The earliest and best-known references to mermaids are found in Syrian and Greek myth. The Sirens in the Odyssey are often believed to be mermaids, but that was a later tradition and not part of the original text. Homer didn't describe the sirens as having fishy bits; they were simply sea maidens whose beautiful songs lured men to their deaths. Mermaids are often confused with sirens, , Sweetly singing enchantresses, part woman, part bird, who lured sailors to their doom. Some say the Sirens had been given their wings in order to help Demeter search for her daughter Persephone, who was abducted by the King of the Underworld. Their singing would have caused Odysseus to steer his ship into their rocks, had he not ordered his men to bind him to the mast as a precaution. But it was no match for that of the minstrel Orpheus, who distracted his fellow Argonauts so they sailed by the Sirens safely. This is my rendition of a mermaid, painted with acrylics on masonite. Iridescent and metallic paints were used on her tail to give it the appearance of fish scales.