Homer's Greek epic poem Odyssey and Margaret Atwood's poem Siren Song both portray the Sirens - Greek female mythological creatures who sing songs that lead passing sailors to their deaths. When compared, the two poems both portray the Sirens differently, using different forms of expression and differing songs, but both poems use the same kinds of poetic devices to portray the song itself.
The two poems express the Sirens differently. The Odyssey has the point of view of Odysseus while Siren Song is from the point of view of a Siren herself. The Sirens are never given any visual description in the Odyssey, only their "ravishing voices" are described (Homer 19). The voices of the Sirens are all that Odysseus can think about, for the sound is filling his ears and causing him to want to go to the Sirens. He is overcoming a large obstacle on a journey, and this is what the Sirens are meant to represent. Describing only the voice of the Siren focuses on their most well known feature and, in this case, the conflict currently happening in the poem. In Siren Song, the Siren describes herself as wearing a "bird suit," for it is noted that Sirens are often described as birds with the heads of women (Atwood 12). The Siren also describes herself as "picturesque and mythical," giving her the allusion of mystery and beauty that Sirens are known for (Atwood 15). She also describes her and the two other Sirens as "fatal and valuable" (Atwood 18). This again states how Sirens are known to be deadly to those who pass by.
The song of a Siren is their most fascinating aspect, for it is what pulls men to their deaths. This cause and effect poses the mysterious questions of why and how this could happen and what exactly the song says to pull the men in. The Odyssey interprets this song as a call to an individual: "Come closer, famous Odysseus - Archaea's pride and glory" (Homer 14). The Sirens try to use the fatal flaw of their targets - such as Odysseus' hubris - to lead them to their demise. By flattering Odysseus using the adjective "famous" and calling him the "pride and glory" of a place, his pride takes a hold of him and causes him to wish to go towards the sirens. The Sirens also sing that those who hear their song sail on as "wiser [men]" (Homer 18). This statement is false when taken literally, for the men all die, but metaphorically it can represent how the men's deaths make them wiser after death, knowing that they were pulled in by their fatal flaw. The Siren's in Siren Song use a more subtle approach than calling out their targets directly. They act helpless, singing out a "cry for help" to those passing by (Atwood 22). They tell their passersby that they are "unique" and that only they can help them be free, making the passerby feel needed and special (24). The Sirens state that, if the man helps them, he will learn the "secret" of the song that Sirens sing, but in fact the whole cry for help is the song, for it is stated at the beginning that "This is the one song everyone / would like to learn" (Atwood 1-10). The Siren ends with: "Alas / is a boring song / but it works every time" (Atwood 25-27). "Alas" implies that she finds her job "boring", however the "but" acknowledges that the satisfactory end result of the man's inevitable death keeps her singing.
The two poems do share a similarity in how the songs are visually portrayed on the page. In the Odyssey, the five lines of the Siren song flow together as one sentence is spread over a few lines. This is equivalent to how the Siren's song pulls in listeners by having them hanging on to hear the rest of what they have to say. Siren Song also does this, bringing the concept even further by continuing lines into new stanzas, visually stringing the reader along.
