Sirens

Sirens, in Greek mythology, sea nymphs, with the bodies of birds and the heads of women, the daughters of the sea god Phorcys. The Sirens had voices of such sweetness that mariners who heard their songs were lured on to the rocks on which the nymphs sang. The Greek hero Odysseus was able to pass their island with safety because, following the advice of the sorceress Circe, he stopped the ears of his companions with wax and had himself firmly bound to the mast of the ship so that he might hear the songs without danger. In another legend the Argonauts escaped the Sirens because Orpheus, who was on board the Argo, sang so sweetly that he drowned out the song of the nymphs. According to later legends, the Sirens, in vexation at the escape of Odysseus or at the victory of Orpheus, threw themselves into the sea and perished.