Sweet songs of sirens. Odysseus knew from Kirka's words that soon he would have to sail past the island where the sirens lived, half-woman, half-bird. With sweet-sounding songs they lure sailors to their island, and then tear them apart with sharp claws. No man has ever passed this island alive.
Odysseus wanted to listen to unusual songs. And so he covered the ears of his comrades with wax so that they would not hear magical voices, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast with strong ropes and, no matter what he did, in no case be untied. The ship quickly rushed past the island, and wonderful sounds were heard from it:
To us. God-equal Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans, Come to us with the ship; enjoy the sweet singing of the sirens. Here, not a single sailor passes with his ship, Without listening to the heart-sweet singing in our meadow, Whoever heard us returns to the house, knowing a lot: We know everything that is happening in the bosom of the multi-talented earth.
So the sirens sang; Odysseus was subdued by their singing, began to tear from the ropes, to show with signs that his comrades would free him. But they leaned even harder on the oars, and only then they untied Odysseus when the terrible island disappeared from sight and singing was not heard.
Skylla and Charybdis. The ship calmly sailed on, but Odysseus knew that an even more terrible danger lay ahead. The ship had to pass through a narrow strait between two rocks. On one of them, the monstrous Skilla lived in a cave. She had six dog heads on six long, wriggling necks, with three rows of sharp teeth in each mouth. From each ship that passed by, she immediately captured six people and swallowed them. Even more terrible was Charybdis lurking under another cliff. Three times a day she swallowed the water along with everything that was in it, and three times she vomited it back. Entire ships fell into her bottomless belly.
And then a terrible noise was heard in the distance: it was Charybdis raging. Odysseus ordered his companions to stay close to another cliff, but he did not say a word about Skill. Pale with horror, the travelers looked at Charybdis; waves gurgled around her mouth, and in a deep womb, as in a cauldron, sea mud and water boiled. At this time, the terrible Skilla stretched out all her necks and grabbed the six comrades of Odysseus; their feet flashed in the air, a drawn-out cry died away... But now the terrible strait was left behind, again the calm sea was ahead.
A month on the island of Trinacria. Odysseus did not want to stop on the island of Trinacria, remembering what Tiresias had warned him about. But Eurylochus said on behalf of the rest of the sailors: “You are acting cruelly, Odysseus! It’s like you yourself are cast from copper, you don’t know fatigue - we are ordinary people, we have been sleeping on a ship for many nights, and now we want to go ashore, rest there and refresh ourselves. And tomorrow at dawn we will continue our voyage.”
Odysseus understood that they could not avoid troubles, but did not argue with his comrades. They landed on the island and pulled the ship ashore. We spent the night here, and in the morning a terrible storm began, and there was no way to go out to sea. The winds blew for a whole month. All supplies went out from Odysseus and his companions; more and more they were tormented by hunger. But Odysseus watched so that they did not touch the bulls of Helios. One day, Odysseus fell asleep, and in the meantime, his companions decided to kill the bulls, and so that Helios would not be angry, they would take the precious gifts to his temple after returning.
Crime against the gods. Odysseus woke up, smelled fried meat and realized that his companions had committed a crime against the gods, doomed themselves to death. He was especially convinced of the terrible sign that the gods sent: how alive the skins of bulls moved, and the meat emitted a mournful lowing. The companions of Odysseus were saved from hunger, and soon the storm stopped, it was possible to hit the road.
But as soon as the island disappeared from the eyes, the Thunderer Zeus gathered heavy clouds over the ship. The wind howled, the mast broke like a cane, lightning flashed, and only splinters remained of the ship. Odysseus managed to grab onto a piece of the mast, and carried him along the waves. For nine days he carried him from end to end across the boundless sea, he almost fell into the mouth of Charybdis, and, fortunately, Skill did not notice him. Finally, he washed up on some shore.
CHARM OF THE SIRENSLeaving Circe, Odysseus headed towards the modern Gulf of Naples. The course of the sailors lay next to the island where they lived SIRENS (the ancients believed that this island was Capri). Insidious islanders, half-birds - half-women, were the daughters of the river god ACHELOIA and muses MELPOMENE (according to other myths: Aheloy and STEROPS , daughter of the Calydonian king).
"Aheloy"
(detail of the Roman mosaic "Eros and Psyche")
The magical singing of the sirens fascinated sailors, they moored to the shore, where the seductresses killed and devoured them.
