Sirens in Greek mythology. Dangerous sirens. Ancient Greek mythology Sirens mythical creatures harbingers of fate

SIREN

SIREN

1. preim. pl. The ancient Greeks - a mythical sea creature, depicted as a woman (sometimes with bird legs) or a bird with a female head, singing to lure sailors to dangerous, disastrous places for them.

3. A tailed amphibian without hind legs, with eyes under the skin and external gills (zool.).

4. A device for receiving sounds of various heights and measuring sound vibrations (physical).

5. A beep that produces strong and harsh, far audible sounds. Steamship siren. Factory siren. Car with a siren.

Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary... D.N. Ushakov. 1935-1940.

See what "SIREN" is in other dictionaries:

siren - s, w. sirène f. lat. Siren c. Seiren. 1. In Greek mythology, a creature living in the sea in the form of a woman with bird legs or a bird with a female head, singing lured sailors to dangerous perilous places. ALS 1. August 15 1749 ... ... Historical Dictionary of Russian Gallicisms

1) an instrument for measuring the number of air vibrations producing a tone of a known pitch; the more frequent the fluctuations, the higher it is; 2) p. or a howler a device installed on ships or places dangerous for navigation and warning seafarers with a sharp sound in ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (insignia) seductive beauty. Wed "Voice, siren sound." Wed I’ll show you one little thing, you’ll lick it! “Little thing” is not what papa calls sirens? ... Saltykov. All year round. 1st September. Wed If only you ... Michelson's Big Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Female sly temptress, from the Greek gods. | Siren and Sirens (male), Amer. swamp, two-legged lizard. II. SIREN or sirens, see seren. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dahl. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Acoustic. emitter, the action to rogo is based on periodic. interrupting the flow of gas (or liquid). According to the principle of operation, S. are divided into dynamic (rotating) and pulsating. In pulsating S., the flow is shut off by a damper that performs ... ... Physical encyclopedia

Demon, whistle, howler, khans, mammal, manatee, temptress, dugong, nymph, seductress, seducer, circe, emitter Dictionary of Russian synonyms. siren 1. see beep 2. cm ... Synonym dictionary

Steam, air, electric (Siren, hooter) signal sound device capable of producing sounds of very high strength and any tone using steam or compressed air. Modern shipborne signals are audible at a distance of 3-5 km in any atmospheric ... ... Marine Dictionary

- (French sirene from Greek seiren), a high-intensity sound wave emitter, in which a stream of air or steam is interrupted by a disc with holes or in another way. It is used on lighthouses, ships, etc. Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

In ancient Greek mythology: a creature with a female head and a bird's body, living on rocky sea islands. Tatar, Turkic, Muslim female names. Glossary of terms ... Dictionary of personal names

Books

• Sirena, M. Volkonsky. Siren. An intriguing romance ...

Sirens in ancient Greek mythology, they were called mysterious and mysterious female sea creatures, they were credited with a deceptive and cruel disposition. With their songs and seductive appearance, the sirens lured sailors to death. The mention of these girls-fish or girls-birds is often found, there are also a lot of legends and legends associated with them, they are united by one thing that everyone who met the sirens, we are, of course, talking about men, first of all, they certainly died.

Deadly charm of ancient tradition

Different sources describe different versions of the origin of these creatures. According to one of the legends, these creatures are the offspring of the sea god Forkias or Aheloy, and one of the muses (Calliope, Terpsichora or Melpomene) was considered the mother, Steropa was sometimes considered the mother. This explains their demonic nature and melodic voice. The number of these creatures ranged from two or three and reached a whole multitude. According to legend, they lived on the rocks of an island strewn with bones and dry skin of unfortunate wanderers trapped in their insidious nature.

Another legend is connected with their origin, that the sirens were formerly very beautiful and arrogant girls who angered Aphrodite with their obstinate disposition, and she punished them by turning them into birds. Another, no less beautiful legend says that nymphs who were turned into birds by muses became sirens. For the fact that, possessing extraordinary voices, they were so proud of it that they dared to call the muses in a competition, and lost. As punishment, they were turned into sirens.

According to another version, they were turned by sirens by Demeter, the mother of Persefora, kidnapped by Hades. And another version claims that they themselves wanted to become birds, as they were going to find the young goddess kidnapped by Hades, but since people did not want to help them, they settled on a distant island and began to take revenge on everyone, enticing pilgrims and sailors to die.

Over the years, poets and writers have tried to recreate the ancient image, and each time, the legend came to life in a new way. Either these are insidious beautiful maidens, then these are the harbingers of death from the other world. Often their image was carved on tombstones, because they were associated with the angels of death, who sang funeral songs to the sound of the lyre.

