We might also remind ourselves here that the gods of Homer involve themselves in human affairs at least in part because only vicariously can they experience deeply. They have nothing to risk in their Olympian and changeless world. When Aphrodite loses a little ichor from a wound from Diomedes' sword, she suffers no harm. For long ago the nymph had ceased to please. Ironically, only through participation in human actions do gods enter reality.
Incarnation leads to life.
This situation does not lead any of Homer's gods or goddesses to give up their privileged status. We will return to this point later when we examine why Keats's Lamia seeks to become a mortal woman. There are also certain ambiguities in Kalypso. Another threatening group of female mythic figures recalls more precisely the habits of the lamia we began with. In contrast to these repellent females, the Sirens adopt pleasing shapes, their danger masked by the flattery of heroic song.