(Σειρῆνες), certain female mythical beings, who were supposed to partake of the character of divinity, and who were fabled to have the power of charming all who heard them sing. Some make them two in number, Aglaopheme and Thelxiepeia; while others allude to three of them, Peisinoi, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia; and others make their names, Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leucosia. They are referred to as daughters of Phorcus, of Achelous and Sterope, of Terpsichore, of Melpomene, of Calliope, and of Gaia. Their residence was alike mythical and varied as their origin. According to Homer, their island-home was situated on the south-western coast of Italy, between Aetna and the rock of Seylla. Other writers allude to them as having their proper home on Cape Pelorum, on the Island of Anthemusa, in the Sirenian Islands, near Paestum, and in Capreae. Some writers connect the self-destruction of the Sirens with the expedition of the Argonauts and the story of Orpheus; others again join their suicide with the wanderings of Ulysses. According to the former legend, as the Argonauts sailed by them, the Sirens struck their lyres, and drew forth from them music of exquisite sweetness; while Orpheus sent back to them a flood of song so deep, and strong, and ravishing, that the Sirens, feeling their divine art had left them, flung themselves into the sea, and were metamorphosed into rocks. The Homeric fable runs differently. When Ulysses steered his course close by the shore on which the Sirens sat, these fair creatures struck up the most melodious sounds, to lure him and his companions within their grasp; but the good old captain, counselled by Circe, stopped the ears of his mariners with wax, and tied himself firm to the root of the mast, until the ship had so far sped on her way that her crew could no longer hear the notes of their bewitching song. Thus balked of their prey, those singing maidens dashed down the lyre, and leaped headlong into the sea.

The upper half of their body is always represented as a lovely woman, while the lower part sometimes terminates in a fish, and sometimes in a bird. They are occasionally provided with wings, which they are represented as losing on occasion of a contest with the Muses, into which they had been injudiciously led by the advice of Juno. There was a temple dedicated to the Sirens near Surrentum, and the tomb of Parthenope was shown near the town of Neapolis.