Yes, interesting backstory on this word which we associate with loud, shrieking noise devices warning us of alarm or pending danger.

It comes from Greek mythology in two distinct ways.

First, they are thought to be the daughters of the river god Achelous and one of the Muses and started out as coastal meadow dwelling maidens but later became mermaids, but always maidens who have remarkable voices which often lure mariners as their hauntingly pretty, feminine song travels out to sea with magical appeal, thus causing ships to turn into off course to search them out only to wreck themselves on submerged rocks.

In this case, we get the idea that their song, while resonant, is considered alluring yet is synonymous with pending danger. (They play a role in the Odyssey where Odysseus orders his crew to plug their ears when passing by their island, but orders the men to tie him to the central mast so he won’t plunge overboard but will be able to listen to their song as they sail by. His plan works and he hears the song but his ship and crew sail by intact).

It seems these daughters of the river god come under the authority of Demeter who charged them to look after her daughter Persephone while she must work her goddess magic on the earth and see to the harvests. And when she returns from her work and discovers Persephone is missing, she cursed them for losing her daughter and not sounding an alarm, and then cursed their form (or blesses) by giving them wings and ordering them to find her daughter and proclaim her whereabouts.

So here they are transformed into bird like creatures who have the task of shrieking. They faced judgment for not having used their resonant voices to sound an alarm when danger approached, something they took to heart as they became known as flying, shrieking creatures.

So it’s quite fitting that our ambulances today are now equipped with “sirens” who sound a shriek, warning us that they are off on a mission to rescue someone in trouble. But they’re also sounded during major disasters. It once was the lighting of torches but now sound has become the modern way of sending out an important alarm to the masses.