The Sirens were sea nymphs who were living on an isolated island called, the island of the Faiakes .. they had the body of a bird, the tail of a mermaid, and a human-like head .. they had the gift of singing in a very seductive manner, so that each sailor who was passing by this island got enchanted by their voice and was condemned to stay on the island forever and die .. the island was littered with the bones of sailors who were not able to resist the sirens' divine melody .. all tales in the mythology of mermaids stem from Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", where some mythologists believe the sirens to have been in mermaid form, although they could apparently change to a total human form at will .. in the odyssey, the sirens encounter Odysseus (Ulysses) and his companions on their journey back to the island of Ithaca.. the sirens were expecting his arrival and immediately started singing, but he was prepared for the situation, and told his crew to put wax in their ears and bind him strongly to the mast and to not obey him, not matter how much he ordered or pleaded with them to free him .. this way, greek hero odysseus was able to escape from the temptation and continue his long journey to Ithaca, although the siren's song haunted him for the rest of his days..