Ah, Starbucks. Named for Captain Ahab’s faithful first mate in Herman Meville’s Moby Dick; cult obsession of my hometown, Seattle; worldwide coffee sensation; provider of my daily happy juice. But I’m not here to talk about my obsession with my Caramel Macciato or my Earl Grey Tea Latté (seriously, guys, “London Fog” was a lot easier to shout over the din of 7am commuters).
"Odysseus and the Sirens" Athenian red figure stamnos, circa 5th century BC
A lot of people are under the impression that the woman on the Starbucks logo is a mermaid (two tales? Okay, I can kind of the go with that), or a Siren (see right). Unfortunately the bit about the Siren is tragically wrong. Pop culture has shifted our recollection of the Greek myths. A prime example of this is Perseus riding Pegasus. The only mortal to ever ride Pegasus was Bellerophon, son of Poseidon and master of horses. Perseus had the winged sandals given to him by Mercury and therefore didn’t need a winged horse. The only connection the two have is that Pegasus was born of Medusa’s blood when Perseus beheaded her (a result of having trysted with Poseidon back in the day). But I digress. Ahem. Sorry, touched a bit of a nerve there.
A Siren, like a Harpy, had the head of a woman and the body, or at least body parts, of a bird (see right). So no go there, Starbucks. The woman seen gracing our cups and the top tower of the Starbucks headquarters is taken from German heraldry and is representative of the Melusine (left).
There are several stories about the Melusine, but the most famous is from poet Jean D’Arras in the 14th century. He tells us of a king, Elynas, who met and wooed a beautiful lady in the forests, the fey woman Pressyne. Upon their marriage, she made him swear never to spy on her in childbirth or when bathing her children. Like all heroes of myth, however, he completely disregarded her entreaty. Enraged, Pressyne fled with their three daughters back to the Otherworld……
