d. They were much addicted to
the cruel rites, of which I have been speaking; so that the shores, upon
which they resided, are described, as covered with the bones of men,
destroyed by their artifice.

[667]Jamque adeo scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat,
Difficiles quondam, multorumque ossibus albos.

They used hymns in their temples, accompanied with the music of their
country: which must have been very enchanting, as we may judge from the
traditions handed down of its efficacy. I have mentioned, that the songs of
the Canaanites and Cretans were particularly plaintive, and pleasing:

[668]They sang in sweet but melancholy strains;
Such as were warbled by the Delian God,
When in the groves of Ida he bewail'd
The lovely lost Atymnius.

But nothing can shew more fully the power of antient harmony than the
character given of the Sirens. Their cruelty the antients held in
detestation; yet always speak feelingly of their music. They represent
their songs as so fatally winning, that nobody could withstand their
sweetness. All were soothed with it; though their life was the purchase of
the gratification. The Scholiast upon Lycophron makes them the children of
the muse [669]Terpsichore. Nicander supposes their mother to have been
Melpomene: others make her Calliope. The whole of this is merely an
allegory; and means only that they were the daughters of harmony. Their
efficacy is mentioned by [670]Apollonius Rhodius: and by the Author of the
Orphic [671]Argonautica: but the account given by Homer is by far the most
affecting.

[672][Greek: Seirenas men proton aphixeai, hai rha te pantas]
[Greek: Anthropous thelgousin, hotis spheas eisaphikanei.]
[Greek: Hostis aidreiei pelasei, kai phthongon akousei]
[Greek: Seirenon, toi d' outi gune, kai nepia tekna]
[Greek: Oikade nostesanti paristatai, oude ganuntai;]
[Greek: Alla te Seirenes ligurei thelgousin aoidei,]
[Greek: Hemenoi en leimoni; polus t' amph' osteophin this]
[Greek: Andron puthomenon, peri de rhinoi phthinuthousin.]

They are the words of Circe to Ulysses, giving him an account of the
dangers which he was to encounter.

[673]Next where the Sirens dwell, you plough the seas.
Their song is death, and makes destruction please.
Unblest the man, whom music makes to stray
Near the curst coast, and listen to their lay.
No more that wretch shall view the joys of life,
His blooming offspring, or his pleasing wife.

In verdant me