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Odysseus Safely Listens to the Sirens

June 25, 2008

Waterhouse depicts Odysseus safely listening to the Sirens. (More below....)
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), ''Ulysses and the Sirens'' (1891).

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), ''Ulysses and the Sirens'' (1891).

Public Domain. By John William Waterhouse (1891). Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Odyssey Book XII

Odysseus and the Sirens.

It wasn't impossible to get by the sirens. Odysseus' men had wax plugging their ears. The Argonauts got by with the help of Orpheus' music. It wasn't common though to pass by unaided, yet Odysseus did so. To prevent his jumping into the water to his death, he had himself tied to the mast.

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