Odysseus was warned in advance by Circe about cannibal songstresses and asked his companions to tie him tightly to the mast of the ship: so he could listen to the singing of the sirens without succumbing to their charms.
He ordered his people to fill their ears with wax and not pay attention to his requests until they left the shores of a dangerous island.
As soon as the first sounds of voluptuous singing reached the ears of Odysseus, he was distraught with the desire to be with these creatures. However, the helmsman's comrades ignored all his cries and threats.
Edward Armitage
"Siren"
John William Waterhouse
"Odysseus and the Sirens"
Image on an antique vase
antique mosaic
Antique red-figure drawing
Victor Mottes
"Odysseus and the Sirens"
James Herbert Drapert
"Ulysses and the Sirens"
Leon Auguste Adolphe Belli
"Ulysses and the Sirens"
When the danger passed, and the ship of Odysseus left the waters of the insidious island, the sirens rushed into the sea out of annoyance and turned into reefs.
Scylla and Charybdis
Continuing south, Odysseus and his companions encountered terrible monsters. SCILLA (Skilloy) and CHARIBDIUS , upholstered near the strait between Italy and Sicily (modern Strait of Messina).
These monsters originally had an ordinary female appearance, but recklessly aroused the wrath of the gods.
Scylla, who lived on the mainland side of the strait, was turned into a monster by Circe, who was jealous of the glorious Boeotian fisherman CHAPTER
to this girl.
Bartholomeus Spranger
"Glavk and Scylla"
Jacques Dumont
"Scylla and Glaucus"
Peter Paul Rubens
"Scylla and Glaucus"
The sorceress poured the potion into the spring where Scylla used to bathe: her lower part turned into six dog bodies, while the upper part remained the same. Shocked by her own ugliness, Scylla retired to a cave where she lived far from human eyes. She could not control her lower, canine part, and therefore attacked travelers who sailed too close to her cave and devoured them.
Across from Scylla, on the island side of the strait, lived the monster Charybdis. She was the daughter of the chthonic goddess GAY and POSEIDON and had an extraordinary appetite. When HERCULES led past the dwelling of the girl of the herd of Gerion, she stole several cows and immediately ate them. Outraged by such greed, Zeus struck her with lightning. The girl fell into the sea waters and turned into a monster.
Goddess of the Earth - Gaia
Three times a day Charybdis swallowed great amount sea waters, together with everything that was in them. Then she spewed water, feeding on the unfortunate creatures stuck in her teeth, including seafarers.
The intended location is the Galli Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea. When the travelers were departing from the island of Eya, Circe warned of the danger awaiting the heroes near the island of the Sirens. These creatures enchant mortals with their wonderful singing, and they remain forever in their power. Sailing to the island, Odysseus ordered his companions to plug their ears with wax, and tied himself to the mast. As soon as he heard the singing of the sirens, Odysseus tried to free himself, but the companions did not allow him to do so. The ship safely passed the dangerous island.
Homer was the first to mention sirens. But in the Odyssey it is only said about them that the sailors should be wary of the singing of the “wonderful voices”, otherwise they will not return to their homeland. This barely outlined image inflamed the imagination of the listeners of the poem. In ancient Greece, the myth of the sirens acquired more and more details. First, they have a pedigree. The voice of the siren was inherited from the mother muse and at first was no different from ordinary women. But the aunts-muses, fearing for their position on Parnassus, disfigured the newly-minted songsters, turning them into a hybrid of a man and a bird.
According to another version, the Sirens became friends with Persephone, whom Hades dragged into the realm of the dead. The friends did not suspect this and begged the gods to give them the opportunity to look for the missing on earth, in the sky and under water. So the sirens were divided into half-birds and half-fishes. The next string of myths explained why sirens are dangerous to people. Mortals refused to help them look for Persephone, and then the Sirens decided to take revenge. The fish-maidens, singing, dragged the sailors into the abyss of the sea. The winged maidens sucked the blood of those who stopped to listen to them.
On this, the plot suggested by Homer was exhausted. And then the myth of the death of the sirens was born. Odysseus was declared the savior from this scourge. He was the only one who did not land on the island, the songstresses blundered for the first time. Out of desperation, the bird-maidens rushed into the sea and turned into rocks. At first, fish maidens were forgotten, but in the Middle Ages, the peoples of Europe borrowed this image in legends about insidious mermaids and undines. Sirens-birds also resurrected, turning, for example, into characters of Slavic legends - the birds Sirin and Phoenix.
