Ulysses and the Mermaids

Ulysses and the Mermaids
NAMES Their number is not sure, according to the Omeric tradition they were two, later their number grew up. Traditionally the most famous are :
· LIGEIA with the hollow voice of the afterlife;
· LEUCOSIA the white creature;
· Parthenope with the maiden face.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Mythical creatures, they had the head of a woman on a body of a bird.The tradition of a body half human and half of a fish was developed only in later centuries. Another striking feature of these creatures was their voices that had the power to chain the listeners’wills to their own .

THE TIME Once upon a time.

THE PLACE Southern Italy, more specifically they lived at Capri but when they died their bodies were driven in different places of the Campania coast.

THE LEGEND The mermaids were considered goddesses of the Dead as well as the Harpies and the Furies but they could sometimes be turned into benevolent goddesses through some specific rites.
In general they were a danger for all the sailors who passed in their nearby since they enchanted them with their seducing voices till they lost any control, dived into the sea where they died drowned.
Ulysses was able to save himself and his crew by this lethal destiny thanks to Circe, the enchantress Circe who was in love with Ulysses.She warned him to fill his men’s ears with wax so that theiy could not hear the mermaids’voices but, on the other hand, she advised him to listen to their voices. So Ulysses asked his men to tie him to the mainmast and to let him there no matter what he said or did.
With this devise Ulysses defeated the mermaids who, as a consequence, were condemned to die throwing themselves into the sea.their bodies were driven away along the coast. Parthenepe’s body arrived to the islet of Megaride (where later the Castel dell’Ovo was built ) where it was buried with all the honours due to a divinity.

NAMES	Their number is not sure, according to the Omeric tradition they were two, later their number grew up. Traditionally the most famous are : · LIGEIA with the hollow voice of the afterlife; · LEUCOSIA the white creature; · Parthenope with the maiden face.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION	Mythical creatures, they had the head of a woman on a body of a bird.The tradition of a body half human and half of a fish was developed only in later centuries. Another striking feature of these creatures was their voices that had the power to chain the listeners’wills to their own .
THE TIME	Once upon a time.
THE PLACE	Southern Italy, more specifically they lived at Capri but when they died their bodies were driven in different places of the Campania coast.
THE LEGEND	The mermaids were considered goddesses of the Dead as well as the Harpies and the Furies but they could sometimes be turned into benevolent goddesses through some specific rites. In general they were a danger for all the sailors who passed in their nearby since they enchanted them with their seducing voices till they lost any control, dived into the sea where they died drowned. Ulysses was able to save himself and his crew by this lethal destiny thanks to Circe, the enchantress Circe who was in love with Ulysses.She warned him to fill his men’s ears with wax so that theiy could not hear the mermaids’voices but, on the other hand, she advised him to listen to their voices. So Ulysses asked his men to tie him to the mainmast and to let him there no matter what he said or did. With this devise Ulysses defeated the mermaids who, as a consequence, were condemned to die throwing themselves into the sea.their bodies were driven away along the coast. Parthenepe’s body arrived to the islet of Megaride (where later the Castel dell’Ovo was built ) where it was buried with all the honours due to a divinity.