‘Odysseus! Come here! You are well-known

from many stories! Glory of the Greeks!

Now stop your ship and listen to our voices.

All those who pass this way hear honeyed song,

poured from our mouths. The music brengs them joy,

and they go on their way with greater knowledge,

since we know everything the Greeks and Trojans

suffered in Troy, by gods’ will; and we know

whatever happens anywhere on earth.’ (12.184-191)

– Homer, The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson, Norton & Company, New York / London, 2018, p. 307.

Odysseus en de Sirenen, Attische roodfigurige stamnos, ca. 480-470 v.C., afkomstig uit Vulci (British Museum, Londen)