Siren Song
Etymology
From Homer’s "Odyssey": the Sirens sang so irresistibly that sailors steered onto the rocks to reach them, and Odysseus had himself lashed to the mast to hear the song and survive. In the earliest depictions the Sirens were bird-women, not the mermaids of later art. The phrase now names any seductive but destructive lure.
noun phrase · /SY-ruhn SONG/
An appeal so alluring that it lures you toward ruin.
What it names
For temptation that is dangerous precisely because it is beautiful and hard to resist.
Example
The siren song of easy credit drew thousands into debt they could not repay.
Related idea
A siren song actively lures you toward harm; a white elephant is a burden you already possess and cannot shed — temptation ahead versus an albatross in hand.
See also