Poem Analysis: Odysseus And The Sirens

Sam Hyams
Mrs. Murray
Pre-AP English 9-3
7 March 2016
Odysseus and the Sirens
The Sirens, which originated from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, have invoked powerful feelings in artists and painters alike that has caused many written and visual arts to be created. The Sirens, in the story the Odyssey, are beautiful creatures that live on an island and lure men to their death by singing a captivating song. The painter John William Waterhouse depicted his version of the Sirens in his painting Ulysses and The Sirens as birds with the head of a women . In the poem “The Siren’s Song”, Margaret Atwood displayed the Sirens as intelligent and cunning women who easily deceive men sailing by into their deaths. In the painting Ulysses and the Sirens, John William Waterhouse uses the story of Odysseus and the Sirens to …show more content…
The tone of the poem is manipulative and curious because the man or sailor she is calling out to is curious about what she is saying or singing about and the Siren is manipulating him to come closer so she can kill him. “ Sirens Song Quote” The narrator is one of the Sirens, and she is having a conversation with a sailor telling him that he is special and that he is the only one that can save her however, in actuality, she is luring him to his death. After she has killed him she reveals that she is bored of singing the same song because it works every time. The Siren in the poem seems superior and more intelligent than the sailor, who is a man, which goes along with the poet's personal beliefs as a feminist. The Siren confuses the reader by making them believe that it is just a conversation but they realize too late that the Siren has been tricking them and has been singing her song the whole time, so their call for help is more of a call to death. (A-2, A-5, A-7, A-8) Needs