In this week’s reading of “Odysseus and the Sirens” in The Penguin Book of Mermaids, the mermaids are painted to be tempting creatures because they promise wisdom and knowledge, which lures men to crash their boats and lead to their unfortunate death. During the Odyssey, Circe helps Odysseus plan against being tempted and warns him against the Sirens. Now this begs the question, why? What were they warning? The sirens in the Odyssey were symbols of knowledge of the truth, and the fear mongered around them was the fear of knowing too much and becoming too powerful.
If I recall the Odyssey accurately, his city was destroyed after a war, which often raises questions about power afterward. The warning against mermaids was used to maintain people’s trust in the ruler and served as propaganda to keep them fearful of knowledge. Specifically, the line “we know whate’er the kings of mighty name, Achieved at Ilion in the field of fame” demonstrates that the mermaids were superior to the mighty; their knowledge was stronger than that of the current ruler (11). So, this effort to prevent people from gaining knowledge is a strategy to keep them uneducated and easy to control. There is also a claim to “fame” with knowledge.
This raises questions about the misuse of knowledge. Those who use their knowledge maliciously to exploit people. Which would reveal the truth of power held towards the top of the hierarchy. The warning against the mermaids is also a warning against greed. To be greedy of knowledge that destroys the people around you and eventually yourself, almost like an ‘evil crazy scientist’. The never-ending cycle of always having a desire for more will be one’s ultimate demise. So, the sailor’s unfortunate death caused by the mermaid would be just the cause of their death, which would just be a consequence of their own personal sin.
Overall, the depiction of Sirens is very interesting, as they are monsters of temptation through their promise of otherworldly wisdom. The more knowledge someone has, the harder they are to control, and the desire for more only grows.
Hi Kaila! I see that we both commented about the same story this week 🙂 We both have discovered a similar theme in this week’s reading. The power of knowledge is definitely a dangerous tool that the Sirens have. I see you pointed out how there are people who use their knowledge maliciously in order to exploit others. I completely agree, this does raise the question of whether people are misusing the power of knowledge. The more I read your post, the more I notice the similarities and connections we made with the text. The depiction of the Sirens is very interesting. I really liked how you said that they’re monsters of temptation with their promises of “otherworldly” wisdom. I think I used a similar word, mystical and ethereal; the Sirens’ song feels like an experience from another dimension/world. I also really liked your connection to a sailor’s death and tying it back into it being a never-ending cycle of always having desire for more than what they have, which is always going to be the ultimate demise. I think it’s interesting to mention how the Sirens drowned their victims, and they’re drowning them in the “source” of where their knowledge comes from, which is kind of ironic if you think about it.