Where did the events that initiated the myths about the sirens take place? You can, of course, look for their "graves" in the Mediterranean Sea - rocks sticking out of the water alone. But much more interesting is the version that Homer could consider the singing of sirens to be sounds associated with the natural features of a certain place on the coast. For example, in the Gulf of Salerno there is the Galli archipelago. The configuration of the coastal rocks here is such that they amplify the sounds coming towards the sea. The cries of the seals that have chosen the islands, passing through this mouthpiece, can be easily mistaken for the sounds of a human voice...
Homer did not specify how many sirens were on the island. The Greeks usually depicted three. The myth says that they drowned themselves after their failure with Odysseus. The body of one of them washed ashore where Naples is now located.
As soon as Odysseus passed the ominous island of sirens, trouble began again. It was necessary to swim between the rocks, where the bloodthirsty monster Scylla lived with six dog heads and the goddess Charybdis, drawing in and then spewing sea waters. The ancient Greeks believed that these creatures lie in wait for sailors on both sides of the Strait of Messina: Scylla off the coast of the Apennine Peninsula, Charybdis off the island of Sicily.
The next day we buried Elpenor's body and raised a high mound over his grave. Upon learning of our return, the sorceress Kirka also came to the seashore; her maids followed her, bringing to the ship much sumptuous food and skins of wine. Until night we feasted on the seashore. When my companions went to bed, the sorceress Kirk told me what dangers lay in my way, and taught me how to avoid them.
As soon as the dawn dawned in the sky, I woke up my comrades. We lowered the ship to the sea, the rowers unanimously leaned on the oars, and the ship rushed to the open sea. A fair wind blew the sails, we calmly sailed on the sea. The island of the Sirens was already not far away. Then I turned to my companions:
Friends! Now we must sail past the island of the Sirens. With their singing, they lure the sailors sailing past and betray them to a fierce death. Their whole island is littered with the bones of the people they torn to pieces. I will seal your ears with soft wax so that you do not hear their singing and die, but you will tie me to the mast, the sorceress Kirka allowed me to hear the singing of the sirens. If I, enchanted by their singing, ask you to untie me, then you will bind me even tighter.
I had just said this, when suddenly the tailwind died down. My comrades lowered the sail and sat on the oars. The island of sirens was already visible. I covered the ears of my companions with wax, and they tied me so tightly to the mast that I could not move a single joint. Our ship sailed quickly past the island, and the enchanting singing of the sirens rushed from it.
Oh, swim to us, great Odysseus! - so the sirens sang, - send your ship to us to enjoy our singing. Not a single sailor will sail by without listening to our sweet singing. Having enjoyed it, he leaves us having learned a lot. We all know - and what the Greeks suffered at the will of the gods under Troy, and what is happening on earth.
Fascinated by their singing, I signaled to my comrades to untie me. But, remembering my instructions, they bound me even tighter. Only then did my companions remove the wax from their ears and untied me from the mast, when the island of the Sirens had already disappeared from our eyes. The ship calmly sailed farther and farther, but suddenly I heard a terrible noise in the distance and saw smoke. I knew it was Charybdis. My comrades were frightened, let go of the oars, and the ship stopped. I walked around my companions and began to encourage them.
Friends! We have experienced many troubles, we have avoided many dangers, - so I said, - the danger that we have to overcome is no more terrible than the one that we experienced in the cave of Polyphemus. Do not lose courage, lean harder on the oars! Zeus will help us avoid death. Direct the ship further away from the place where the smoke is visible and the terrible noise is heard. Rule closer to the cliff!
I encouraged my companions. With all their strength they leaned on the oars. I didn't tell them anything about Skill. I knew that Skill would snatch only six satellites from me, and we would all die in Charybdis. I myself, forgetting Kirka's instructions, grabbed a spear and waited for Skilla's attack. In vain I looked for her with my eyes.
