Mermaid
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- For other uses, see Mermaid (disambiguation).
A mermaid (from the Middle English mere in the obsolete sense 'sea' + maid(en)) is a legendary aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. The male version of a mermaid is called a merman; the gender-neutral collective noun is merfolk. Various cultures throughout the world have similar figures. They were known to sing sailors to their deaths, like the Siren, or squeeze the life out of drowning men, while trying to rescue them.
The Sirens of Greek mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as mermaids; in fact in some languages the name sirena is used interchangeably for both creatures. Other related types of mythical or legendary creature are water fairies (e.g. various water nymphs) and selkies.
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[edit] Legend and myth
It has been widely suggested that manatees or dugongs could be behind the myth of the mermaid. These large aquatic mammals are notable for the way in which they carry their young, cradled in their arms much as a human would carry a baby. It is possible that sailors seeing these unfamiliar beasts for the first time, would assume that they had in fact stumbled across some sort of humanoid species, and consequently spread their accounts of the sightings through their homelands on their return from voyages. It has even been posited that the traditional image of a mermaid with long flowing hair could be attributed to manatees breaking the ocean surface underneath patches of seaweed, and giving the unfamiliar observer the impression of having long hair.[edit] Ancient Near East
Tales of mermaids are nearly universal. The first known mermaid stories appeared in Assyria, ca. 1000 BCE. Atargatis, the mother of Assyrian queen Semiramis, was a goddess who loved a mortal shepherd and in the process killed him. Ashamed, she jumped into a lake to take the form of a fish, but the waters would not conceal her divine nature. Thereafter, she took the form of a mermaid — human above the waist, fish below — though the earliest representations of Atargatis showed her as being a fish with a human head and legs, similar to the Babylonian Ea. The Greeks recognized Atargatis under the name Derketo, where she was often conflated with Aphrodite.
Prior to 546 B.C., the Milesian philosopher Anaximander proposed that mankind had sprung from an aquatic species of animal. He thought that man with his extended infancy could not have survived, originally, in the manner he does presently. This idea does not appear to have survived Anaximander's death.
A popular Greek legend has Alexander the Great's sister, Thessalonike, turn into a mermaid after her death.<ref> Teacher's Guide</ref> She lived, it was said, in the Aegean and when sailors would encounter her, she would ask them only one question: "Is Alexander the king alive?" (Greek: Ζει ο βασιλιάς Αλέξανδρος), to which the correct answer would be "He lives and still rules" (Greek: Ζει και βασιλεύει). Any other answer would spur her into a rage, where she transformed into a Gorgon and meant doom for the ship and every sailor onboard.
Lucian of Samosata in Syria (2nd century CE) in De Dea Syria ("Concerning the Syrian Goddess") wrote of the Syrian temples he had visited:
- "Among them - Now that is the traditional story among them concerning the temple. But other men swear that Semiramis of Babylonia, whose deeds are many in Asia, also founded this site, and not for Hera Atargatis but for her own Mother, whose name was Derketo"
- "I saw the likeness of Derketo in Phoenicia, a strange marvel. It is woman for half its length, but the other half, from thighs to feet, stretched out in a fish's tail. But the image in the Holy City is entirely a woman, and the grounds for their account are not very clear. They consider fishes to be sacred, and they never eat them; and though they eat all other fowls, they do not eat the dove, for she is holy so they believe. And these things are done, they believe, because of Derketo and Semiramis, the first because Derketo has the shape of a fish, and the other because ultimately Semiramis turned into a dove. Well, I may grant that the temple was a work of Semiramis perhaps; but that it belongs to Derketo I do not believe in any way. For among the Egyptians, some people do not eat fish, and that is not done to honor Derketo." <ref>Lucian of Samosata, De Dea Syria Part 2, Chapter 14</ref>
[edit] Other
Among the Neo-Taíno nations of the Caribbean the mermaid is called Aycayía<ref>http://www.conexioncubana.net/tradiciones/diccionario/a.htm</ref> Her attributes relate to the goddess Jagua, and the hibiscus flower of the majagua tree Hibiscus tiliaceous.<ref>http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/hibiscus_tiliaceus.htm</ref> Examples from other cultures are the Mami Wata of West Africa, the Jengu of Cameroon, the Merrow of Ireland and Scotland, the Rusulki of Russia, and the Greek Oceanids, Nereids, and Naiads. One freshwater mermaid-like creature from European folklore is Melusine, who is sometimes depicted with two fish tails, and other times with the lower body of a serpent. It is said in Japan that eating the flesh of a mermaid can grant unaging immortality. In some European legends mermaids are said to grant wishes.
