Sirena takes place in the amorphous world of Greek mythology, linked with the reality of real places—the Aegean Sea and legendary Troy, whose once proud walls have been unearthed in recent years beneath centuries of ruins in Asia Minor. Napoli's readers will find some names and places that jar the memory—the lessons of Mythology— Zeus, Hera, Heracles, Poseidon, and more.

Latin scholars and students of the ancient world will remember names from their lessons—Troy, Paris, and Philoctetes. Modernists will find similarities between the mermaids of Andersen and Disney and be able to relate to that world under the sea, substituting Mother Dana and the nymphs for the mermaids of story and song.

Sirena's world of the sea and world of the humans merge when Philoctetes is forced to leave the safety of his companions and their ship. The beach becomes their...