The ship sailed quickly along the narrow strait. We saw how Charybdis absorbed the sea water: the waves bubbled around her mouth, and in her deep womb, as if in a cauldron, sea mud and earth were boiling. When she spewed water, the water boiled and seethed around with a terrible roar, and salt spray flew up to the very top of the cliff. Pale with horror, I looked at Charybdis. At this time, the terrible Skilla stretched out all her six necks and grabbed six of my companions with her six huge mouths with three rows of teeth. I only saw their arms and legs flash in the air, and heard how they called for my help. At the entrance to her cave, Skilla ate them; In vain did the unfortunate ones stretch out their hands to me in supplication. With great difficulty we passed Charybdis and Skilla and sailed to the island of the god Helios - Trinacria.
Odysseus on the island of Trinacria. The sinking of the Odysseus ship
Soon the island of the god Helios appeared in the distance. We got closer and closer to him. I already clearly heard the lowing of the bulls and the bleating of the sheep of Helios. Remembering the prophecy of Tiresias and the warning of the sorceress Kirka, I began to convince my companions to bypass the island and not stop there. I wanted to avoid a great danger. But Eurylochus answered me:
How cruel you are, Odysseus! You yourself are as if cast from copper, you do not know fatigue. We are tired; how many nights we have spent without sleep, and you forbid us to go ashore and rest, having refreshed ourselves with food, It is dangerous to sail the sea at night. Ships often perish, even against the will of the gods, when a storm overtakes them at night, raised by violent winds. No, we must land on the shore, and tomorrow at dawn we will set off on our further journey.
The rest of the companions agreed with Eurylochos. I realized that we could not avoid trouble. We landed on the island and pulled the ship ashore. I forced the companions to give me a great oath that they would not kill the bulls of the god Helios. We prepared dinner for ourselves, and during it we recalled with tears our comrades kidnapped by Skilla. Having finished dinner, we all fell asleep peacefully on the shore.
Zeus sent a terrible storm at night. Furious Boreas roared menacingly, clouds covered the entire sky, the dark night became even gloomier. In the morning we dragged our ship into a coastal cave so that it would not be damaged by a storm. Once again I asked my comrades not to touch the herds of Helios, and they promised me to fulfill my request. For a whole month contrary winds blew, and we could not set out on our journey. Finally, we ran out of supplies. We had to eat what we got by hunting and fishing. More and more, the hunger of my companions began to torment me more and more. Once I went deep into the island to ask the gods in private to send us a fair wind. In solitude, I began to pray to the Olympian gods to fulfill my request. Imperceptibly, the gods plunged me into a deep sleep. While I was sleeping, Eurylochus persuaded my companions to kill some bulls from the herd of the god Helios. He said that, returning to their homeland, they would appease the god Helios by building him a rich temple and dedicating precious gifts. Even if the gods destroy them for killing bulls, it is better to be swallowed up by the sea than to die of hunger.
Eurylochus obeyed my companions. They chose the best bulls from the herd and killed them. They sacrificed part of their meat to the gods. Instead of sacrificial flour, they took oak leaves, and instead of wine, they took water, since we had neither flour nor wine left. Having made a sacrifice to the gods, they began to fry meat on a fire. At this time I woke up and went to the ship. From afar I smelled the smell of fried meat and realized what had happened. I exclaimed in horror:
Oh, the great gods of Olympus! Why did you send me a dream! My companions committed a great crime, they killed the bulls of Helios.
Meanwhile, the nymph Lampetia informed the god Helios of what had happened. The great god was angry. He complained to the gods about how my companions insulted him, and threatened to descend forever into the kingdom of gloomy Hades and never again shine on the gods and people. To appease the angry sun god, Zeus promised to smash my ship with his lightning and destroy all my companions.
In vain did I reproach my companions for what they had done. The gods sent us a terrible sign. As if alive, the skins flayed from the bulls moved, and the meat emitted a plaintive lowing. The storm raged for six days, and all the days my companions exterminated the bulls of Helios. Finally, on the seventh, the storm stopped and a fair wind blew. We immediately set off on our journey. But as soon as the island of Trinacria disappeared from sight, as the Thunderer Zeus gathered menacing clouds over our heads. The Zephyr flew in with a howl, a terrible storm arose. Our mast broke like a cane and fell on the ship. When she fell, she crushed the helmsman's head, and he fell dead into the sea. The lightning of Zeus flashed and smashed the ship into cracks. All my companions were swallowed up by the sea. I was the only one saved. With difficulty I caught a fragment of the mast and the keel of my ship and tied them. The storm subsided. The note began to blow. He rushed me straight to Charybdis. She at this time with a roar absorbed sea water. I barely had time to grab onto the branches of a fig tree that grew on a rock near Charybdis itself, and hung on them, right above the terrible Charybdis. For a long time I waited for Charybdis to spew up the mast and keel again with water. Finally, they emerged from her monstrous mouth. I released the branches of the fig tree and rushed down straight into the wreckage of my ship. Thus I was saved from death in the mouth of Charybdis. I escaped by the will of Zeus and from the monstrous Skilla. She did not notice how I floated on the waves of the raging sea.
