About

Since ancient times, there has been a legend in the Mediterranean of a mysterious island on whose shores sailors perished attracted by the singing of birds. These birds were called Sirens, and it was said that they had the face of a woman. At least that is how they were represented in funerary reliefs, in sculptures and ceramics, and painted on amphorae, hydrias, glasses and plates. Later they also appear portrayed with breasts and arms, and occasionally with musical instruments: the lyre and the aulós. Its original iconography owes much to Ba, the bird with a human head, which was for the …