Vampires, zombies, mermaids, or even the great werewolves, creatures of various sorts have always been a part of human consciousness throughout history. To both, people’s fascination to disbelief, these supernatural theories have survived centuries just get even more bigot. Mermaids might be the interest of the past and have been overshadowed by the fascination of deep-sea myths today, yet their iconic presence never seems to tame their avid fanatics. With several books and movies about the mysterious sightings, the whispers around mermaids remain a topic of debate for several people even today.
When we talk about fictionalized characters, the tale of the mermaid is quite unclear in contemporary literature. Mermaids are, according to some legends, people who possess half the body of a human and half of a fish. With little to no knowledge of the origin of Mermaids, their history seems to be as baffling as that of a witch or a ghost. Yet their existential question is a half-painted canvas still exploring the depth of their realm.
The origin of Mermaids could be traced back to several countries, prominently Asia, Africa, and Europe. Several folklores and myths have originated here and the very first account of mermaids was found back in 1000 BC in Assyria as a beautiful goddess Atargatis who cast herself into the water and turned into a mermaid.
But before there were mermaids, some 4,000 years ago there was a merman- Ea, the Babylonian god of the sea. His lower body was of a fish and the upper body of a human. He was one of those handy all-purpose deities, bringing humankind the arts and sciences while also finding the time to battle evil.
But the question remains, how can mere tales so heavily influence mermaids’ myths throughout the world?
Throughout history, most of the mermaid myths originated from sea sailors, explorers, and pirates. There are multiple claims about mermaid spotting and even Christopher Columbus himself couldn’t resist the lure of the myth. He once claimed to have spotted a mermaid-like creature in a mid of a storm, yet he isn’t sure whether it was a real mermaid or something look alike. Well, nobody knows the answer to these, but they were explorers, and they must have spotted things that are still to be explained, especially owing to a fact that the world has only explored 5% of the sea!
One of the most popular and perhaps the most controversial pirate- Blackbeard has marked certain parts of the sea as enchanted on his logbook instructing others to not visit such areas due to the fear of these sea monsters.
But are mermaids really a monster? Well, the more there are myths the more there are versions. Though there are several mermaid myths around the world, the most common remains beautiful half maiden’s half-fish creatures singing and warning sea sailors of storms and wind. Thanks to Disney, the world recognizes mermaids as human-friendly creatures as if they are a blessing or a good omen for the sailors. According to Korean and Chinese myths, mermaids are pretty sea maidens who can turn their tears into pearls. They are gentle, mild, and a blessing for the sea.
However, not all myths entertain us the same. According to Japanese myth, mermaids are grotesque sea creatures that bring warfare if their body is washed ashore. While consuming their flesh could provide immortality to anyone who consumes them. Myths from British, Brazil, and Greece are close to the type of mermaids we know today. According to them, mermaids seduce sea sailors and drown them to the depth of the sea, purely for their own entertainment.
One of the popular legends of Mermaid includes Thessalonike, the sister of Alexander the Great. As per the legend, Alexander, in his quest for the Fountain of Immortality, retrieved with great exertion a flask of immortal water with which he bathed his sister’s hair. When Alexander died, in grief his sister attempts to end her life and jump into the water. However, she doesn’t die, instead turns into a mermaid and for centuries passes judgments on those sailing through her waters. She would ask, “Is King Alexander alive?”, to which the correct answer is only one “He lives and reigns and conquers the world”. She will let you pass only if you answer her correctly, any other answers will invite their own doom.
How much is the existence of a mermaid possible?
As mentioned above, it’s been more than 300,000 years since humans first set foot on the earth, and since then they have only explored 5% part of the sea. This means that 95% of the sea and its creatures are still left under the shadows of the deep sea. There could be types of marine creatures that humans couldn’t even imagine exist. Recently, a Russian fisherman has caught a bizarre deep-sea creature that resembles a baby dragon.
This proves that humans are not aware of what resides under the dark side of the sea where even submarines could not go into. There could be a whole new world residing hidden beneath the waves of light and these uncovered waters could hold the possible existence of mermaids or close.
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