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Table of Contents
The Sirens, in Greek mythology, are harmful creatures that use enchanting music and singing to lure sailors and shipwreck onto their island. According to some accounts, the sirens can also charm the winds.
See the fact file below for more information on the Sirens or alternatively, you can download our 22-page The Sirens worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
DESCRIPTION AND FAMILY
- Sirens were depicted in art as birds that have the head of a woman, scaly feet, and bird feathers.
- In later versions, they are presented to be female characters with or without wings, that have bird legs and play an assortment of musical instruments.
- In the catalog Liber Monstrorum, it is stated that Sirens were women from head to navel, but have fishtails in place of legs.
- Suda, a tenth-century encyclopedia from Byzantium, claims that the Sirens look like sparrows from their chest up and have lower bodies of women.
- An alternative description of the creatures from the encyclopedia states that the Sirens were small birds with the faces of women.
- It was during the Middle Ages that the Sirens became represented as mermaids.
- Sirens were initially shown as female and male creatures, but around the fifth century BC, male Sirens disappeared from art representations.
- Leonardo da Vinci, noted, “The siren sings so sweetly that she lulls the mariners to sleep; then she climbs upon the ships and kills the sleeping mariners.”
- According to a fragment from Sophocles’ work, the Sirens are daughters of Phorcys.
- The Sirens when named, however, are usually made to be offsprings of Achelous and either of the Calydonian princess Sterope, Melpomene, Terpsichore, or Calliope.
- Epimenides, a Greek philosopher-poet and seer, declared that the Sirens were offsprings of Gaia and Oceanus.
MYTHOLOGY
- As stated by Ovid, Demeter gave wings to the Sirens and ordered them to search for Persephone who was kidnapped by Hades.
- In contrast to this, Hyginus says that Demeter cursed the Sirens for not being able to stop Persephone’s abduction.
- Hyginus also states that the Sirens were to die if mortals were able to go past them even after hearing them sing.
- Another version of the myth says that Hera convinced the Sirens to engage the Muses in a singing contest.
- The Sirens lost and had all their feathers plucked out and made into crowns by the Muses.
- According to Stephanus of Byzantium, the Sirens felt so much despair from their loss that they turned white and dropped towards the sea at Aptera.
- The Sirens developed into the islands called Leukai which means “the white ones”.
- In the epic poem Argonautica, Chiron told the hero Jason that they will need Orpheus to succeed in their journey.
- When the ship was near the home of the creatures, the Sirens started singing to lure them in. Orpheus played on his lyre and sang more beautifully than the Sirens, drowning out their charming voices.
- The hero Odysseus was also intrigued by what the song of the Sirens is.
- As per Circe’s advice, he told all his crew to use beeswax to plug their ears and tie him to the ship’s mast.
- He instructed them to leave him securely and tightly tied to that mast no matter how much he might plead.
- Odysseus and his crew were able to survive the songs of the Sirens. This made the Sirens hurl themselves into the sea and stopped bothering mortals again.
The Sirens Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Sirens across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use The Sirens worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Sirens, in Greek mythology, who are harmful creatures that use enchanting music and singing to lure sailors and shipwreck onto their island. According to some accounts, the sirens can also charm the winds.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Enchanting Names
- Three Muses
- Fighting Voices
- The White Ones
- Truth Siren
- Ovid’s Passage
- Byzantinian Tale
- Akin to the Sirens
- The New Sirens
- Mermaids and Sirens
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Link will appear as The Sirens Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, May 19, 2021
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.