July 1, 2021

[The Sirens]
By: Homer

Odysseus and his crew return to Circe’s island after their trip to the Underworld. Odysseus tells Circe of his experiences, and she warns him of what lies ahead on his journey. “Your descent to the dead is over, true, but listen closely to what I tell you now and god himself will bring it back to mind. First you will raise the island of the Sirens, those creatures who spellbind any man alive, 5 (45) whoever comes their way. Whoever draws too close, off guard, and catches the Sirens’ voices in the air­ no sailing home for him, no wife rising to meet him, no happy children beaming up at their father’s face. The high, thrilling song of the Sirens will transfix him, 10 (50) lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses rotting away, rags of skin shriveling on their bones . . . Race straight past that coast! Soften some beeswax and stop your shipmates’ ears so none can hear, none of the crew, but if you are bent on hearing, 15 (55) have them tie you hand and foot in the swift ship, erect at the mast-block, lashed by ropes to the mast so you can hear the Sirens’ song to your heart’s content. But if you plead, commanding your men to set you free, then they must lash you faster, rope on rope.” 20 (60) [ . . . ]

Circe tells Odysseus about more trials, specifically Scylla and Charybdis and the cattle on the Island of the Sun which he must leave unharmed or their ship will be destroyed and all his crew will be lost. Odysseus and his me set sail the next day. At last, and sore at heart, I told my shipmates, “Friends . . . it’s wrong for only one or two to know the revelations that lovely Circe made to me alone. I’ll tell you all, so we can die with our eyes wide open now 25 (170) or escape our fate and certain death together. First, she warns, we must steer clear of the Sirens, their enchanting song, their meadow starred with flowers. I alone was to hear their voices, so she said, but you must bind me with tight chafing ropes 30 (175) so I cannot move a muscle, bound to the spot, erect at the mast-block, lashed by ropes to the mast. And if I plead, commanding you to set me free, then lash me faster, rope on pressing rope.”      So I informed my shipmates point by point, 35 (180) all the while our trim ship was speeding toward the Sirens’ island, driven on by the brisk wind. But then-the wind fell in an instant, all glazed to a dead calm . . . a mysterious power hushed the heaving swells. 40 (185) The oarsmen leapt to their feet, struck the sail, stowed it deep in the hold and sat to the oarlocks, thrashing with polished oars, frothing the water white. Now with a sharp sword I sliced an ample wheel of beeswax down into pieces, kneaded them in my two strong hands 45 (190) and the wax soon grew soft, worked by my strength and Helios' burning rays, the sun at high noon, and I stopped the ears of my comrades one by one. They bound me hand and foot in the tight ship— erect at the mast-block, lashed by ropes to the mast­ 50 (195) and rowed and churned the whitecaps stroke on stroke. We were just offshore as far as a man's shout can carry, scudding close, when the Sirens sensed at once a ship was racing past and 'burst into their high, thrilling song: “Come closer, famous Odysseus-Achaea’s pride and glory- 55 (200) moor your ship on our coast so you can hear our song! Never has any sailor passed our shores in his black craft until he has heard the honeyed voices pouring from our lips, and once he hears to his heart's content sails on, a wiser man. We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured 60 (205) on the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so— all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!”      So they sent their ravishing voices out across the air and the heart inside me throbbed to listen longer. I signaled the crew with frowns to set me free— 65 (210) they flung themselves at the oars and rowed on harder, Perimedes and Eurylochus springing up at once to bind me faster with rope on chafing rope. But once we'd left the Sirens fading in our wake, once we could hear their song no more, their urgent call­— 70 (215) my steadfast crew was quick to remove the wax I’d used to seal their ears and loosed the bonds that lashed me.

Notes & Comentary

Works Cited

• Homer (1996). The Odyssey. Translated by Fagles, Robert. New York: Penguin.
• Germain, Gabriel (1962). "The Sirens and the Temptation of Knowledge". In Steiner, George; Fagles, Robert. Homer: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.