The Middle Ages also left many references and facts that proved an amazing devotion to this image. Very often you can see the image of birds with female heads or the body of a fish on coats of arms and frescoes.

There is also a rare version of the origin of female birds. She claims that they were the result of experiments by an alien Intelligence, which ultimately created a person using genetic engineering. But this result was not obtained immediately. First, intermediate versions of living beings appeared, which combined the appearance of both animals and people, therefore one of the side branches of the experiment, such as: pegasus or satyrs, can be called sirens. Of course, the same theory states that after a clean result, all these creatures were destroyed. But if this is so, then it remains unknown exactly how many individuals were created and how many were destroyed, there is a possibility that someone managed to survive and become the object of numerous legends and traditions.

Maybe the mysterious nature of the sirens was of a collective nature and personified a changeable and sometimes even unpredictable female nature? Maybe they really were part of our world, but later unknown changes disappeared? And maybe somewhere else on a distant island you can hear a wonderful voice calling the wanderer to rest after a long journey, and the sailor to drop the anchor and enjoy the wonderful singing and music.

Scary mythical creatures, mesmerizing with their singing, sirens are probably familiar to every lover of ancient myths and legends. Today there are many well-known literary works, films, fairy tales, computer games dedicated to fabulous sea inhabitants. What do these mythical characters hide, why did they gain such popularity?

Who are the sea sirens, how did they happen

The siren is a mythical creature that combines in its image the beauty and insidiousness of the sea. They are as unpredictable as the water surface, which, at first glance, may seem shallow, but in fact, is full of underwater reefs, or, conversely, a black depth, which may turn out to be shallow overgrown with algae.

The myths tell about two external forms of these sea beauties. Some legends about sirens say that they are half-girls, half-birds, while others insist that sirens are relatives of mermaids who have the same mesmerizing maiden beauty and a long fish tail.

The well-known "Odyssey" tells about the existence of two fabulous monsters, but the author (Homer) does not name their names. In later sources, a third beauty is already mentioned. These magical creatures, like all mortals, bore names. Their names were Persinoia, Aglaoa, and Teskepia, respectively elder, middle and younger sisters. Each of them had its own special gift: one fascinated travelers by playing the kefar, the middle one lured prey with a beautiful voice, and the youngest had a talent for playing the flute. Sirens in mythology can be found under other names. So the older one was called Parthenopa, the middle one was Ligeia, and the younger one was Leukosia.

There is no reliable information who could be the parent of these terrible creatures. According to some legends, their parent was one of the three main muses, according to other versions - the Goddess of Chaos Keta, while others called them their mother Steropa. As for the father, there is also no specific answer: some believed that it was Aheloy, while others - Forky.

Each of the possible parents, which can be found in the myths about sirens, also has its own interesting history and prerequisites for the generation of these water monsters.

For example, Forcius, the underworld sea king who ruled the ocean before Poseidon, was very cruel and disliked people. For fun, he, along with his domineering wife Keta, could mock mortals with the help of water monsters. These terrible deities are the creators of such monsters as Echidna, Ladon (100-head dragon), gorgons, hesperides. Therefore, it is likely that the creation of the deadly singers is their work.

When it comes to Aheloy (Lord of the Rivers), he was less violent than the two previous "parent candidates". He became one of the heroes of the Hercules myth. There, the god appeared in the form of a bull, which the hero defeated in order to save a beautiful girl. According to some sources, thanks to the union of Melpomene with the river deity, singing mermaids appeared.

Forky, like Aheloy, knew how to change his appearance. Perhaps this is why the descriptions of sea sirens in various sources differ so much, because both of the alleged fathers were werewolves. The legends that appeared after the "Odyssey" describe the ocean monsters as sweet-voiced girls with wings, as mermaids with magical voices, as creatures with a bird's body, but the head of a woman. One of the fathers gave the creatures his terrible, evil, cruel, bloodthirsty character, and the mother endowed them with talent.

You can find a version that the sirens were cursed and therefore they remained half in human form, and half in animal. According to one legend, the sea singers were unable to protect Persephone from Hades, and after her disappearance, they made no attempt to find their patroness. For such irresponsibility, Persephone's mother Demeter "rewarded" her daughter's negligent retinue with a curse.

According to another version, the girls still tried to find their mistress, which was not to the liking of Zeus, who was not against the theft of Persephone. To get rid of the sirens, the gods carried out the transformation of beauties into birds.

According to another version, the sea beauties themselves desired to take on such an appearance.

