Aglaope

### Powers and abilities

Siren song, illusions, feral form, telepathy, transformation, summoning/conjuring, water and weather manipulation

## Other Information

### Voiced by

Colleen Clinkenbeard

**Aglaope** is the Queen of the Sirens, a one-time character and the main villain of the episode, *The Song of the Sirens*, featured in the animated series, *Mission Odyssey*.

## Background

### **Personality**

As the Queen of Sirens with a regal demeanor and also a quick wit and attitude, Aglaope is mainly evil, cold, cruel, merciless, dangerous, ruthless, wicked, deceptive, murderous, devious, cunning, conniving, bitter and vicious.

While at first hesitant to attack Odysseus and perfectly willing to let his crew pass, Aglaope is unempathetic or uncompassionate for humans, including Odysseus and the gang. While Poseidon threatened and forced her to follow his orders, she is shown as unhesitant and sadistic seemed to enjoy toying with the humans like playing a game of cat and mouse. Aglaope may have once preyed on humans more frequently and merely grew bored over the years.

Befitting a siren, Aglaope is an alluring, sweet, charming and seductive talker who will flatter others like when she tried to pacify Poseidon. Her speech is more reminiscent of a modern, snarky woman than an ancient Grecian monarch.

### **Physical Appearance**

Aglaope is an extremely beautiful mermaid with a slender body. Her skin is tanned and her hair is straight, long and flowing. It is a deep red but beneath the waves, the water tints it dark purple. Her fishtail is a dark, muted green and unlike other sirens who have a single, long tail fin, Aglaope has a tail more akin to a dolphin but sharper and more angular. She wears a three-pointed crown of dull gold with matching armbands and a necklace of shells.

When angered, Aglaope's skin turns pale, muted blue-grey. Her eyes lose all semblance of warmth and humanity, becoming cold, snake-like slits. Her once beautiful face becomes a frightening and terrifying grimace, revealing sharp, elongated fangs.

### **Powers and Abilities**

* **Siren Song:** Aglaope, like all sirens, possesses a voice of exceptional beauty. Her song has the power to mesmerize all who hear it, both men and women. The combined power of her voice and the voices of other sirens can drown out a storm. Those who hear it fall in love with the sirens and the beauty of their forms and songs and will follow them anywhere. Not even the fear of death will break the trance. Only through true love can a person resist Aglaope's song.
* **Illusions:** Aglaope, through her song, can conjure illusions, usually of what a person loves or desires most. This gives her a stronger hold over her listeners. Aglaope can use these illusions to disguise herself as another person but she cannot mimic the true nature in someone's eyes. If someone knows their loved one well enough, they can see Aglaope's true, heartless gaze in their loved one's face.
* **Feral Form:** When the need arises, Aglaope can effortlessly shift from beauty to beast. She gains sharp fangs capable of delivering a painful bite and is presumably better equipped to attack and defend herself, as well as rip apart her prey.
* **Telepathy:** Aglaope can see into the minds of others and see their memories as well as their desires.
* **Transformation:** It is implied by Mira that Aglaope is capable of turning humans into sirens.
* **Summoning/Conjuring:** Aglaope can create marvels, presumably through magic. She created a palace so a gigantic maze and a magnificent palace, the latter being so delicate, singing could cause it to collapse. She could make her maze and palace rise from the ocean depths and possibly make it sink below the waves.
* **Water Manipulation:** Aglaope may have some power over water. In her palace, she had a waterfall that flowed up instead of down, acting as an elevator. She could also create tubes of water to house her collection of sea creatures.
* **Weather Manipulation:** Aglaope may have some influence over the weather. The surfacing of her maze was signified by a storm. Her power doesn't seem to be strong enough to sink ships however.

## Role in the episode

Aglaope learned of Odysseus' arrival from Mira, who had been spotted by Zephyr. Smitten with the young man, Mira wanted to sing to him but Aglaope rebuked her request, much to the other sirens' disappointment. A giant tentacle grabbed her but she showed no fear and changed from beauty to beast and bit into it, forcing it to release her. Aglaope's anger turned to fear when she realized she had attacked Poseidon, God of the Seas himself. Aglaope tried to flatter and pacify him, but he used her slight to convince her and her sirens to destroy Odysseus. Aglaope agreed without a hint of sympathy for her future victims and laughed along side Poseidon and the sirens.

Aglaope summoned her palace and maze from the ocean depths, trapping Odysseus and the gang. As the sirens sung, she rose from the deep to welcome them. The crew were mesmerized by the song and the queen's beauty, but Odysseus snapped out of it long enough to stuff his ears and the ears of his crew with oakum. Philo, however was too deeply enchanted by the sirens' song and jumped into the waves.

Now with Philo in her possession, Aglaope used him as bait to lure Odysseus into her clutches. She sent Mira and her friends to bring the crew to her castle. However, Odysseus was already weary of the sirens' deception and was prepared to use any and all opportunities to turn the tables.

In her throne room, Aglaope greeted Odysseus with false hospitality. Aglaope used her powers to see Odysseus' memories of his wife, Penelope. Aglaope complimented Penelope's beauty, despite her ungainly legs. The vision ended with Aglaope informing Odysseus that he would never see her again. The heroes figured out where Philo was hidden and Odysseus urged him to sing. His singing brought down the delicate palace and a chasm sucked the water and most of the sirens into the maze. Aglaope was unfazed and escaped with Mira.

The crew returned to their ship to find their oakum being stolen by the sirens. Odysseus used cloth to plug the gang's ears. Odysseus asked to be tied to mast as he believed if he could survive the siren song, he would end the sirens' power forever. Aglaope confronted Odysseus but her beauty and voice couldn't overcome his love for Penelope. Aglaope transformed her self into Penelope and conjured an illusion of Odysseus' son, Telemachus. She urged Odysseus to join her and for a while, it seemed she would succeed.

Fortunately, Odysseus looked into Penelope's eyes and sees Aglaope's heartless gaze. With the spell broken, Aglaope screamed in rage and a raging fire burned within her, setting the queen ablaze. Aglaope dove into the water, as if trying to put out the terrible fire, and disappeared. The siren song ceased and the maze sinks beneath the waves with Aglaope's power vanquished forever.

## Notes

* Aglaope was the name of one of the original sirens from *Homer's Odyssey*. It is translated as "with lambent voice".
* According to myth, the sirens were fated to die if someone heard their song and survived.
* In myths, Sirens are depicted as half-women, half-bird creatures. In modern times they became so closely associated with their related species, mermaids, that the two names are often used interchangeably to mean the same type of creature.
	+ The main difference is that mermaids are sometimes not dangerous and can sometimes help sailors. Sirens, on the other hand, always try to lure sailors to their deaths.