Comparing Ulysses And The Siren Song

Both Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse, and “The Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood use the myth of the sirens, to show how alluring they can be. The sirens can lure someone because they sing a song and even in some myths are said to give visions of what a person wants most. Both in the painting and in the poem the sirens are the main characters. The only difference is that in the poem the sirens are tricking the readers without their knowledge, and Ulysses is listening to them willingly even though he knows they will trick him. It is shown in the Odyssey that the sirens can easily trick people because Odysseys strains to get out, even though beforehand he tells himself not to get tricked. The sirens myth has inspired many artists to publish paintings of scenarios with the sirens. Writers have too been inspired to publish books, plays, songs, and poems, one famous poet is Margaret Atwood.
Margaret Atwood was born in the year of 1993 in Ontario, Canada. She is an author of many novels, essays, short fiction books, children books, poetry, and even radio plays. Atwood does not dwell on location, physical presence, or details of a place. One of Margaret Atwood famous poems is called “The Siren Song”.
“The Siren Song” is a brilliant poem. It …show more content…
You can also see the rest of the crew, who is able to continue rowing because of the wax that is stuffed in their ears. Most myths about the sirens say that they usually are on the shore of an island. So it was quite surprising that the sirens were not on a shore, but floating righting in front of their victim. Again the artist showed that the sirens are alluring people, by showing Ulysses tied to a mast so he wouldn’t throw himself at death. The sirens luring people to their death has been a common theme in both the painting and the