Siren mythical creatures in legends

One of the legends tells about a song tournament between sea singers and muses, organized by the goddess Hero in the city of Apter. It is not known why Hera needed this tournament. It was rumored that Zeus fell in love with one of the ocean beauties, and in order to eliminate a rival, the goddess of marriage came up with such a competition. The muses won and cut off the feathers of the ocean singers, making them jewelry for their heads. Taking pity on the humiliated creatures, Zeus granted them Anfemoessa (an island in the ocean).

Ancient legends that appeared after the Homeric work tell of sea monsters that sing on an island surrounded by a sharp reef. These monsters fascinate sailors with the sounds of their voices, ships crash on rocks, and the girl's prey is dragged ashore and eaten. Lucky Orpheus and his companions managed to escape from these monsters. Due to the fact that Orpheus himself possessed a bewitching voice and a magical playing on the lyre, all the time the ship sailed past a dangerous place, the young man played and sang. However, one of the sailors was miraculously mesmerized. He jumped from the ship into the sea and swam towards death. He managed to survive only thanks to the goddess of love.

The first source that mentioned sea monsters was the Odyssey. There Homer described in detail where the island where the ocean singers lived was. A terrible thing was happening on the island: it was "covered" with the remnants of dried skin and bones. Odysseus, thanks to his ingenuity, was able to save himself and his team. He came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bsticking beeswax into his ears, which was able to protect sailors from enchanting sounds. He himself, out of curiosity, asked to be chained to the mast in order to understand why these songs are so charming. The team was able to keep the captain and not send him to certain death.

It was disastrous for the sirens to miss at least one ship without casualties. They predicted a quick death after such an incident. Having missed Odysseus's ship, the water monsters went mad. Some of them threw themselves into the water. The sirens in the sea have turned into large rocks. Others began to pluck themselves and others, after which they drowned. Most often, you can find the version that the death of the siren was brought not by Odysseus, but by Jason with the Argonauts.

According to Sophocles, he managed not only to meet the living sirens, but also to communicate with them. According to his narration, these airy maidens live in Hades and create true harmony through their songs.

Found in the sources and the connection of aquatic beauties with a creature called the Delphic Oracle.

Pictures depicting mysterious creatures were placed on graves during the time of Ancient Greece. Many stories and legends were created about these creatures, a temple and a tomb were erected in their honor.

Sea Monsters during the Middle Ages

With the advent of the Middle Ages, all ancient myths began to be interpreted from a side beneficial to Catholicism.

The Physiologist, a medieval work, broadcasts the following about sirens:

This text was rewritten in other words from the creation of Homer. By the image of the sirens, the medieval author meant all two-faced people, including those who came to power.

In the treatises of these times, there is a comparison of Odysseus with Christ, who was chained not to a mast, but to a cross. The church has been compared to a ship, and the sirens to vices. Vices tried to seduce a person with sweet singing, but only faith (represented in the form of ropes) was able to save him. In the medieval translation, the sirens just found fish tails.

Sirens in modern culture

Today, these mythical creatures figure as one of the main characters in many fairy tales, works and films. Photos of ocean beauties are found on many sites on the Internet. They even shoot serials about them and create computer games.

The mystical creatures of the siren really fascinate people to this day with their mystery and beauty. After all, it has not yet been possible to figure out what is such a magical property of their voice.

There are still many mysteries left in ancient Greek mythology. Among them is the mystery of the appearance and existence of sirens. These wondrous creatures of divine or demonic origin leave a double impression. They are beautiful nymphs with charming voices, but bloodthirsty and merciless.

Creature mythology

Myths say that sirens are women who are very similar to nymphs. They were on an island in the sea and lured sailors sailing past. The charming girls sang songs of extraordinary beauty, complementing the melody with playing the lyre and other gentle musical instruments. Their song became so attractive that men could not resist the temptation to swim closer to the beautiful creatures. Their brains were completely clouded, they did not see anyone or anything around them, they were drawn with great force to the island.

But then they were disappointed: on the way to the shore, the ship fell on sharp, merciless rocks, underwater reefs and was smashed to smithereens. The entire island, on which the sirens were located, was strewn with the bones of former sailors and captains, the wreckage of their ships.

According to some reports, Zeus gave the wonderful sirens the island of Anfemoessa. It was located between the possessions of Circe and Sicily. It was a rather rocky sea area that was of little interest to humans. They preferred to swim past it (before the creatures settled on it).

They had an agreement with the gods - as soon as at least one mortal swims past their shore and does not die from their singing, then they themselves must die. Odysseus later turned out to be such a mortal.

The number of sirens in existence is not known. It varied from 2-3 to tens. People interpreted the image in different ways. They carved their images on tombs and tombstones, considering them to be angels of death, who sing sad funeral songs to the lyre.