[edit] Entertainment
[edit] Literature
Mermaids are one of the most famous creatures of popular culture, and are depicted regularly in literature and film. This is likely due to the influence of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Little Mermaid (1836), which has been translated into many languages. Andersen's portrayal, immortalized with a famous bronze sculpture in Copenhagen harbour, has arguably become the standard and has influenced most modern Western depictions of mermaids since it was published. The story has been retold in other films and television programs, and regularly features in collections of fairytales. It has been adapted into various media, the most famous of which is the 1989 Disney movie of the same name.
L. Frank Baum (creator of Oz) wrote a novel about merfolk, The Sea Fairies.
Mermaids appear in the Peter Pan novel and in adaptations of it (such as the film Hook) and the Harry Potter series, specifically in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The comic book superhero Superman had a romantic love interest with a mermaid named Lori Lemaris. The name Lori Lemaris was probably drawn from Lorelei rock in the Rhine added to maris, from the Latin mare, meaning ocean.
Aquamarine, a novel by Alice Hoffman, is about two 12 year old girls who discover a sassy teenage mermaid. The novel was popular among teen and preteen girls. The novel was made in to a film released in 2006 by Twentieth Century Fox and starred Sara Paxton, Emma Roberts and JoJo.
Mermaids are also fictional creatures in Dungeons & Dragons games. They are the females of the merfolk race. The males are known as mermen.
[edit] Movies
Miranda (1948), starring Glynis Johns, is another popular film to feature a mermaid. This film was followed by a sequel, Mad About Men (1954).
She Creature (2001) featured a villainous mermaid who seemed to have a taste for human flesh and lesbian tendencies.
In Splash (1984), starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks, Hannah played a mermaid who fell in love with a man. She could walk dry land as a human female, but whenever water touched her legs they changed into a fish-tail. Much of the movie revolves around her humorous attempts to conceal her true identity from her lover. A made-for-television sequel, Splash, Too<ref>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096159/</ref> followed in 1988. It starred Amy Yasbeck and Todd Waring.
In Local Hero (1984), Marina (Jenny Seagrove) is suspected by her love interest of being a mermaid.
Maddogz Productions produced the 2006 short film "Heart's Atlantis" which features a beautiful mermaid. It tells the story of a grieving young boy who finds solitude in a mermaid in his backyard pool. Hannahh Fraser plays the mermaid, with Sam Wallis and Ty Hungerford also starring in the film. The tail in the film was created by H2O Just Add Water and Aquamarine prosthetic designer Jason Baird of JMB FX Studio.
[edit] Television
The television show Fantasy Island had a mermaid character named Naia, played by Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas in three episodes.
In the Futurama episode The Deep South, the crew encounters Mermaids who inhabit the fabled lost city of Atlanta in the year 3000. The concept of mermaids not having the same reproductive functions as humans in the show is a reference to the mermaid problem.
In 1991, manga artist Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Ranma 1/2, created a three-volume horror manga series called Mermaid Saga, which was based on the Japanese myth that eating mermaid's flesh can grant immortality.
Animé Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and its sequel, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure focuses on mermaid princess and their adventures in the human world trying to protect both land and sea creatures.
In 2003 the television movie Mermaids was released. This TV movie starred Sarah Laine, Nikita Ager, and Australian model Erika Heynatz as a trio of mermaid sisters who band together to avenge their father's death.
Marina was a 2004 TV show from the Philippines which starred Teleserye Queen (as the mermaid Marina) and Filipino superstar Claudine Barretto. It was the first fantasy teleserye on ABS-CBN and became very popular. It first aired in February and ended in November.