For nine days I rushed across the boundless sea, and, finally, I was washed by the waves to the island of the nymph Calypso. But I have already told you about this, Alkina and Areta, I also told you about the great dangers after which I reached your island. It would be unwise if I started talking about it again, and you would be bored listening to me.
Thus ended Odysseus' story of his adventures.
The Greeks sometimes referred to modern Sicily as Trinacria.
The next day we buried Elpenor's body and raised a high mound over his grave. Upon learning of our return, the sorceress Kirka also came to the seashore; her maids followed her, bringing to the ship much sumptuous food and skins of wine. Until night we feasted on the seashore. When my companions went to bed, the sorceress Kirk told me what dangers lay in my way, and taught me how to avoid them.
As soon as the dawn dawned in the sky, I woke up my comrades. We lowered the ship to the sea, the rowers unanimously leaned on the oars, and the ship rushed to the open sea. A fair wind blew the sails, we calmly sailed on the sea. The island of the Sirens was already not far away. Then I turned to my companions:
Friends! Now we must sail past the island of the Sirens. With their singing, they lure the sailors sailing past and betray them to a fierce death. Their whole island is littered with the bones of the people they torn to pieces. I will seal your ears with soft wax so that you do not hear their singing and die, but you will tie me to the mast, the sorceress Kirka allowed me to hear the singing of the sirens. If I, enchanted by their singing, ask you to untie me, then you will bind me even tighter.
I had just said this, when suddenly the tailwind died down. My comrades lowered the sail and sat on the oars. The island of sirens was already visible. I covered the ears of my companions with wax, and they tied me so tightly to the mast that I could not move a single joint. Our ship sailed quickly past the island, and the enchanting singing of the sirens rushed from it.
Oh, swim to us, great Odysseus! - so the sirens sang, - send your ship to us to enjoy our singing. Not a single sailor will sail by without listening to our sweet singing. Having enjoyed it, he leaves us having learned a lot. We all know - and what the Greeks suffered at the will of the gods under Troy, and what is happening on earth.
Fascinated by their singing, I signaled to my comrades to untie me. But, remembering my instructions, they bound me even tighter. Only then did my companions remove the wax from their ears and untied me from the mast, when the island of the Sirens had already disappeared from our eyes. The ship calmly sailed farther and farther, but suddenly I heard a terrible noise in the distance and saw smoke. I knew it was Charybdis. My comrades were frightened, let go of the oars, and the ship stopped. I walked around my companions and began to encourage them.
Friends! We have experienced many troubles, we have avoided many dangers, - so I said, - the danger that we have to overcome is no more terrible than the one that we experienced in the cave of Polyphemus. Do not lose courage, lean harder on the oars! Zeus will help us avoid death. Direct the ship further away from the place where the smoke is visible and the terrible noise is heard. Rule closer to the cliff!
I encouraged my companions. With all their strength they leaned on the oars. I didn't tell them anything about Skill. I knew that Skill would snatch only six satellites from me, and we would all die in Charybdis. I myself, forgetting Kirka's instructions, grabbed a spear and waited for Skilla's attack. In vain I looked for her with my eyes.
The ship sailed quickly along the narrow strait. We saw how Charybdis absorbed the sea water: the waves bubbled around her mouth, and in her deep womb, as if in a cauldron, sea mud and earth were boiling. When she spewed water, the water boiled and seethed around with a terrible roar, and salt spray flew up to the very top of the cliff. Pale with horror, I looked at Charybdis. At this time, the terrible Skilla stretched out all her six necks and grabbed six of my companions with her six huge mouths with three rows of teeth. I only saw their arms and legs flash in the air, and heard how they called for my help. At the entrance to her cave, Skilla ate them; In vain did the unfortunate ones stretch out their hands to me in supplication. With great difficulty we passed Charybdis and Skilla and sailed to the island of the god Helios - Trinacria.