It is a struggle for survival, competition and predatory power. Beautiful singing should alert the traveler, poisonous flowers are also very beautiful and smell nice. It is not for nothing that in the modern world a signal that denotes a threat is called a siren.

There are always sirens at sea. This is due to the fact that the sea disarms the traveler, tiring him, and therefore men succumb to their trick. For them, this is something new, unusual in a series of gray everyday life. They have long lost the habit of female affection, it is difficult for them to resist beautiful girls with wonderful singing.

External appearance

Accurate descriptions of the appearance of mythical creatures differ slightly: some say that they are very beautiful girls with wings and bird paws with large claws. Others - that this is a creature in which the upper part of the body is human, and the bottom is similar to the tail of a fish. They have long hair, a beautiful figure, and a gentle voice that they inherited from their mother.

In folklore, the image of a mysterious siren denotes the collective traits of women that are too unpredictable.

The fact that these creatures possessed extraordinary beauty is not for nothing. You should never trust the shell, the vessel may be beautiful on the outside, but completely empty on the inside. Sirens are characterized by changeable character, tenderness and cunning, fragility and power. The following body parts symbolize the animal nature in them:

• tail;
• scales;
• claws;
• feathers;
• wings.

Legends of origin

In mythology, the image of a siren is quite common, therefore there are many legends, myths, tales about their origin and mode of existence:

1. One of the ancient hypotheses says that the sirens were created by the deity Phocius by natural fusion with Kaliopa, Melpomene or Terpsichore. This assumption justifies their unnatural attractiveness and alluring voice.
2. The second legend says that the sirens are previously ordinary earthly girls who showed their proud disposition and inaccessibility, which terribly angered the goddess of beauty. As a punishment, she turned them into birds. They were very angry with men and tried to take revenge on them in the depths of the sea.
3. There is an idea that having a wonderful voice, the nymphs became arrogant and were not afraid to challenge the muses to a competition. They lost it and were punished by exile to an island in the middle of the sea in the form of sirens. It was Demeter who turned the young nymphs into birds.
4. The version in which the nymphs were created to serve the young goddess Persephone also has a right to exist, but the evil Hades decided to kidnap Persephone so that she lived with him. The young nymphs could not forgive themselves for not saving their mistress. They looked for her on land in all places where they could, but they could not find out exactly where she had disappeared. Desperate, they came to Demeter - the mother of the lost goddess. She was in deep despair and gave the young nymphs wings and fish tails so that they could find her daughter. They lacked their own strength to search. They decided to ask people for help, but they were refused. They remembered this ignoble act, settled on an abandoned island in the middle of the ocean and promised to take revenge on all men, dooming them to death.
5. There is even one version, similar to fantasy in mythology, that few know about. The Universal Mind decided to create an experimental living being. He wanted to create a man, but he did not succeed the first time - a siren appeared, something in between a woman and a bird. This did not stop the experimenter. The second time he managed to create a man, he no longer needed the siren. He destroyed all the sirens, but the exact number of created nymphs was not known, so there was a possibility that not all of them were destroyed. Several of them remained, they lived on an uninhabited island and sang sad songs, envying the person.

Who managed to escape the sirens

Almost all Greek ships sailing near the ominous island sank, and the crew died. There were also exceptions. Only those who knew about the power of sirens and how to deal with it could not fall under their rule.

1. A wise naval team of mythical individuals who were saved by Orpheus, drowning out the fatal voice of the sirens with his powerful, beautiful singing.
2. Successfully sailed past and comrades, whose commander was Odysseus. He was warned of an imminent meeting with the sirens, so he worried about the safety of the entire team. Having ordered to cover up the ears of all members of the ship with wax, he tightly tied himself with ropes to the Greek ship so that he would not be overcome by the desire to rush to the nymphs. And he did it. All crew members survived and were not tempted, the ship did not crash on the reefs. After such humiliation, the sirens died - they themselves threw themselves off the cliff.

Nobody knows if sirens exist. Lonely sea wolves sometimes hear the wonderful sound of harps on a wild island, but no one will believe them, taking it for the plot of a fantasy novel. No need to be skeptics - the world still holds many secrets.

The ancient Greek bestiary is full of interesting creatures with special abilities. Among the female creatures, one of the most significant is the sea maiden. The Siren is a demon in the form of a beautiful nymph. She is known for her divine voice, characterized by charm and alluring notes.

Origin of creatures

The god Achel and the muse of Terpsichore are considered the probable parents of half-female birds. There are versions about other higher creatures who gave birth to young nymphs, but the exact information has not been preserved. The mysterious maidens lived on the rocks of a small island near Sicily.

