mermaids

mermaids, mythological denizens of the sea, half human and half fish, have a history dating back into antiquity. It is generally believed there is a connection between the apsaras of Hindu mythology and the nymphs of the Greek legends. These last, together with Oceanids, Nereids, naiads, and sirens, were believed to inhabit streams, lakes, and the sea. In the 3rd century bc the Greek historian Megasthenes, ambassador of Seleucus I to the Indian king Sandrocottus, reported that a creature like a woman inhabited the seas round Sri Lanka. Pliny the Elder (23 bc–ad 37) says in his Historia Naturalis, ‘Nor are we to disbelieve the stories told of Nereids … Several distinguished persons of Equestrian rank have assured me that they themselves have seen off the coast of Gades [Cadiz] a merman whose body was of human form.’

In 1187 a merman is said to have been taken off the coast of Suffolk, but he managed to escape. The Swiss physician Paracelsus (1493–1541) tells of mermaids ‘who woo men to make them industrious and home-like’, but he found mermen less friendly. This accords with the Norwegian belief that mermen were oldish with black beards and hair, whereas mermaids were young and attractive with golden hair. Icelandic mermaids were full of mischief and fond of playing tricks on fishermen.

Tales of mermaids come from all parts of the world. In 1825, one said to have been brought from Japan was exhibited at the Bartholomew's Fair, London, but on inspection she was found to be a woman with a fish's tail stitched to her skin. Although many of the legends concerning mermen and mermaids have their origin in mythology, the reported encounters with these supernatural beings are sometimes too circumstantial to be dismissed as mere hallucinations. The explanation doubtless lies in the existence of two marine mammals, the manatee and the dugong, both of which bear a passable resemblance to the human face. The attitude of the female dugong when suckling her young takes on a particularly human appearance. Further, the plaintive cries of seals and sea lions have often been likened to those of human children. There is, in fact, ample natural evidence to support the mermaid mythology.