The Sirens’ song lures sailors to their deaths in Homer’s Odyssey. Their enchanting voices tempt passing crews toward the Sirens’ island, where the shore is surrounded by the remains of earlier victims.
Circe warns Odysseus about the danger before he reaches them. He wants to hear the famous song, so his crew binds him tightly to the mast while they keep rowing. He orders them not to release him, even if he begs or commands them to do so.
The Sirens are often confused with Scylla and Charybdis, which appear later in the voyage as separate threats. Harpies are also birdlike female creatures in Greek mythology, but they are not the singers in this episode. In early Greek art, Sirens could have birdlike bodies and human heads; their later popular image often gives them the form of beautiful mermaids.