Funerary Siren statue, made from Pentelic marble, found in the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos, Athens. With it's wings raised and playing a lyre made from a tortoise shell the Siren sings a lament to the dead man. The right hand which may have held the plectrum is missing. The holes in the instrument's soundbox indicate that the strings were made separately, probably of bronze. The plumage and details of the body would have been painted with colour. The stele probably flanked the horseman Dexileo who fell in battle in 394-393 BCE, now in the Kerameikos Museum. In Greek mythology Sirens were dangerous creatures who lured passing sailors with their enchanting songs to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Famously, in Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus is lashed to the ship's mast by his crew, who stop their own ears with wax, so that he alone can hear the siren song.