“Siren” is a word used colloquially to refer to either harpies or mermaids, so each claim it means them, and each are mad if you say the other is a siren. The debate can get heated.
“Siren” is a word used colloquially to refer to either harpies or mermaids, so each claim it means them, and each are mad if you say the other is a siren. The debate can get heated.
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This is specially funny in spain, where the word for mermaid is “sirena”, as is the word for siren!(harpy is “arpía”, for completeness). So a spanish mermaid visiting an english avalon would cause an uproar xD
Secret third option, the siren was a Bugbear all along
I vote for third option! Also did harpies have arms? It’s been a while since I last saw one.
There are multiple subtypes of harpy – one with arms and wings (ex – Abigail Okypete), one with wing arms ( ex – Anthony Gillis), and one with a completely bird body and a human head (the only one I remember in the comic was in a picture Anthony’s mom had).
Abbie is an Okypetian harpy, Anthony is an Aellean harpy, and the human-headed type is the Podargian harpy.
The only other kind that’s been defined is the bat-winged Celean or Celeanian harpy, which looks (and acts?) vicious.
It’s bugbears all the way down.
BIRD MERMAID HYBRIDS
Sirens as winged mermaids actually appear in some historical depictions. History and mythology are really fun. (Guess we can add Melusine to the list of Legendaries humans refer to as sirens. They’re more dragon-mermaids than fish-birds, but they have wings and a paddle tail, and humans are known to embellish.)
I think that’s also where the CD project got the inspiration for their Sirens in Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, because in the Witcher books the sirens are just civilized mer-people who communicate through song.
In heraldry, a melusine is simply a twin-tailed mermaid like the one in Starbucks’ logo.
Now I’m wondering if Scylla and Charybdis were sea monsters in SD or just pure legend.
I’ve actually been wondering about them as well, that was my favorite episode from the Odyssey. Scylla was actually in a cave iirc and not seen very clearly, so she could have been anything from a hydra to a kraken really. Charybdis though…
…Bugbear?
“Harpies!”
“Mermaids!”
“Harpies!!”
“Mermaids!!”
“HARPIES!!!”
“MERMAIDS!!!”
“FISH WHORE!!!”
“BIRD THOT!!!”
“AAAAAAAAA”
“AAAAAAAAA”
Okay, hear me out, hear me out….
What if they got together and had a baby?
Yes, we all know that All Harpies are Female and All Mermaids are Female… but we got at least one male with the genes to do it… (*not so subtle eyebrow wiggle*)
Anthony X Merial when? :D
> What if they got together and had a baby?
… we’d have a siren blaring? >;->
My answer: Greek Sirens were Harpies, but Mermaids took over the name around the time of the Sphinx-Dragon War. This was possible due to Harpies stopping due to fear, as a direct result of Humans hunting down “monsters”, which the Mermaids were less worried about due to being aquatically based.
Both races CAN have beautiful singing voices, but, as they’re individual’s, there are also ones who are various levels of tone deaf, or who simply can’t hold a note. This is also a real challenge for Mermaids who want to be Sirens because “beautiful singing voice underwater” doesn’t necessarily equate to “beautiful singing voice in air” or vice versa.
This has cropped up in my fantasy series. I have harpies, mermaids, *and* sirens, and I haven’t settled on how I want to depict the sirens. I know what their abilities are; they can channel magic through their singing and are often very good at mundane vocal tricks, they all have perfect pitch, and their ancestral language is highly tonal. I’m just not sure on what they look like. I’m leaning toward people with wings and no other non-human-esque features, but it’s not set.
I suggest seagull harpies, FWIW