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ULYSSES AND THE SIRENS (J.W. Waterhouse, 1891)

This is a quality bordered print and restoration of the dramatic painting by J. W. Waterhouse, inspired by Homer's 'The Odyssey' and Greek art. Ulysses (Odysseus) and his crew are depicted being menaced by the sirens – hybrid creatures half bird, half woman – which lured sailors to their death with their hypnotic song. But to resist them on the voyage Ulysses put wax into the ears of his crew and had himself bound to the mast.

In 'The Odyssey' there is no description of the sirens so Waterhouse went to the British Museum where he found sirens portrayed on a Greek vase.

From The Odyssey, Book 12:165-200 (Odysseus passing the Sirens):-

‘So I explained everything to my friends, while our well-built vessel, borne on a gentle breeze, quickly neared the island of the Sirens. Suddenly the wind dropped, and a breathless calm followed, as some god lulled the waves. My comrades rose and furled the sail, then stowed it, then sat to their oars and thrashed the water with the blades of polished pine. I, in the meantime, sliced a large cake of beeswax with my sword-edge, and kneaded the slivers in my strong hands until the pressure and the rays of Lord Helios Hyperion heated it. Then I plugged the ears of each of my friends, and they tied me hand and foot and stood me upright in the mast housing, and fastened the rope ends round the mast itself. Then sitting down again, they struck the grey water with their oars.

We drove past swiftly, but when we were within hail of the shore, the Sirens could not fail to see our speeding vessel, and began their clear singing: “Famous Odysseus, great glory of Achaea, draw near, and bring your ship to rest, and listen to our voices. No man rows past this isle in his dark ship without hearing the honeysweet sound from our lips. He delights in it and goes his way a wiser man. We know all the suffering the Argives and the Trojans endured, by the gods’ will, on the wide plains of Troy. We know everything that comes to pass on the fertile Earth.”

This was the haunting song the Sirens sang, and I longed to listen, commanding my crew by my expression to set me free. But they bent to their oars and rowed harder, while Perimedes and Eurylochus rose and tightened my bonds and added more rope. Not till they had rowed beyond the Sirens, so we no longer heard their voices and song, did my loyal friends clear the wax that plugged their ears, and untie me.’