The Sirens of Greek mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as fully aquatic and mermaid-like; the fact that in Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Portuguese and Philippine the word for mermaid is respectively Sirena, Sirène, Sirena, Syrena, Sirenă, Sereia and Sirena and that in biology the Sirenia comprise an order of fully aquatic mammals that includes the dugong and manatee, add to the visual confusion, so that Sirens are even represented as mermaids. However, "the sirens, though they sing to mariners, are not sea-maidens," Harrison had cautioned; "they dwell on an island in a flowery meadow." In the Philippine mythology, the Sirena is a mythological aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. The male version of a Sirena is called a Sireno. Sometimes it is also paired with Siyokoy. The Sirena is an engkanto

Engkanto

Engkanto are environmental spirits that have the ability to appear in human form. They are often associated with the spirits of ancestors in the Philippines. They are also characterized as forest spirits or elves...

which is classified as one of the Bantay Tubig or the guardians of water. In addition to the Sirena, other examples of Bantay Tubig are Sireno, Siyokoy

Siyokoy (Philippine mythology)

The Siyokoy are creatures in Philippine Mythology which were members of Bantay Tubig .They are usually illustrated as green-skinned humanoids that have scaly body coverings, webbed hands and feet, having fins on several parts of their bodies.- Distinguishing characteristic :Compared to Sirena,...

, Kataw

Kataw (Philippine mythology)

The Kataw is one of the merfolk in the Philippine Mythology. In Visayan, Kataw was believed to have higher rankings than other water and sea creatures as those of Sirena, Sireno and Siyokoy...

and Ugkoy. Bantay Tubig are part fish, part human water-dwelling engkantos which are the Filipino

Culture of the Philippines

Philippine culture is related to Micronesian, Bornean, Mexican and Spanish cultures. The people today are mostly of Malayo-Polynesian origin, although there are people with Spanish, Mexican, Austro-Melanesian and Chinese blood. Geographically, the Philippines is considered part of Southeast Asia...

It is also said that the Sirena has a very beautiful and enchanting voice that can attract and hypnotize males, especially fishermen. A Sirena would sometimes sing to sailors and enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing them to walk off the deck or cause shipwrecks. They would sing with enchanting voices while hiding among the rocks by the shore. When the men hear their song they are hypnotized and the Sirena can abduct them. Some old folk traditions claim that the Sirena carry its victims under the sea and offer them to their water deities

Deity

A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

. Other stories claim that the Sirena squeezes the life out of drowning men while trying to rescue them.

A malevolent Sirena may tease and attract human males with their spellbinding songs; but reports of Sirena grabbing the seemingly hypnotized humans and drowning them or taking them under water may only be isolated cases. Either the tempted human had tried to chase the Sirena deep into the water until he drowned or he had a heart attack upon seeing such an engkanto and plunged literally into the water to his death.

Dugongs, sea turtles, and small cetaceans such as dolphins usually accompany Sirena.