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[...]... Even the meadow from which theSirens sing has erotic associations in Greek poetry, as does the word thelgousin (from the verb thelgo, meaning to touch with magic power), which Kirke uses to describe the beguiling effects oftheSirens song, and which also describes the effects of Kirke’s potions.15 The Odyssey includes a total of four renditions ofthe Siren story, each rehearsing and refining the. .. after the Siren episode in the chronology of events, but prior to it in the circuitous narrative ofthe epic, for Odysseus narrates his encounter with theSirens in his own recital of his wanderings since the Iliad Thus theSirens song is both the first and last singing of Iliadic stories in the Odyssey, and this epic-scale temporal knot is tightened in the entwining of past and future in the words of their... sustainable The ropes that bind him mark the meeting of two seemingly opposed forces, the psychosexual reach oftheSirens song and the psychosocial magnet of homeland and family TheSirens song exposes the porous nature of mind, body, and humanly determined boundaries, calling into question the desire to remain bound by these Odysseus knows beforehand the dangers of listening: these include the rupture of. .. splendid toils ofthe Iliad,”21 Homer forces his subject to stay on course, binding him tothe mast ofthe ship, hence tothe agenda ofthe present epic But what of that tightly trussed body? The metanarratives of heroic transcendence or authorial self-reflection do not account for the attention paid tothe scene ofthe hero’s bondage and his utter failure of mind in the presence of this music Indeed,... the performed epic, the audience, along with the crew, sails past the meadow oftheSirens without stress or restraint, knowing only that 16 songs ofthesirens they have not really heard theSirens song They may notice the euphony of melainei (black) and meligerun (honey-sweet) in theSirens song, which recalls the honey-sweet wax (meliedea) that protects the crew ofthe ship from its effects—that... in the Iliad, however, Odysseus does not sing, and his “triumph” over theSirens is also a milestone in the story of his resocialization back into the domestic sphere; it is a step forward in the reconciliation ofthe individual and his social and domestic responsibilities But in spite ofthe enchantment that betrays a “readiness to leave the wandering of the Odyssey in favor of the splendid toils of. .. (2) technologiesof sign systems, which permit us to use signs, meanings, symbols, or signification; (3) technologiesof power, which determine the conduct of individuals and submit them to certain ends or domination, an objectivizing of the subject; (4) technologies of the self, which permit individuals to effect by their own means, or with the help of others, a certain number of operations on their... of this scene in which Odysseus is made to look markedly unheroic In the standard depictions, Odysseus is bound back to mast, bravely facing the Sirens; here, in contrast, he is bound front to mast, feet dangling below the heads of his crew, who look at him and theSirens in bewilderment Their gaze marks both Odysseus and theSirens as queer for the viewer ofthe illustration.22 In the context of the. .. This book, too, begins with Odysseus and theSirens But rather than trying to read the song ofthe Sirens (either what they sang or what people have said about it), I am here suggesting what the song’s function might be to invite an imagining of what things would be like if they were different The fact that theSirens are reported in myth as singing suggests that the imagining works best in musical form... “proletarians,” and their encounter with theSirens as a critical moment in which the rational cunning ofthe individual conquers the mythical powers oftheSirens song.2 Odysseus becomes enlightened by listeningto it, for he is made to struggle with, and overcome, a self-destructive desire to return tothe past But his crew hear nothing; they are left out of enlightenment For these authors, the separate . Listening to the Sirens The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Hull Memorial Publication Fund of Cornell University. Listening to the Sirens Musical. Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peraino, Judith Ann. Listening to the sirens : musical technologies of queer identity from Homer to Hedwig / Judith A. Peraino. p. cm. Includes bibliographical. Sirens Musical Technologies of Queer Identity from Homer to Hedwig Judith A. Peraino UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London The following excerpts are used by permission of Oxford