The History of Mermaids
The word mermaid came from the compound of the Old English word 'mere' meaning the sea, and maid meaning a girl or young woman.
The mermaid or mermen are legendary aquatic creatures that consist of an upper body of a female/male human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids or Mermen appeared in the legends,of many cultures around the world. This including The Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. The most easiest legend appeared in ancient Kingdom of Assyria. In this legend, the goddess Atargatis transformed herself into a mermaid due to the shame for accidentally killing her human lover. In the Greek Mythology, these mythical creatures are called Sirens or Sirenia. Sirens were thought to be the cause of drownings, shipwrecks, floods or storms. Many people also depicted this mythical creature as beautiful women, with a shining fish tail. In the Greek mythology, people believed that Sirens 'lure' their prey (which is men) in to their song of death and despair, which these men would never escape alive. In the western world, mermaid were thought to be associate with the power of death, music, storms, water and beauty. The mermaid were depicted as graceful creatures (before they finish their song of doom) who lived in the depts of the sea. According to the Greek Legend, the mermaids are calm creatures who turned very violent after 'song'. This is because these creatures needed a source of 'power' as an additional to their strength. |