Mermaids 101
written by Sophia Greengrass-Black
I TAKE NO CREDIT
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
4
Reads
655
Mermaid facts
Chapter 1
THE NAME “MERMAID” LITERALLY MEANS WOMAN OF THE SEA
The Old English word “Mer” simply meant “of the sea.” So combining the Mer (meaning sea) and maid (meaning woman) the result is women of the sea. Makes perfect sense!
The first mermaid or half-human recordings come from ancient Syria, with a woman name was Atargatis. She was a beautiful and powerful priestess who fell in love with a human shepherd boy. He, simply being mortal, did not survive her divine lovemaking and died. She became pregnant with his baby and soon became distraught and remorseful. After the birth of a baby girl Semiranis on the shore, she threw herself into the ocean to drown. Her beauty was so great that the Gods did not let her die, but changed her into a Mermaid with the upper body of a woman, and lower body of a fish.
In the Greek mythology tale “The Iliad,” Odysseus asked his crew to tie him to the ship’s mast to prevent him from falling in love with a mermaid and drowning himself in the sea. These mermaids were not only deadly and vicious, but they also had feathers and could fly! These mythical creatures later transformed into the siren-esque mermaids that lure men to their deaths that we know today.
There is a good chance that lonely sailors mistook mermaids for manatees. Some accounts say that Christopher Columbus was seeing manatees rather than mermaids and even mistook a manatee skeleton for a mermaid. Did the sailors who were enchanted by the sea expect to see a mermaid, and when something resembled a maiden with a fishtail, it fit the bill? Or were these sailors really experts and have an accurate account of what they saw. We know only 5% of the ocean has been explored, so you be the judge.
The Old English word “Mer” simply meant “of the sea.” So combining the Mer (meaning sea) and maid (meaning woman) the result is women of the sea. Makes perfect sense!
The first mermaid or half-human recordings come from ancient Syria, with a woman name was Atargatis. She was a beautiful and powerful priestess who fell in love with a human shepherd boy. He, simply being mortal, did not survive her divine lovemaking and died. She became pregnant with his baby and soon became distraught and remorseful. After the birth of a baby girl Semiranis on the shore, she threw herself into the ocean to drown. Her beauty was so great that the Gods did not let her die, but changed her into a Mermaid with the upper body of a woman, and lower body of a fish.
In the Greek mythology tale “The Iliad,” Odysseus asked his crew to tie him to the ship’s mast to prevent him from falling in love with a mermaid and drowning himself in the sea. These mermaids were not only deadly and vicious, but they also had feathers and could fly! These mythical creatures later transformed into the siren-esque mermaids that lure men to their deaths that we know today.
There is a good chance that lonely sailors mistook mermaids for manatees. Some accounts say that Christopher Columbus was seeing manatees rather than mermaids and even mistook a manatee skeleton for a mermaid. Did the sailors who were enchanted by the sea expect to see a mermaid, and when something resembled a maiden with a fishtail, it fit the bill? Or were these sailors really experts and have an accurate account of what they saw. We know only 5% of the ocean has been explored, so you be the judge.
