Siren

The Sirens were dangerous, yet beautiful creatures, portrayed as femme fatales. The three Sirens that were written about the most in Greek mythology were Pisinoe, Aglaope and Thelxiepi, all daughters of the river god, Archelous. They were sisters that lured sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. All locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks and the song of the Sirens was irresistible. Sailors would sail their boats beyong the unpassable reefs to reach the Sirens, which destroyed their boats.

The Greeks portrayed the Sirens in their 'meadow starred with flowers' and not as sea deities. One of them played the lyre, one played the flute and another one sang. Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility, turned the Sirens into half-women, half-bird creatures when the three failed to save Demeter's daughrter, Persephone. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the underworld, when he was seekign a wife.

Sirens were believed to combine women and birds in various ways. In early Greek art, they were represented as birds with womens heads, bird feathers and scaly feet. Later they were represented as seductive women with bird legs and with or without wings. In the 10th century, there was a mixed view. They were portrayed as birds from the chest up and women from the chest down and were also viewed as little birds with womens faces. Later on, Sirens were depicted as beautiful women, whose bodies and voices were seductive. Birds were chosen because of their beautiful voices.

Odysseus was tempted by the Sirens, but Odysseus ensured that his crew filled their ears with wax to block out the sound. They tied Odysseus to the mast of the boat so he could hear the song, but be unable to swim to them. Jason and Argonauts were also saved because they had Orpheus, a talented musician, on board with them. He played music that was even more beautiful, so the sailors hardly heard the sound of the Sirens.

Art and Myth in Ancient Greece by T. H. Carpenter. Page 240 - 241

Sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them.

Paintings:

TITLE: Fisherman and the Siren
ARTIST: Knut Ekwall
DATE: Approx. 1870

This painting shows a beautiful Siren luring a fisherman into the water, to his death. She has very long, red hair and is another creature who appears to be naked to help with seduction.

ARTIST: Viktor Vasnetsov

This painting shows two Siren's who are singing their beautiful song to lure fisherman to their deaths. This image shows two birds with large female heads. They both seem to be wearing crowns, showing they are of wealth or importance. They are also wearing jewellery consisting of a necklace and earrings which also helps to portray themselves as beautiful creatures.

Films / Television Series:

Film - 'Siren'
2010

This film is about friends who go sailing through the sea for a relaxing weekend and come across a lady trapped upon an island. They want to rescue her, but do not realise that she is, in fact, a Siren. They do everything they can to get off the island, but her sweet song has the ability to hypnotise them.

Film - 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'
2011

During the Renaissance era, there was belief that Siren's were actually mermaids. Below is a clip from Pirates of the Caribbean, where they visited an island and were attacked by, Siren like, mermaids.

Books:

TITLE: The Odyssey
AUTHOR: Homer
YEAR: First book which tells the  myth. Unknown date due to age.

 

TITLE: Surface (Siren's Lullaby #1)

AUTHOR: Jody Morse & Jayme Morse

YEAR: 2012

TITLE: Siren's Storm

AUTHOR: Lisa Papademetriou

YEAR: 2012

Photography:

TITLE: The Siren
PHOTOGRAPHER: Ryan Bater

This photograph shows a beautiful lady sitting by water. Her legs are painted brown which symbolises the bottom bird half. Her eye makeup is blue, yet looks very eerie and strong. Her hair is long and sleeked back with water. This model is also topless, showing off a lot of flesh. The eye makeup and brown legs blend nicely with the colourings in the water.

 

TITLE: Song to the Siren on Behance

PHOTOGRAPHER: Zhang Jingna

DATE: 2012

MAKEUP: Dewi Mahoney

HAIR: Wai Fun

Bridal shoot for Singapore Brides

This photograph shows a beautiful lady effortlessly dressed in a wedding gown on a shore. The blue jewellery contrasts well with the thought of an ocean behind her. She has long, wet, wavy hair with quite natural looking brown eyeshadow. 

Again, this photo shows two women dressed in wedding gowns on the shore. There is lots of flesh on show, sticking to the seductive theme. The original Siren look is to have pretty girls singing a beautiful song to lure men. I really feel that this shoot works nicely with the overall look and conept of the original Greek myth.

I have conducted a test shoot where I applied makeup and hair skills to create my own first version of a Siren. I firstly wanted to recreate her image without use use of wings and feathers, which i do like. Then again, it's not obvious that she is a Siren without these. I feel that the eye makeup works nicely with her character as it's very pretty and enticing, and works well in water scenary. Where a Siren's head is a woman and the body is a bird, I do not find it necesary to apply bird like makeup to her face. I wanted to stick to the boat theme with her outfit, so she is wearing rope around her neck as a prop. I have chosen for her to wear a black sequined top, as i feel sequins are one of the better ways to resemble water in a modern way. Due to Siren's being very seductive, I want to keep lots of flesh on show.