The sound of beauty

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139342421.005

4 - The sound of beauty

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014

Edited by

Zoe Leinhardt and

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Summary

The dangers associated with the sound of beauty are all too apparent in one of the earliest texts in the Western literary canon. On his way back from the Trojan war Odysseus is able to hear one of the most famous sounds of beauty in literature: the song of the sirens. Unlike the unfortunate sailors who had gone before him, however, cunning Odysseus is prepared. Earlier in the story, Circe had given him a detailed warning about the trials to come.

First you will come to the Sirens, who beguile all mortals, any who comes their way. Whoso draws near in ignorance and hears the sound of the Sirens, him wife and innocent children shall not meet on his returning home, nor shall they have joy of him, but the Sirens beguile him with clear-voiced song, sitting in their meadow; but all about is a great heap of the bones of rotting men, and their hides waste away around them. But make speed past them, and knead honey-sweet wax and smear it over your comrades’ ears, lest any of them should hear; but if you yourself wish to hear, let them bind you in the swift ship hand and foot, upright at the foot of the mast, and let cords be attached to you, so that you may hear the two Sirens’ voice with pleasure. But if you beseech your comrades and bid them release you, let them bind you then with all the more bonds.

(Odyssey book 12, lines 39–54)

The wise Odysseus, famed for his cunning, obeys these instructions to the letter and gets to hear the song of the sirens in safety. Unlike every traveller who had gone before him, Odysseus experiences the sound of irresistibly enticing beauty and lives to tell the tale.

Type: Chapter
Information: Beauty , pp. 72 - 98

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139342421.005 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2013

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