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Sirens: The Temptation. Although women occupied an entirely different position
in ancient Grecian society compared to men, they too ...
... In their song, the Sirens lure men from the safety of their ship and ... Through temptation,
each enchantress causes Odysseus to lose vision of ever returning home ...
... While Odysseus is able to avoid the Sirens, they symbolize temptation, another
non-virtue which is then associated with women in the audiences? minds. ...
... a good meaning for life might simply be to be useful (Vonnegut, Sirens, 310 ... He once
wrote: [Suicide] has always been a temptation to me, since my mother solved ...
... so many obstacles such as the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with the Cyclops,
his love affair with Circe, his temptation by the Sirens, the journey ...
Submitted by snakehnt7 on April 8, 2008
Category: English
Words: 1153 | Pages: 5
Views: 61
Popularity Rank: 90,812
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Although women occupied an entirely different position in ancient Grecian society compared to men, they too held a certain sphere of influence and power. By examining the character of the Sirens, one can see how women exerted their power and influence in The Odyssey and in ancient Greece. Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” symbolizes the sirens as mythical depiction of women, given an intoxicating voice that lures sailors to their deaths. Atwood illuminates the relationship between temptation and the price of fulfilling it.
In her poem, Atwood conceives the Sirens to draw a comparison between the myths and modern life. Atwood attempts to highlight the nature of the female, determined to encompass all who face temptation. She questions the irrationality of men who fall solely for women's external beauty and end up hurting themselves. By examining her usage of punctuation and word choice, readers can easily recognize and relate with her conveyed thoughts.
Atwood begins her poem with the speaker mysteriously referring to a secretive song, "This is the one song everyone / would like to learn: the song / that is irresistible" (1-3). By "everyone," the narrator means women who are physically attractive and men who are charismatically trapped by desires. While the sirens attract audiences with their illustrious singing, Atwood applies several mechanics including colons as tools for pulling readers into her story. Her colons hint at the revelation of this great secret; readers must read on to discover.
Atwood alludes to the story of Odysseus with the phrase "others can't remember" (9), Odysseus being the only man who escaped the enchanting voices of the Sirens. In his encounter with the sirens, Odysseus who was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like, had himself securely bound to the mast of his ship while his companions row on with their ears stopped with bees-wax, thus unable to hear the sirens' song. When their melodious voices...
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