entry
Mar. 2003
Parthenope, Ulysses
When we had got within earshot of the land, and the ship was going at a good rate, the Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began with their singing.'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name, and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song—and he who listens will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.'They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them further I made by frowning to my men that they should set me free; but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes bound me with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of the Sirens' voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and unbound me.
—The Odyssey (trans. Samuel Butler)
Like most of
my generation, I got my classical education from
the venerable Classic Comics. I grew up thinking that
most of that ancient Greek stuff happened —well, over
in Greece somewhere. Little did I know that the
episode of the Sirens took place in these waters.
There are tiny rocks sticking up out of the water on
the Amalfi side of the
Sorrentine peninsula named for those very Sirens that tempted Ulysses.
One of the Sirens, Parthenope, threw herself into the
sea out of despair over what she believed to be her
lack of allure, and her body washed up on the coast a
few miles away at the spot where mythology says the
city of Neapolis (Naples) was founded. Actually, that
would be the city of Parthenope,
which then became Neapolis; indeed, modern Neapolitans
still refer to themselves commonly as
"Parthenopeans".
I have found what I
understand is the only piece of ancient sculpture in
Naples depicting the siren, Parthenope. It is a small
bust, and is located on the premises of the Municipio,
the City Hall. It was recovered from the site of
the original Greek acropolis of the city of Neapolis,
on the height across from today's Piazza Cavour. That
location is not currently an active archaeological
site, and it has been covered with centuries of
construction, most recently various departments of the
University of Naples Medical School. On the historic
map of the city (here) you
would start at #37 and walk up the hill (towards the
top of the map).
(There is also a modern statue of Parthenope in Naples.)
(There is a recent painting named
Parthenope by Fulvio De Marinis.)
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