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In Greek mythology, the Sirens (Greek singular: ''(unicode:Seirēn)'';〔Of uncertain etymology; R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin (''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, pp. 1316–1317).〕 Greek plural: ''(unicode:Seirēnes)'') were dangerous yet beautiful creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. In some later, rationalised traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa,〔"We must steer clear of the Sirens, their enchanting song, their meadow starred with flowers" is Robert Fagles' rendering of ''Odyssey'' 12.158–9.〕 is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae.〔Strabo i. 22; Eustathius of Thessalonica's Homeric commentaries §1709; Servius I.e.〕 All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks. When the Sirens were given a name of their own, they were considered the daughters of the river god Achelous, fathered upon Terpsichore, Melpomene, Sterope, or Chthon (the Earth). In Euripides' play, ''Helen'' (167), Helen in her anguish calls upon "Winged maidens, daughters of the Earth"). Although they lured mariners, the Greeks portrayed the Sirens in their "meadow starred with flowers" and not as sea deities. Roman writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys.〔Virgil. V. 846; Ovid XIV, 88.〕 Sirens are found in many Greek stories, notably in Homer's ''Odyssey''. Their number is variously reported as between two and five. In the ''Odyssey'', Homer says nothing of their origin or names, but gives the number of the Sirens as two.〔''Odyssey'' 12.52〕 Later writers mention both their names and number: some state that there were three, Peisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia (Tzetzes, ''ad Lycophron'' 7l2; Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E7. 18) or Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leucosia (Eustathius, loc. cit.; Strabo v. §246, 252; Servius' commentary on Virgil's ''Georgics'' iv. 562); Apollonius followed Hesiod gives their names as Thelxinoe, Molpe, and Aglaophonos (Scholiast on Homer's Odyssey 12. 168, trans. Evelyn-White); Suidas gives their names as Thelxiepeia, Peisinoe, and Ligeia (Suidas s.v. Seirenas); Hyginus gives the number of the Sirens as four: Teles, Raidne, Molpe, and Thelxiope (Fabulae, praefat. p. 30, ed. Bunte); Eustathius (Commentaries §1709) states that they were two, Aglaopheme and Thelxiepeia; An ancient vase painting attests the following their two names as Himerope and Thelxiepeia. Their individual names are variously rendered in the later sources as Thelxiepeia/Thelxiope/Thelxinoe, Molpe, Himerope, Aglaophonos/Aglaope/Aglaopheme, Pisinoe/Peisinoë/Peisithoe, Parthenope, Ligeia, Leucosia, Raidne, and Teles.〔Linda Phyllis Austern, Inna Naroditskaya, (''Music of the Sirens'' ), Indiana University Press, 2006, p.18〕〔William Hansen, William F. Hansen, (''Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans'' ), Oxford University Press, 2005, p.307〕〔Ken Dowden, Niall Livingstone, (''A Companion to Greek Mythology'' ), Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, p.353〕〔Mike Dixon-Kennedy, (''Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology'' ), ABC-Clio, 1998, p.281〕〔(Sirens ), on Theoi Greek Myhthology〕 ==Sirens and death== According to Ovid (''Metamorphoses'' V, 551), the Sirens were the companions of young Persephone. They were given wings by Demeter to search for Persephone when she was abducted. However, the ''Fabulae'' of Hyginus has Demeter cursing the Sirens for failing to intervene in the abduction of Persephone. The Sirens were called the Muses of the lower world, Walter Copland Perry observed: "Their song, though irresistibly sweet, was no less sad than sweet, and lapped both body and soul in a fatal lethargy, the forerunner of death and corruption."〔Perry, "The sirens in ancient literature and art", in ''The Nineteenth Century'', reprinted in ''Choice Literature: a monthly magazine'' (New York) 2 (September–December 1883:163).〕 Their song is continually calling on Persephone. The term "siren song" refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad conclusion. Later writers have implied that the Sirens were cannibals, based on Circe's description of them "lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses rotting away, rags of skin shriveling on their bones."〔''Odyssey'' 12.45–6, Fagles' translation.〕 As Jane Ellen Harrison notes of "The Ker as siren:" "It is strange and beautiful that Homer should make the Sirens appeal to the spirit, not to the flesh."〔Harrison 198〕 The siren song is a promise to Odysseus of mantic truths; with a false promise that he will live to tell them, they sing, Once he hears to his heart's content, sails on, a wiser man. "They are mantic creatures like the Sphinx with whom they have much in common, knowing both the past and the future," Harrison observed. "Their song takes effect at midday, in a windless calm. The end of that song is death."〔Harrison 199〕 That the sailors' flesh is rotting away, suggests it has not been eaten. It has been suggested that, with their feathers stolen, their divine nature kept them alive, but unable to provide food for their visitors, who starved to death by refusing to leave.〔liner notes to ''Fresh Aire VI'' by Jim Shey, Classics Department, University of Wisconsin〕 According to Hyginus, sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them.〔Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 141 (trans. Grant)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Siren (mythology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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