It says that at the beginning of their existence, the sirens were nymphs looking after the young goddess Persiphona. On one of the summer walks, the young maiden was kidnapped by Hades, who dreamed of getting her as his wife. The beauties were upset with their carelessness and immediately went in search of Persephone.

They could not find her either with the help of Demeter - the mother of the young goddess, or with the participation of influential representatives from the human world - they simply refused to help. Then the nymphs vowed to take revenge on the human race for inattention and moved to a small island, where they began to call out negligent travelers with their enchanting voice, and then tear them apart and deprive them of blood.

Description of the image of the sirens

Sirens are portrayed as beautiful creatures with a bewitching voice and unusual appearance.

According to mentions in mythology, sea maidens had two forms:

1. who lost their tail and acquired wings as punishment from Demeter for the loss of Persephone.
2. Women with a bird's body, in which the nymphs were turned by Aphrodite for not wanting to get married.

The alluring voice of the virgin was inherited from the mother. With its help, beautiful creatures enchanted sailors and lured them into the depths of their lair. In some sources, a description of an attractive gaze has been preserved, which helped beauties to tempt travelers.

The first legends say about two sea creatures, but their names have not survived. Later, information about three sirens appeared:

• peisinoya, who plays the cithara;
• Aglaofa with a magical voice;
• flutist Telksiepia.

In other sources, the names of the nymphs change. In total, mentions of eight maidens have survived, tempting men with an alluring voice and bewitching appearance.

The image of mythical creatures is filled with special symbols. Their extraordinary appearance speaks of the erroneousness of judgments based only on appearance, and warns that evil intentions can be hidden behind the beauty of a person. The singing of half-women, half-birds in mythology symbolizes deceit and danger. The appearance of sea creatures warns of animal instincts and anger of beauties.

Mention of beautiful virgins in ancient legends

Greek mythology of different eras interprets the essence and appearance of the sirens in accordance with the spirit of the current time:

1. The first information about the bewitches was preserved in Homer's Odyssey. He mentioned the existence of virgins living on a desert island. Its territory was littered with the bones of their victims and the remnants of ships.
2. Ancient myths described sea creatures as muses who came from another world. They were considered angels of death, mourning the dead and carved the image of sea nymphs on stone tombstones.
3. In the Middle Ages, sirens gained unprecedented popularity. The appearance of beautiful half-birds, half-women was used in the coats of arms of noble families. They were depicted not only in the traditional form: sometimes the torso of animals or details from the images of other creatures were added to the maidens.
4. In the classical era, enchanting creatures were mistaken for spirits who accompanied the deceased to the Kingdom of the Dead and immortalized them on monuments.

One of the long-standing legends refutes the incomparable beauty of the sirens' voices. It talks about the competition between nymphs and muses. The sea maidens then lost, and the insidious muses took off their plumage and weaved wreaths from it, which they carried with them until the end of their days in memory of the victory.

The death of magical maidens

The sirens were predicted instant death in the event that one of the sailors could suppress the temptation and swim past the lair of beautiful maidens. Not a single traveler was able to resist the magical attraction of the beauties until Odysseus sailed near the island. Circe warned him about strange nymphs, and Odysseus was able to find a way out. He covered the ears of the whole team with wax, and ordered himself to be tied in order to hear the magic call and understand the essence of half-female half-bird magic.

The ship was able to sail past the lair of wondrous creatures. Then the sirens drowned, jumping off the cliff, and turned into the cliffs that have surrounded the island for centuries.

The story of the death of the beauties refutes the opinion of the Virgo did not want death and were forced to lure every sailor to their island, avoiding the punishment of the prophecy.

Impact on the modern world

The current culture does not forget about mythical creatures; references to them can be found in TV shows, books, computer games.

A siren is called an alarm in memory of the main symbolic meaning of the voice of nymphs - warning of danger.

Astronomers have not forgotten half-women, half-birds. A small asteroid is named after them. Another one bears the name of the most beautiful nymph - Parthenopa.

Scriptwriters and writers love sirens, and in many works they add fantasy to the image of maidens. The series "The Witcher" showed magical creatures in their true appearance, but the serial beauties are credited much more than in the legends. Siren named the heroine of the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" - a mermaid who was tested and was able to truly love a man. In 2018, the fantasy series "Sirens" was released, which convinces viewers of the existence of sea maidens in the real world and tells about their wars and lives.

Conclusion

Legends and myths about birdwomen have passed through the centuries and continue to influence culture and life. Their image combines many symbols warning of the hidden danger and vindictiveness of charming beauties. The story of their death changes the concept of the nature of the virgins - they followed the prophecy and had no other choice.