Sirens Practice AP Essay

            Both passages deal with the deathly temptation Sirens portray; however, the first passage portrays Sirens as a protagonist struggling with himself in order to resist a temptation whereas the second passage recollects the seductiveness of temptation from a Siren’s point of view.   

            Sirens are mythological creatures whose sole purpose is to seduce sailors at sea. The first passage portrays Sirens as dangerous creatures. The fact that the speaker “stopped the ears of [his] comrades one by one” (Homer 7) and is “lashed by ropes to the mast” (Homer 9) demonstrates the sailor approaching the island in a cautious manner. By approaching the Siren’s island this way, the sailors, including the speaker, brace themselves to the power of seduction and temptation. The speaker even goes to the extreme of tying himself to the mast in order to prevent the Siren’s seductive song to force him to escape. The purpose of the speaker tied to the mast is so that he is physically constrained from escaping and being tempted to the Sirens’ call. Contrastingly, the second passage portrays Sirens by illustrating a first-person account of a Siren’s seductive nature rather than demonstrating a visual example to a Siren’s deadly shrill.

            The second passage illustrates a first-person account in order to visualize the harmful natures of seduction and temptation. Lines 10-27 of the second passage portray Sirens from a viewpoint of a Siren itself; by doing so, Atwood is able to accurately describe the origin of a Siren’s motive behind their seductive song. As the poem progresses, the seduction exponentially increases until the end, where the speaker states, “Alas / it is a boring song / but it works every time” (Atwood 25-27). The fact a Siren’s song “works every time” suggests the unavoidable seductiveness Sirens portray to sailors lost at sea. By proposing the question, “Shall I tell you the secret / and if I do, will you get me / out of this bird suit?” (Atwood 10-13), the speaker initiates a seductive call to an audience, which is similar to how a lost sailor manages to hear a Siren in the distance. Throughout the poem, the speaker increasingly seduces its audience to think that the speaker actually is calling for help. Similarly, a Siren will continuously call for help and call for an individual that has unfortunately seduced into temptation.

            Both passages tap into how Sirens are capable of being inescapably seductive. However, there is a clear distinction between the two; the first passage reflects upon a story in the Odyssey¸ an epic poem, and the second passage reflects upon a first-person recollection of a Siren’s inevitable call. A siren’s call is based on how temptation and resistance coincide with each other. Both passages portray how Sirens are discreetly dangerous. Though the two passages approach the portrayal of Sirens in different ways, the concepts of temptation and seductiveness are still achieved.