Mermaid Day- 29th
For many, mermaids are a myth. Although, they are often called sirens, and have many myths and legends about them, sailors in the middle of the sea may lay claim to hearing or seeing one. So what exactly is a mermaid and what are some stories we should know about?
One of the earliest mermaid legends appeared in Syria around 1000 BC when the goddess Atargatis dove into a lake to take the form of a fish. As the gods there would not allow her to give up her great beauty, only her bottom half became a fish, and she kept her top half in human form. Archaeologists have found Atargatis' figures on ancient temples, statues, and coins.
Many folktales record marriages between mermaids (who might assume human form) and men. In most, the man steals the mermaid’s cap or belt, her comb, or mirror. While the objects are hidden she lives with him; if she finds them she returns at once to the sea. In some variants, the marriage lasts while certain agreed-upon conditions are fulfilled, and it ends when the conditions are broken.
Mermaid mythology is quite varied, with mermaids taking on many different appearances, origins, and personalities. The first recorded half-fish, half-human creature is Oannes, a Babylonian god from the 4th century BCE who would leave the sea every day and return at night. Though the ancient Greek sirens, who lured sailors to their deaths in Homer's Odyssey, were originally described as having bird bodies, they are often portrayed as fish-tailed mermaids—so frequently that variations on the word “siren” mean mermaid in many languages.
Information gathered from Royal Museums-Greenwich, Britannica, Smithsonian- Ocean.