siren

Siren, in Greek mythology

Siren (sī`rən), in Greek mythology, one of three sea nymphs, usually represented with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. Daughters of Phorcus or of Achelous, the Sirens inhabited an island surrounded by dangerous rocks. They sang so enchantingly that all who heard were drawn near and shipwrecked. Jason and the Argonauts were saved from them by the music of Orpheus, whose songs were lovelier. Odysseus escaped them by having himself tied securely to a mast and by stopping the ears of his men.

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siren, in zoology

siren: see salamander.

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Siren

In Greek mythology, a creature, half bird and half woman, who lures sailors to their doom with her sweet singing. Homer placed Sirens near the rocks of Scylla; in the Odyssey, Odysseus has his men plug their ears with wax and has himself tied to his ship's mast so he can hear the Sirens' singing without endangering the ship. In one tale of Jason and the Argonauts, Orpheus sings so sweetly that the crew do not listen to the Sirens. According to later legend, the Sirens committed suicide after one or the other of those failures.

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siren

1. a device for emitting a loud wailing sound, esp as a warning or signal, typically consisting of a rotating perforated metal drum through which air or steam is passed under pressure

2. Greek myth one of several sea nymphs whose seductive singing was believed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks the nymphs inhabited

3. any aquatic eel-like salamander of the North American family Sirenidae, having external gills, no hind limbs, and reduced forelimbs

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siren [′sī·rən]

(engineering acoustics)

An apparatus for generating sound by the mechanical interruption of the flow of fluid (usually air) by a perforated disk or cylinder.

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siren

half-woman, half-bird, enticed seamen to their death with song. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 934]

See : Monsters