Sirena is the heroine of Napoli's novel.

From the beginning of the story, she separates herself from the mindset of her sisters—to seek immortality from the love of a human, no matter what the cost. In her naivete, she sings with her sisters to lure ships to crash upon their rocks, but is horrified when her actions, and those of her sisters, cause the deaths of many Greek sailors.

Sirena swims away to escape her power to cause men's deaths, determined to inhabit deserted Lemnos in solitude. In her youth, she finds pleasure in her surroundings, a veritable Eden. Philoctetes' arrival brings with it the challenge to love and be loved in return without using the lure of her mermaid's song. Sirena does sing, though, to calm the giant bear that threatens her while she is foraging inland. She sings to tell...