In 2004, The Backyardigans was a chapter (Viking Voyage) where Tasha was a mermaid, and she sings "The Mermaid Song", inspired in the song "The Yellow Rose Of Texas".
Australian television series, H2O: Just Add Water (2006), involves 3 teenage girls who, after encountering a mysterious island grotto, transform into mermaids whenever water touches any part of their bodies.In Power Rangers Mystic Force, the Blue Ranger turns into the Mermaid Titan. This is based upon MagiMermaid, the Majin form of MagiBlue in Mahō Sentai Magiranger
In 2006, NBC's soap opera Passions added a mermaid character named Siren, brought to life by the toddler witch Endora to keep her half-brother's fiance from leaving him.
[edit] Hoaxes
In the 19th century, P. T. Barnum displayed in his museum a taxidermal hoax called the Feejee [sic] Mermaid. Others have perpetrated similar hoaxes, which are usually papier-mâché fabrications or parts of deceased creatures, usually monkeys and fish, stitched together for the appearance of a grotesque mermaid. In the wake of the 2004 tsunami, pictures of Fiji "mermaids" were passed around on the internet as something that had washed up amid the devastation, though they were no more real than Barnum's exhibit.<ref>http://www.snopes.com/photos/tsunami/mermaid.asp</ref>
[edit] Artwork
Perhaps one of the most famous mermaid paintings in the world was created by John William Waterhouse, painted from 1895 to 1905, entitled A Mermaid, (see the top of this article). An example of late British Academy style artwork, the piece debuted to considerable acclaim (and secured Waterhouse's place as a member of the Royal Academy), but disappeared into a private collection and didn't resurface until the 1970s. It is currently in the collection of Andrew Lloyd Weber.
[edit] Advertising
A cartoon mermaid (seen at left) is the mascot for the Chicken of the Sea brand of tuna.
The Starbucks Coffee logo is a picture of a two tailed mermaid in ever increasing close-up.
[edit] Heraldry
In heraldry, the charge of a mermaid is commonly represented with a comb and a mirror, and blazoned as a 'mermaid in her vanity.' Merfolk were used to symbolize eloquence in speech.
A shield and sword-wielding mermaid (Syrenka) is on the official Coat of Arms of Warsaw, the capital of Poland.
The personal coat of arms of Michaëlle Jean, Canada's Governor General, features two Simbi, mermaid-like spirits from Haitian vodun, as supporters.
[edit] Sirenomelia
Sirenomelia, also called "mermaid syndrome", is a rare congenital disorder in which a child is born with his or her legs fused together and the genitalia reduced. This condition is about as rare as conjoined twins and is usually fatal within a day or two of birth because of kidney and bladder complications, though there are three known survivors of this disorder alive today.
[edit] See also
- Merman
- Mermaid Series
- Mermaid Problem
- Rusalka
- Weeki Wachee Springs Tourist resort famous for its underwater "mermaid" show.
- Aquamarine
- Mermaids (2003 television movie)
- The Little Mermaid
- Splash
- Splash, Too
- Nix
- Melusine
- MeduSirena "Mermaid" performs underwater at the Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale.
in the philipines the mermaids called(serina).in visayan it called also (serina).
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- Beautiful Mermaid Art Collections of mermaid art, folk tales and myths.
- Mermaids on the Web annotated directory of 400 websites and 1,250 images
- "The Mermaid" by Heinz Insu Fenkl, from the mermaid-themed Summer 2003 issue of the Journal of Mythic Arts
- The mermaid goddess Derketo from Lucian of Samosata's On the Syrian God (2c. AD)
- Coney Island Mermaid Parade mermaids on parade
- Mermaid picture hoaxda:Havfrue
de:Meerjungfrau es:Sirena eo:Sireno (mitologio) fa:پری دریایی fo:Havfrúgv fr:Sirène (mythologie) ga:Maighdean mhara gd:Maighdean-mhara id:Ikan duyung he:בת ים (מיתולוגיה) nl:Zeemeermin ja:人魚 no:Havfrue pl:Syrena (mitologia) ru:Русалка fi:Merenneito sv:Sjöjungfru th:เงือก zh:美人魚
