Supernatural Creatures and Haunted Places: True Spine chilling stories.

Siren: Bird-Women or Evil Mermaids?

The moon was full and hung upon the cloud-covered sky like an ancient warship. The calm water of the sea glittered silver and everywhere there was a mysterious eerie silence. Only the soft sound of the oars could be heard. They knew they were lost. The compass was broken in the last storm and their captain was dead.

They treated softly on unchartered waters of the far east with a beating heart within. They were very well aware of what lay ahead of them. The rumors were nothing but truth itself. Suddenly someone gulped in shock and pointed a shaking finger at something ahead.

On a rock jutted above from the water, there sat a woman. She was naked and her body was covered with a huge pair of wings. Her eyes were golden and she looked at them with love and longing.

The sailors were awestruck. With open-hanging mouths, they continued to look at the beautiful mysterious woman in front. Suddenly she started to sing. A voice so melodious, and melancholic that it brought tears into the eyes of the sailors. They closed their eyes and drank deep into the magical voice of the woman.

The boat moved on its own and dashed against the rocks beneath. The spell broke and the sailors fell into the water. They shouted for help and tried to swim, but in vain. The woman gave a shrill cry and plunged into the water to devour the heads of her lovers.

Sirens were originally bird-women with ties to the Greek underworld. In Greek mythology, a siren is a half-bird, half-woman creature that used the sweetness of her voice to seduce seafarers to their deaths. They're known as the mermaids' dark, edgier sisters. After all, they were known as guardians of the dead and would have to guide all those sailors' souls who had carelessly sailed too close to the coast.

The sirens have been associated with a number of real and imagined locations in and around Italy and Greece. However, legend has it that they were found in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Sorrento. They are usually shown as lovely women with fishtails or large massive wings, but they can also be frightening humanoid animals with terrible teeth for tearing people apart. Sirens are infamous for luring seafarers in with their enticing songs, only to slay them later.

Although the terms 'mermaid' and 'siren' are frequently used interchangeably, folklore and literature suggest that there is a distinction between the two.

Mermaids are half-fish, half-woman sea creatures who are usually harmless. Sirens are creatures who are malevolent.

They're frequently shown as females with talons and fins. Sirens take on several forms depending on the interpretation, but they are usually represented as a bird woman.

Sirens are known for singing enchanting songs to lure sailors to their death. Mermaids are generally good-natured. Mermaids are more known for lounging around on beaches and rocks, combing their hair, and singing pretty songs with their beautiful voice.

Sirens can kill in a variety of ways. Sailors are tempted to come to them because of their haunting singing and attractive appearance. The sailors will dive into the water in pursuit of the siren, where they will either be pulled to the seafloor or eaten by the sirens.

Sirens were also suspected of luring sailors' ships into rocks, causing them to crash and drown. Sirens are known for their shapeshifting abilities. Sirens can turn into people, according to movies and television. This is depicted in the television show Siren and the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.

On March 29, 2018, Freeform premiered the show Siren. It won the hearts of mermaid fans, but it was sadly cancelled after three seasons. The show is set in an ocean-side community with a long history of mermaid fascination. Ryn, a siren, is on the lookout for her missing sister.

Two marine biologists try to assist her in locating her sister. The show is dark and gruesome at times, yet most viewers find it entertaining. When Ryn exits the sea, she may morph into a human, but her piercing eyes and pointed facial features give her an otherworldly appearance. She possesses a long grey tail with spikey fins, sharp teeth, and webbed fingers when she transforms into a siren.

In their search for the fountain of youth, a group of pirates come face to face with lethal sirens while attempting to capture one. While they are referred to as mermaids in the film, their violent behaviour is similar to that of sirens. One siren appears before the men and mesmerises them with the song "Jolly Sailor Bold" before the violence begins.

She bares her fangs and lunges at the end of the song. As the men fight off the sirens, chaos follows. The pirates manage to apprehend a woman named Syrena, but one of the men develops feelings for her. He assists her in escaping, and she kisses him in exchange, granting him the ability to breathe underwater, according to mythology. She then submerges him, and his fate remains unclear.

The most famous ancient piece of literature that the sirens appear in, is the Odyssey by Homer.

In this famous epic poem, the hero Odysseus tries to travel back home to the Greek city Ithaca after he fought in the Trojan war.

On his way, he encounters three sea monsters: the sirens and Charybdis and Scylla. According to the story of the Odyssey, the sirens lived on an island that was surrounded by cliffs and rocks on which the sailors shipwrecked.

According to Homer the island of the sirens was located in the western sea between Aeaea and the rocks of Scylla. Aeaea was thought to be the modern-day island called Elba on the north-western shore of Italy. So the islands of the sirens would be somewhere in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of south-western Italy because Odysseus sailed down that way in the direction of Charybdis and Scylla.

According to Roman poets, the island where the sirens lived was one of a few small rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli that were located around that area.

In another version of the myth, the island was called Anthemoessa (or Anthemusa) and thought to be the current island of Ischia or Capri which is close to the city Naples. The Sirenuse islands, next to Capri, are even named after the sirens and could also be the ones.

Don't get lost at sea! Even if you do, wear headphones, don't hear any mysterious music or songs! Who knows what may be lurking behind the coves and shadows of the sea-scented rocks waiting for you!