Mermaids

Real or just fantasy?

A mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish is considered to be a Mermaid. There is a male version that is known as a "Merman" and generally speaking, two or more are known as "Merfolk".

The first known mermaid story appeared in Assyria, as early as 1000 BC.

A popular Greek legend turns the sister of Alexander the Great into a Mermaid after she died.   She lived in the Mediterranean Sea and when she encountered a ship, she asked sailors on board only one question: "Is King Alexander alive?” to which the correct answer was: "He lives and reigns and conquers the world".  This answer pleased her so much she would then magically ensure calm waters and wish the ship and crew good sailing. Any other answer would force her into a fury which would result in a terrible storm, with certain doom for the ship and all the sailors on board.

In the common mermaid story, a mermaid falls in love with a mortal man, who may accept or reject her. If he accepts her, she may in turn drag him underwater, where he quite naturally drowns. Whether this is due to out right meanness on the part of the mermaid or perhaps that she is unaware that human mortals cannot live underwater changes from story to story.

Legends of the mermaid include everything from folk tales, to myths or poetry in modern times. But you can be sure that such stories that derive from such places as the Middle East, Africa or the Americas (for example) are actually thought to be much more than just legends by some people today.   

When the British or English mention Mermaids in their folklore stories, they are not treated with kindness. In fact they consider the mermaid to be a bad omen; a sure sign of an upcoming thunderstorm or hurricane, is best foretold by the sighting of a Mermaid.  In short, the seeing of a Mermaid meant death and destruction for all the sailors aboard an English ship or boat.

There have been several well documented historical sightings by such explorers as Christopher Columbus.  He reported sightings of Mermaids in his travel logs.  He wrote that he saw three (3) mermaids which were playing some type of game in the water. By his account, the mermaids were not as pleasing to the eye as ancient texts and literature had indicated them to be; further, he testified that they had a face that resembled a human but only one of the three had “distinctive” human like facial features.

Yet another sighting by Henry Hudson (1565-1611), the famous English explorer of the Hudson Bay area and beyond, also reported seeing a Mermaid along the coast of Russia, near the North Pole. He said that the Mermaid, after attracting the attention of the whole crew within his expedition boat, gazed solemnly upon all the sailors that had gathered  to have a better look-see. He reported that she had long, flowing black hair, white skin and the fully developed breasts of a woman.  However he made no mention of a terrible storm to follow the sighting as English lore would typically have it.

Then as recently as August 2009, an Israeli town off the Mediterranean Coast offered a prize of one million Dollars to anyone who could prove the existence of a Mermaid off its coast; it seems dozens of local citizens had reported seeing a mermaid leaping out of the water like a dolphin and doing aerial tricks, no less, before returning to the depths. Guess what?  The prize is yet to be awarded.

Historically, as sea goddesses of a sort, mermaids are said to inherit the sea's qualities. The sea can be gentle and nurturing or violent and deadly. These contradictory qualities are seen in mermaids to this day: both, beautiful and cruel; tender and loving as well as spiteful and destructive. It could be said that such qualities are nothing short of man kind’s view of Mother Nature. The Mermaid is truly a fantastic creature but may only be nature herself.

Sources …

http://www.beautiful-mermaid-art.com/legend-of-the-mermaid.html            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid                                                             http://www.mermaid.net/mermaid                       
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/h/hudson.shtml        http://www.mermaidscuba.com/mermaidimages2.shtml