinion They mistook manatees or other sea creatures for women They heard old myths and stories They believed sightings which are quite common throughout history Sailors were at sea for so long that they wanted to believe there women in the sea. Sailors saw mirages as they were undernourished

Movies e. g. Siren TV shows e. g. H 20 Statues e. g. Copenhagen Mermaid Starbucks logo Mermaid Academy for Children Fashion and Hair Games such as Sims 3 Companies selling pillows and jewellery MODERN REPRESENTATIONS