SIREN


Meaning of SIREN in English

n.

In Greek mythology , a creature, half bird and half woman, who lures sailors to their doom with her sweet singing.

Homer placed Sirens near the rocks of Scylla; in the Odyssey , Odysseus has his men plug their ears with wax and has himself tied to his ship's mast so he can hear the Sirens' singing without endangering the ship. In one tale of Jason and the Argonaut s, Orpheus sings so sweetly that the crew do not listen to the Sirens. According to later legend, the Sirens committed suicide after one or the other of those failures.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.