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Legend and mythImage:John Collier - The Land Baby.jpg The Land Baby, by John Collier(1899) Legends of these half-human, half-fish humanoids have circulated for millennia, even as far back as 5,000 B.C.[1] It has been widely suggested or implied 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. Sightings from first-hand witnesses generally describe mermaids who do not talk at all, who have green, black, brown, and blonde hair and who have a bottom half of a fish, they are also said to be sighted when Scuba Diving, rarely seen in rivers.[2] Ancient Near East
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.[1] 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:
Arabian Nights
BritishImage:Leighton-The Fisherman and the Syren-c. 1856-1858.jpg The Fisherman and the Syren, by Frederic Leighton, c. 1856–1858 Mermaids were noted in British folklore as both ominous, foretelling disaster, and provoking it. Some were described as monstrous in size, up to 160 feet.[3] Mermaids could also swim up rivers to freshwater lakes. One day, in a lake near his house, the Laird of Lorntie saw, as he thought, a woman drowning, and went to aid her; a servant of his pulled him back, warning that it was a mermaid, and the mermaid screamed after that she would have killed him if it were not for his servant.[4] On occasion, mermaids could be more beneficient, giving humans means of cure.[5] Some tales raised the question of whether mermaids had immortal souls to answer it in the negative.[6] The figure of Liban appears as a sanctified mermaid, but she was originally a human being transformed into a mermaid; after three centuries, when Christianity had come to Ireland, she came to be baptized.[7] Mermen were also noted, as wilder and uglier than mermaids, but they were described as having little interest in humans.[8] OtherAmong the Neo-Taíno nations of the Caribbean the mermaid is called Aycayía.[9] Her attributes relate to the goddess Jagua, and the hibiscus flower of the majagua tree Hibiscus tiliaceus.[10] Examples from other cultures are the Mami Wata of West and Central Africa, the Jengu of Cameroon, the Merrow of Ireland and Scotland, the Russalki of Russia and Ukraine, 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. Also, some people claim they have seen dead or living mermaids in places like Scotland, Malaysia and British Columbia. Two most recent Canadian sightings took place in the Straight of Georgia. [3], [4] It is rumored amongst some of the "Cape Coloured" communities of South Africa that mermaids are found in the Little Karoo. Some older Cape Coloureds claim to have seen mermaids in fresh water pools during their childhood. Whilst the Little Karoo is a very dry area, pre-hisotically it formed a part of an ocean which is substantiated by evidence such as fossiled shells in the area. The story of mermaids has been orally passed down through an unknown number of generations. It is thought that some local bushman rock art depicted at approximately 11 rock art sites around the Little Karoo illustrates the existence of mermaids. Other explanations are that the rock paintings illustrate a bird called a swallow with the figure of a human head. This illustration represents the outer body experience of spiritual men during spiritual ceremonies undertaken to conjure up rain. Since the Cape Coloured community stems from a mixture of white settlers and local indigenous tribes such as the Khoi and San, it is thought that the story of mermaids was brought with the white settlers and misinterpreted is this rock art. EntertainmentLiteratureMermaids 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. Later, in The Scarecrow of Oz, the same characters are rescued from danger by the mermaids. T.S. Eliot, in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", uses the metaphor of mermaids to emphasis Prufock's plight: I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. 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. Many mermaids appear in works of fantasy fiction, including Poul Anderson's The Merman's Children.[11] One of the stories embedded in L. Sprague de Camp's The Goblin Tower, as being told by the book's story-telling protagonist Jorian, is about a human king who fell in love with a mermaid. The story tells with hilarious detail of the couple's difficult efforts to physically consummate their love, which nearly ends in disaster (he nearly drowns in trying to have sex underwater, and she is nearly killed by his bodyguards in revenge). In the end, the king marries a human woman, though keeping a platonic friendship with the mermaid. In the comic book series, Tales to Astonish, in issue #4 (July 1959), the 4-page story "I Love a Mermaid!" presented a sailor falling in love with a mermaid named Alethea. By story's end, the sailor turned out to be a lost merman who found his true home with Alethea at his side. 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. One may also note that she has the initials L.L. the same as several of Superman's other love interests like Lois Lane and Lana Lang In the forth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry encounters a community of Merfolk living beneath the surface of the Hogwarts grounds lake. The lake would appear to be a saltwater lake, since a Giant Squid lives in it as well. In this novel, Merfolk are regarded as being comprised of both male and female individuals. They are portrayed as having green hair and skin, and yellow, mossy teeth. The Merfolk observe his attempt at the second Task, which is to rescue the thing he holds most dear from the merfolk. That 'thing' is, in fact, his best friend Ron Weasely. When it becomes clear that one of the other Champions is not going to come to rescue her similarly bound younger sister, he takes her as well and brings them to the surface of the lake. While the Merfolk are portrayed as being rather wild and menacing, they are ultimately accommodating and fair, telling Professor Dumbledore of Harry's bravery in their lake. Similar to other humanoid magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe, they do not wield or understand magic themselves. Aquamarine, a novel by Alice Hoffman, is about two 13 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. In the book "The Tail of Emily Windsnap", Emily takes a swimming class and discovers her tail. She goes out looking for her dad and convinces King Neptune that humans and merfolk can live together. As with many other mythological creatures, mermaids appear in Dungeons & Dragons games (see Merfolk (Dungeons & Dragons)). J.K. Rowling wrote a special book for Comic Relief entitled "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" which contains information on magical creatures in the Harry Potter world including mermaids. They are described as having three different species such as Sirens, Selkies and Merrows. The Selkies are the ones that appear in the fourth book. Film
Image:Mermaidtwo.jpg Madison, the mermaid from the movie Splash.
MusicMermaids have long been associated with music, and much like that of Orpheus, the power of their singing voices had the ability to enthrall.[citation needed] Along with their legendary vanity, the hair-combing and mirrors, the association of mermaids with music is coupled with another association of a vocal nature: they are said to be able to confer verbal eloquence, much like the Muses of the ancient Greek myths.[citation needed] Television
HoaxesIn 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.[13] ArtworkPerhaps 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 did not resurface until the 1970s. It is currently in the collection of Andrew Lloyd Weber. HeraldryImage:POL Warszawa COA 1.svg Coat of arms of Warsaw 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 city of Norfolk, Virginia also uses a mermaid as a symbol, and a civic art project with variously decorated mermaid sculptures has been displayed all over the municipal area. The personal coat of arms of Michaëlle Jean, Canada's Governor General, features two Simbi, mermaid-like spirits from Haitian vodun, as supporters. AdvertisingA cartoon mermaid (seen at left) is the mascot for the Chicken of the Sea brand of tuna. The Starbucks Coffee logo is not a mermaid, but a mixoparthenos, a creature with a maiden's torso ending in two snake tails. SirenomeliaSirenomelia, 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. Two survivors are known to be alive today, after receiving operations to separate their legs. SymbolismAccording to Dorothy Dinnerstein’s book, The Mermaid and the Minotaur, human-animal hybrids such as the minotaur and the mermaid convey the emergent understanding of the ancients that human beings were both one with and different from animals and that, as such, humans' "nature is internally inconsistent, that our continuities with, and our differences from, the earth's other animals are mysterious and profound; and in these continuities, and these differences, lie both a sense of strangeness on earth and the possible key to a way of feeling at home here".[14] See also
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