Bibliography: This
reading note will be about Homer’s Odyssey and his battles with the Sirens which can be found here.
This was translated to English by Tony Kline.
In this part of the
story Odysseus and his men are sailing past the the Sirens trying to
continue their quest. Odysseus has been warned in advance by Circe
that the Sirens are on the island and that he should fashion ear
plugs for his men out of beeswax. If you read my last reading note
about Homer’s Odyssey Part A you will know how I feel about
Odysseus. I think he is a very reckless man-child who thinks he is
the greatest thing before sliced bread. Once again Odysseus does not
fail to disappoint. After hearing Circe’s warning he thinks he can
withstand the Siren’s taunts and so does not put ear plugs on. His
men however deign to tie him to the mast. Either Odysseus does not
think that the Siren’s songs will affect him long term or he thinks
that his men will not need guidance sailing past the island. Both
possibilities show how terrible of a leader he is. Putting his men’s
lives in danger on the off chance the songs do not affect him long
term is a terrible leadership decision. However if the men do not
even need him to sail why is he their leader in the first place as he
has proven on multiple counts that he is a hothead. The entirety of
this story takes place on Odysseus’ ships and not much detail is
given to them or the island that the Sirens are on. The Sirens are
also not described in detail and are just mentioned as Sirens with no
real description of their features. The Siren’s song also seems to
just try and stroke Odysseus' ego by addressing him as: “Famous
Odysseus, great glory of Achaea”.
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