What Song the Sirens Sang?

“What song the Sirens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, though puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture.”

These words by Dr Thomas Brown are ones I’ve frequently quoted in the past, as I’ve always believed it’s perfectly possible to make a reasonably well-informed conjecture about most apparently impenetrable mysteries, if one applies oneself to the task at hand with some imagination, patience and perseverance. It now transpires that some names that were not so much lost as deemed to be non-existent have now been recognised for what they are on a dozen ancient Greek vases, with the distinct possibility that still more may come to light.

Given the degree of detail in this article that deals with the names of Amazon warriors, it’s not unthinkable that one day we may indeed the learn the name that Achilles took when he hid himself among women, although for now we have an insight into some lost languages and appellations concerning actual female warriors. The article is fascinating, as are many of the comments that have been added at the end, while I find it remarkable that in the course of just a few hours, I’ve learned of two instances of ‘things being in plain sight’, when you take into consideration my previous post dealing with a rectangle or square on the Moon.

As the Assistant Curator David Saunders gracefully acknowledged in the piece in the link “It certainly has made me a lot more careful about what I call nonsense”. Amen to that.