Homer, the Odyssey - The Song of the Sirens

How is imagery used to emphasise the dangerous nature of the sirens?

Imagery is used in many ways to emphasise the nature of the sirens and many examples of this is shown in Homer, the Odyssey-The Song of the Sirens. In the first line the sirens are describes as ‘crying beauty to bewitch’. This shows us the sirens are extremely beautiful but also crying which puts a shiver through our body. Their beautiful woman/bird features is what bewitches the men into coming to them and falling under their spell. In this poem the sirens are singing, supposedly a melody that could steal your heart away, on a sweet meadow, lolling, in the middle of an ocean. When you think of a meadow you would think of grass then the sirens ‘lolling’ around on it. It’s a strange scene to imagine but this is what the sirens did to get the men’s attention and desire. Near the end of the poem you see the gruesome and dangerousness of the sirens. On the meadows are rotting men who had previously fallen under the spell of the sirens so ships passing by would try do all they can to avoid the meadow. ‘The Song of the Sirens’ is a great poem which describes the sirens well that you can imagine what the story would be like in real life. The use of oxymoron’s in the poem also helps us imagine the sirens. Overall imagery is shown in using words that describe the sirens in many ways giving a dangerous and uneasy nature to them.