Essay of Analysis of "The Odyssey" and "Siren Song"

The Odyssey and the poem "Siren Song" both portray sirens; however, in The Odyssey, the focus is on resolving the "problem" of the sirens, no differently than any other obstacle on his journey, whereas "Siren Song" focuses on the siren as more than merely an obstacle. They share, however, the preying of the siren upon hubris and the desire to be special, as well as, by what happens, illustrating the allure of the sirens in spite of the pain that may be suffered to get there.

The Odyssey initially describes the actions of Odysseus much more than the sirens. The beginning discussion does not describe the sirens at all; it merely states that they were approaching the island of the sirens, and then for the first ten lines it does not even begin to consider the sirens. Instead, the text talks about the actions of Odysseus, who "sliced an ample wheel of beeswax [...] and I stopped the ears of my comrades one by one." Indeed, the only understanding of the sirens comes from their speech; this perspective originates from The Odyssey's point of view. Unlike "Siren Song," The Odyssey focuses on the person who opposes the sirens, Odysseus, more than the sirens themselves. This leads to the Sirens lacking any special quality that would make them any different than any other obstacle - there is nothing personal about them. This is in contrast to "Siren Song, " which focuses almost exclusively on the siren. The point of view is of the siren rather than Odysseus; the differing point of view leads to a differing focus.

Despite this differing focus in point of view, the two poems illustrate very similar themes. Firstly, they illustrate the allure of being a hero when one has hubris. In The Odyssey, the Siren's play up Odysseus' ego, calling him "Achaea's pride and glory!" Similarly, the sirens ask the victim to "help me!" similarly enhancing the victim's ego by the expression of being a damsel in distress who requires a hero (whether Odysseus or any other sailor) to save her.. The sirens also use an emphasis on the uniqueness of the victim to enhance the appeal to the victim's hubris. The sirens appeal to Odysseus in The Odyssey by proclaiming that "never has any sailor passed our shores," demonstrating that Odysseus would be the first (and therefore worthy of note); similarly, in "Siren Song," the sirens say that "only you, only you can [help me] / you are unique," emphasizing the person's separation from the typical and mundane both by the statement that the person is special as well as the repetition of the pronoun "you," which, in the singular, separates the listener from any others. Thus, the sirens use similar strategy in both poems.

Finally, the outcome for the sailor is the same, although differing in degree: the allure of the siren causes pain. Odysseus has to be bound "faster with rope on chafing rope," the tactile imagery of which illustrates the pain of Odysseus. This same pain is experienced by the victim in the other poem, illustrated by the shift between "you are unique" and "at last" that implies that the victim was eaten. In both cases, the sirens were sufficiently alluring to cause the sailor to want to seek them, and in both cases the sailor experiences pain, albeit that Odysseus, due to his intellect, only experiences chafing rope rather than death. Thus do the sirens result in similar outcomes for anyone they attempt to seduce, and the only thing that varies with their extent of success is not the outcome itself, but rather the degree of it.

The two poems portray sirens from entirely different perspectives. The Odyssey focuses on them from the perspective of a hero, thus making them equivalent to an inhuman obstacle, essentially de-personifying them, whereas "Siren Song" focuses on them from the perspective of the sirens themselves. In both cases, however, the tactics of appealing to the desire to be a hero and the result of pain for the victim who attempts to be a hero are the same. Despite the differing points of view, the ultimate portrayal of the Sirens are the same.

AP Practice 1972

     The epic poem The Aeneid, by Vergil, perfectly illustrates how the opening of a story can set up the rest of the story. There are several major themes of the story that are set up in the first few lines, from the the difficulty in founding a new city and following the fates to insanity in considering the wrath of Juno to the piousness of Aeneas for following his fate despite this opposition.
     Firstly, the poem begins by describing the overarching story, as is typical for an epic poem at this time. Following the invocation of a muse, the story progresses quickly into the poet asking, in essence, "oh, how hard was it to found the Roman state!" Throughout the text, this is a theme: Aeneas is fated, ultimately, to reach Italy and found the new country of Rome that would eventually develop into the empire that it was when the story was written (and to which, and the ruler of which, Augustus, there are frequent references within the story regarding the definite fated future). This is illustrated several times, from when he is told by the ghost of Hector, the hero of Troy, to seek out Italy to when he goes to the underworld and is shown by the ghost of his father his future line. Specifically, his father mentions Gaius Julius Caesar and his adoptive son Augustus (both heads of the Roman empire), who track their heritage back to Iulus, Aeneas' son, thus their family name. The great fate of Rome is contrasted with the difficulty in founding it, and this contrast is established by the poem's proclamations of the difficulty of Aeneas' tale in the opening lines of the poem.
     Secondly, poem mentions the wrath of Juno, and asks "what could drive a god to such insane madness?" This introduces the second concept, amens and furens, or madness and passionate anger, which consistently appears throughout the text. In addition to Juno, this theme is mentioned with regards to Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, in battle; Dido, Aeneas' brief tragic love, in her passion; and Turnus, the major secondary hero of the latter half of the poem, also with regards  to his fury in battle. Here, Juno is portrayed as a passionately angry deity, as which she continues to be portrayed for the majority of the poem, thus introducing a series of mindlessly passionate characters that lead to their downfall (or, in Juno's case, as she is a god, the downfall of all her champions as well as her personal interests).
     Thirdly, the poem introduces Aeneas himself. Strangely, the piousness of Aeneas is illustrated in the beginning of the book by contrast: he is introduced shouting to a storm that is destroying his ships that he should have died in the Trojan War, illustrating his deep internal passions, but when much of his band survives the storm, he takes on a brave facade and stands before his troops announcing that this occasion will seem less sad at future times than it does at this time; despite his internal grief, he carries on honorably for the sake of his men, his gods (the penates) and his destiny. Thus is introduced the characterization of Aeneas as the very principle of pietas, of piety: despite being so filled with grief that he wishes he were dead, Aeneas carries on for the good of his people and for the sake of his destiny. This characterization of Aeneas is one of the most major themes of the story, such that the times when he diverges from his piety - when he kills Turnus at the conclusion of the story in a fit of anger, for instance - are some of the most notable points of the play.
     The Aeneid has more than three themes, of course, and these other themes are introduced in the beginning lines as well. However, the difficulty of founding a new country and reaching one's fate in the face of fierce and insane opposition and the piousness demonstrated by Aeneas in persevering despite repeated setbacks and the enticing nature of ceasing his long, weary journey is one of the strongest themes of the poem. This, more than any other theme, is the theme that perpetuates throughout the book which the introductory lines best illustrate: the greatness of then-modern Rome, the difficulty of its creation, and, therefore, the greatness of the man who began it.