Ideas for A Cure

MYTHIC: SIRENS

    "No seaman ever sailed his black ship past this spot without listening to the honey-sweet tones that flow from our lips and no one who has listened has not been delighted and gone on his way a wiser man. (The Sirens, Odyssey 12:186-190)"

This is an info page on sirens. My research is mainly based on Homer's Odyssey and other smaller details from Fandom.com and other websites that have different details regarding the siren. So, my version of the siren is a mix between Homer's, bits and pieces from different websites and some twists of my own to smooth things out AND most importantly, serve my story :D.  

Here is the mood board I made based on Chapter: Salt and Water. I also based Y/N's tails on a betta fish. 

Origins.

                           Sirens are creatures of greek mythology which enticed sailors to their destruction with their irresistibly beautiful singing. Their most famous appearance is in Homer's Odyssey in which, the hero, on his long voyage home, successfully escaped their enchanting call.   Although Homer didn't say the siren's appearance, traditionally, sirens are hybrids of the body of a bird and the head of a beautiful woman, later, sirens are believed to be beautiful women that had tails for legs. 

The origins of a siren and how did it turn from bird-like creatures to creatures with a tail are varied from countries and time periods, however, their symbolism and association with death  and desire is consistent all while, sirens are known skilled musicians with a silver tongue that "lived amongst the waves, for the waves gave birth to venus." 

Some mythology says that the sirens are the daughters of the river Achelous and the Muse of dancing, Terpsichore, the Whirler. The sires "were said to have had wings and talons [to symbolise that] sexual desire both flies and wounds.  In a legend about the Sirens and the Muses, it was said that Hera, queen of the gods, persuaded the Sirens to enter a singing contest with the Muses because she was threatened by their beauty and feared Zeus will have an affair with them. The sirens were proud creates and thus, they agreed. The Muses won the competition and then plucked out all of the Sirens' feathers and made crowns out of them. Out of their anguish from losing the competition, they wrote Stephanus of Byzantium, the Sirens turned white and fell into the sea at Aptera  ("featherless"), where they formed the islands in the bay that were called Leukai ("the white ones", modern ).

When a wizard/witch conceive a child with a siren, their child is half siren, and the siren blood becomes less concentrated as it passes down through generations (half siren, quarter siren...etc,). In the story, Y/N's grandparents, a pureblood wizard and a celestial siren conceived a child, Violetta (Y/N's mother) and that deemed her a pureblood witch who is half siren. However, Y/N's grandmother is a celestial siren. The blood of a celestial siren remains with the generation until the world runs out of magic, thus, Y/N is also deemed a pureblood witch who is half siren. 

Types of sirens ranked from most powerful to common. 

1. Celestial Siren - under the government of Zeus 

2. Cathartic Siren - under the government of Hades

3. The Generative (the normal ones) - under the government of Poseidon

Powers 

All sirens are ageless beautiful with a witty charm that's nothing less than hypnotic. They all have a degree of supernatural knowledge gained from the divine; knowledge of the fate of the world. In my perspective, I think that;  Humans chase after what they believe defines them, leading to their own glory/destruct. 

All sirens have one more of the following powers (some have none). 

1. shapeshifting into sea animals, fishes, snakes and human 

2. read minds 

3. conjure storms and fogs 

4. control the weather 

5. super strength

All the sirens have the purest blood. They are often hunted for their hair, fins and vocal cords for illegal wand making (most powerful imperious curse) and their blood for medical or personal reasons. It is said that if a muggle-born wizard/witch drinks an adult siren dry of blood, the blood concentrates the magical essence within the wizard/witch and deems the muggle-born pureblood. In the story, the Greengrass family who were half-bloods caught Y/N's grandmother and was halfway through draining her before they were caught. The blood of a siren can also curse, however, drinking all of a siren's blood can counter the curse. Now the Greengrass family are one of the sacred 28 for they are purer than most purebloods but they will only live up to 30 years as they didn't finish, cursing their bloodlines. The wizarding laws at the time deemed sirens as protected exotic creatures rather than humans, thus, the Greengrass family did not face much penalties.  

Are sirens evil? 

To call someone a 'siren' used to be a compliment for the ancient greeks. The famous rhetorician, Isocrates, was buried in a tomb emblazoned with a siren as a symbol of his masterful use of language and exceptional skills in speaking. 

The original siren myth shows Odysseus tempted not by how the sirens look but by what knowledge they offer him. Nevertheless, the danger associated with the enchanting song of the creature increasingly emphasized in medieval texts led to its association with anything that allures or deceives. 

Given that they have supernatural knowledge from the divine, sirens knew about the fate of the world. Because sirens acquired such knowledge, it is up to the siren's decision to be good or evil for she sees a different perception from each other. Thus, some sirens are evil by choice, while others are not. 

One legend claims sirens were once friendly toward men and supposedly were even known (rare) to accept some sailors' clumsy attempts at courtship. However, sirens are now decidedly aggressive, perhaps due to numerous kidnappings and murdering. 

Credits to the author of the images used in the Moodboard