Mermaids in Folklore

For thousands of years, mermaids have been part of our imaginary collective. As in the case of dragons, mermaids are present in almost every culture that has appeared on our planet. From the Far East to the jungles of South America, legends of strange man-fish creatures have always existed.

Sounds incredible, isn’t it? Some may even think that is the basis for stating that mermaids did exist. The truth is that a mermaid is nothing but a manifestation of our subconscious, as might be demonstrated in this mermaid and sea turtle art by Neil Shaw. This was demonstrated by Joseph John Campbell, who found that almost every culture in Earth shared common concepts.

Before Campbell, some archeologists interpreted this as the evidence of a huge, planet-linking civilization that broke up thousands of years ago, maybe during a cataclysm we no longer remember. However, Campbell demonstrated that unrelated cultures had similar patters.

That’s why a concept like the hero who learns from the ancients and finds the path to enlightenment is quite common in all civilizations. The same thing happens with a creature like a mermaid.

So let’s go back thousands of years into the past, before the appearance of electricity, industrial machines and gunpowder. A time when humanity was spreading through Earth and learning that the world was a very complex place.

So complex, that each culture had to find ways to explain its complexity. That’s how mysticism, religion, myths and legends came to be. That's how mermaids appeared in our lives.

A mermaid in our history

The first known mermaid belongs to the Assyrians. According to their legends, Atargatis was a goddess who, ashamed of killing the man she loved, transformed into a mermaid and hid herself in the profundities of the sea.

The Persian Empire, which lasted for hundreds of years until the arrival of Alexander the Great, also had stories regarding mermaids. The most famous one is “The King of Persia and the Princess of the Sea.”

Even Alexander the Great has a story regarding mermaids. It is said that after his death, his sister transformed into a mermaid. If a sailor encountered her, he had to tell her that Alexander was still a king. Otherwise, the mermaid would transform into a horrible monster and kill everyone.

The new continent doesn't escape from mermaids, either. The tribes and nations that lived in the Caribbean had tales regarding mermaids. The same thing happens with tribes living in the Amazon jungle.

If we return to the west, we find that Africa has mermaids of its own. Some of the cultures that mention mermaids in their mythology are the Xhosa, the Bhaca, the Zulu and the Ila. Although all of the mermaids that have been mentioned may vary in size and intentions, the fact is that they exist in mythologies through out the world.

The mermaid of our days

Some people may think there is no room for fantasy these days. That the last mermaids we remember are “The Little Mermaid” (Disney’s movie was based on a fiery tale written in the 19^th century) or Daryl Hannah in the 1980’s movie hit, “Splash” with Tom Hanks. The truth is that mermaids haven't gone away; they are still here, with us.

Art has become the method through which we communicate with this world of fantasy and dreams. It may be in the form of a book, a movie or a painting; mermaids are all around us.

A famous painting regarding mermaids is “The Fisherman and the Syren”, by Frederic Leighton. Painted in the 19^th century, it depicts the eternal attraction between seamen and mermaids. Most of the cases, a painting with a mermaid is related to this relationship. Very few relate to the relationship between a mermaid and its environment.

That’s what can be seen in this painting. The artist wanted to give a different approach to mermaids: how a mermaid interacted with an animal, a sea turtle in this case.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if mermaids existed? Mermaids would be the shepherds of the sea; taking care of sea creatures through out the world, assuring that they live in a safe, natural environment.

Alas, that is not the case. Maybe in the future, when we travel to the stars, we may find conscious beings that emulate our legends of old. Maybe then we will value the importance of our mythology and our capacity for imagination.