Ulysses and the Sirens by Waterhouse: Bird-Women and a Bound Hero

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Ulysses tied to the mast

In Homer’s Odyssey, the Sirens sing so beautifully that sailors steer onto the rocks and die. Ulysses wants to hear them, so he has himself tied to the mast, while his crew plug their ears with wax.

John William Waterhouse painted the scene in 1891. The long canvas belongs to the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, which bought it in the same year.

Bound and straining

Ulysses tied to the mast with ropes — Bound and straining.

Ulysses stands at the mast, his arms tied behind him, his body leaning forward towards the song. He is the only one who can hear.

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Ulysses and the Sirens, painted by hand

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Sirens with the bodies of birds

Sirens with women’s heads and bird bodies — Sirens with the bodies of birds.

Waterhouse painted the Sirens as birds with women’s heads, following ancient Greek vase painting rather than the later image of mermaids. They swoop around the ship, staring at the men.

Rowers who cannot hear

Rowers with heads down and a Siren on deck — Rowers who cannot hear.

The crew row on, heads down, their ears blocked. One Siren lands on the deck and leans close to a rower’s face, but he does not react.

Large painted eye on the ship’s hull with signature — An eye painted on the hull.

At the stern, a large painted eye decorates the hull, as on ancient Greek ships. Waterhouse signed and dated the painting just beside it.

Questions about Ulysses and the Sirens

What story does it show?

The episode from Homer’s Odyssey in which Ulysses is tied to the mast to hear the Sirens safely.

Why are the Sirens birds?

Waterhouse followed ancient Greek images, which showed Sirens as birds with women’s heads.

Where is the original?

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

How large is it?

100.6 × 202 centimetres, oil on canvas.

Sources and image credit

Public-domain reproduction of Ulysses and the Sirens (1891), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.