Welp. Remember when I said I’d post the rest of the Greek creatures as a pack you could bu
Welp. Remember when I said I’d post the rest of the Greek creatures as a pack you could buy? Maybe not, because I scrubbed that from the post that had it. It turns out I probably don’t have what it takes to make money off art, because I suck at getting anything done unless I have a deadline. And setting ones that only exist in my brain clearly doesn’t work, as the TDG shows… But it also means I’ll be showing off what I did so far without charging. I’ll find money some other way, probably with writing or something.Sirens, am I right? In myths, the sirens were a variety of nymphs. Like all nymphs they were excellent singers able to lure people away into the wilds. The sirens were especially good singers, but of course they could not compare with the deathless muses. What set them apart from their sisters were their bird bodies and fatal edge to their music. Cursed by Demeter for failing to find her daughter, they were given an island in the Mediterranean as their haunt. They sung to sailors in a bid to make them jump into the tumultuous waters and drown. For seemingly no reason other than their own malice. In pottery their shape is ambiguous. Sometimes it is merely the head of a woman on a bird, other times it’s a sort of bird-centaur shape. When given hands they also may play instruments to enhance their own voices. As time went on, the sirens began changing into more sea beings than aerial ones. Where once they were merely confined to an island, it was their maritime association that saw them become the mermaids of the Middle Ages. The shape of the mermaid isn’t original to them: Mesopotamian spirits had it long before the sweet-singers, and some Celtic figures may predate the fishy sirens. However, most mermaids have some roots with them. Singing to sailors is especially the key mark, although they do so with a twist of lust in the mix. Siren is even the word for mermaid in many romance languages. When depicted in their original bird forms, they tend to lose the grace and talent they used to possess. Sirens in modern stories are often murderous, eating those they drown. Authors like Rick Riordan reduce them even further to a sort of vulture with only the face of a human. My siren is the armed sort. I just thought it would look different. Her bird half is inspired by birds of prey more than seabirds, seeing as how they can’t move away from that island of theirs. Her upper half has the porcelain whiteness associated with goddesses and nymphs in ancient Greek poetry. The dryads and naiads don’t have this because they’re less airy and more earthy, but I think the nereids will. Unlike her sisters, she’s enamored with her island home and has taken to using washed up shells as jewelry. Also, her downy feathers extend up her chest because no booba for u. -- source link
#myth stuff#mythology#greek mythology#mythical creatures#sirens