The Temptress and Pop Culture

842 Words4 Pages
The world english dictionary describes a temptress as “a woman who sets out to allure or seduce a man or men; a seductress”. There are numerous accounts of temptress figures in greek mythology, such as Calypso and Siren. Temptresses were always captivatingly beautiful and enchanting. Siren is one of the most notorious temptresses, she was one of the sea nymphs. With her beautiful voice she would sing near the shores of the sea and draw in whatever man passed by. As they approached her, Siren would smile at them and look deeply into their eyes. As soon as they were close enough, Siren would savagely attack and eat her hapless victim. This seduction trick always lead to the downfall of her victim, making Siren peerless as far as temptresses as go. The expression "siren" is still used to describe something that is both dangerous and enthralling. In myths that were created later on, creatures that drew men in to inflict harm, would be thought of and referred to as “sirens”. This temptress figure also connects to modern day popular culture. Popular culture is defined by the World Dictionary as “cultural activities...suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people”. A pop culture theme that relates to this archetype of the temptress, is portrayed in songs like ‘Modern Day Delilah’, by KISS. Delilah is probably one of the most prominent and popularized known temptresses of all time. She was a woman who lived in the year 1025 B.C.. The man who fell for her beauty and charms had superhuman strength, his name was Samson. He could kill a lion with his bare hands. Samson met Delilah while he was taking revenge on the Philistines, God’s enemies at the time. The Philistine leaders plotted with Delilah to get Samson to tell her where he got this magical strength from and in return she would receive a substantial monetary reward. Eventually Samson gave into her
Open Document