Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network

Show Name: Unraveling the Unknown

Episode Title: Tails of the Sea

You are listening to Unraveling the Unknown with your hosts Lily and Tessa.

In this episode of Unraveling the Unknown, the Podcast we will discuss: mermaids and sirens, compared.

Segment 1: Origins and Appearance

First, we are going to discuss the origin of where mermaids and Sirens come from.

The sirens of Greek mythology first appeared in text in the 3rd century BC, in Homer’s epic novel, The Odyssey. Legends of sirens were first used to account for lost sailors who were lured into dangerous waters by the beautiful voices of the treacherous half-bird half-woman monsters.

The main hero of the Odyssey, Odysseus, and his crew were warned by the goddess of sorcery, Circe (sir see), to put soft wax in their ears so that they would not be affected by the siren's fatal voices. Odysseus, wanting to hear the voice of the sirens, doesn't clog his ears, but instead asks his crew to tie him to the mast of the ship so he wont be enchanted to his death in the water. However, in this epic, a physical description of the sirens Odysseus faces is missing.

So where does the image of a half-bird, half-woman come from Lily?

In ancient Greek artistry on everything from pots to vases, perfume bottles, and terracotta figurines, the siren is often depicted as a part woman, part bird.

Even earlier than in ancient Greece, ancient Egyptian depictions of half-human, half-bird figures sometimes appeared in correlation with death and the afterlife. The Egyptian symbol of half-human, half-bird could have been translated into ancient Greece’s half- human, half-bird legends of sirens used to symbolize the death of sailors.

Some say that the half-bird half-woman version of Sirens originally came from the Middle East, and over time was passed to Greece through trade routes.

Ovid, an ancient Roman poet, claims that Sirens were originally beautiful women who were turned into bloodthirsty monsters. In some Greek mythology, sirens, were originally nymphs and handmaidens of the goddess Persephone. When she was abducted by the god of the underworld, Hades, Persephone’s mother, Demeter, goddess of harvest and agriculture, sent the nymphs to search for Persephone.

Demeter gave the Nymphs half-bird bodies in order to assist in the search for her daughter. It is said that they eventually retired from the search and settled on the island of Anthemoessa. (ant e mossa), rumored to be near the southwestern coast of Italy. Some legends claim that Demeter cursed the sirens with half-bird bodies in her grief for her daughter because they failed to find her, and banished them to an island.

Over time, sirens being depicted near the sea and water, mixed the...