ULYSSES AND the SIRENS

Not long after leaving the sad-eyed Circe, the Greeks saw another island. From the way it sparkled like a
diamond set in the blue sea, Ulysses knew that this was the island of the Sirens.
Circe had warned Ulysses about the Sirens. "Not far from here," we're her words, "you will pass an island
were live the most beautiful creatures on earth. They will smile and wave at you from flower covered fields. But be
careful, Ulysses. These are the Sirens. They are charmers. Their voices will make you forget your wife back in
Ithaca. If you hear their singing, you will jump into the water and try to swim to the island."
Ulysses smiled at Circe. “And what happens when I get there?"
"No one knows," she sighed. "No man has ever reached the island. All who have tried have been killed by
the waves and sharp rocks. The sea around the island is filled with the bones of men."
Ulysses stood looking at Circe. Was she sending him to his death? If the Greeks could not safely pass the
Sirens’ island, how we’re they ever to get home?
"But there is a way to sail past the island, Circe went on. "Stuff your ears with wax. It will make them deaf
to Sirens ' songs."
Now, as Ulysses sighted the island of the Sirens, he prepared to follow Circe's instructions. He heated some
wax in the sun. But he didn't fill his own ears with wax. He wanted too much to hear the Sirens. Instead, he had his
men tie him to the mast. Strong ropes ran around his ankles, legs, wrists and arms. The ropes were tied with double
knots. In this way, Ulysses would be able to hear the singing without throwing himself overboard.
The tiny boat sailed onward toward the island of the Sirens. Soon the creatures could be seen. They were
dressed in flowers. Beautiful blond goddesses they seemed, smiling as they sang and waving as though they had
never before seen a man.
Soon the Sirens ' voices began to drift into Ulysses ' ears. "Untie me!" he shouted. "Untie me, do you hear!"
He pulled at the ropes until his skin was rough and red.
"I am the king here!" Ulysses howled. "Cut me loose, you cowards!"
But Ulysses ' cries could not be heard. His men had their ears stuffed with wax. They had orders to tie the
ropes tighter if they saw Ulysses shouting. They were not to free Ulysses until the island was out of sight behind
them.
Ulysses pulled at the ropes and shouted like a madman. He seemed not to notice the blood that ran down
his arms and legs. He howled like a trapped tiger ---until, finally, the boat passed out of hearing.
The distance between the boat and the island slowly became greater. When the dot of land had disappeared
under the curves of the seat the soldiers cut Ulysses from the mast. They laid him in the bottom of the boat and
washed his sores with sea water. In a few hours Ulysses was himself again, the only man in history to have heard the
Sirens sing and lived to tell about it!

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