Mermaids

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Almost everyone must have enjoyed the cartoon 'The Little Mermaid' based on Hans Christian Anderson's popular children's story or read about tales of mermaids during our childhood. Portrayed as a half fish and half woman, the mermaid had always remained as a mystery and a symbol of unlimitedbeauty.

The legend of mermaids and mermen goes back to many decades. It was a time when men worshiped gods dating back to as far as eighth century BC. One of the earliest records, a painting at the Louvre, shows that the Babylonians worshipped a sea-god named Oannes or Ea. They believed that he rose from the Erythrean Sea and taught man arts and science.

The Syrians and the Philistines too worshiped a Semitic mermaid moon-goddess. She was known as Atargatis to the Syrians while the Philistines called her Derceto. According to the legends Atargatis killed her lover because her child, Semiramis, was a normal human. She abandoned the baby in the shores she returned to the sea and took the whole form of a fish.

The Greeks and romans were among the first to record details about merfolk. Two of their main gods, Poseidon and Neptune, were often shown as half man and half fish. Triton, the messenger of the sea and the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, is another powerful example that mermen were prominent figures in the lives of our ancestors. Statues depict Triton usually accompanied by a twisted conch shell which he blew to calm or raise the waves.

Tales of mermaids falling in love with handsome men are common. Mush, like a genie, she will grant you a wish if you free a mermaid, but if you anger her she will seek vengeance by destroying your property sending tidal waves. Mermaids have been sighted by fishermen, sailors or those who dwell by the ocean. Some stories are quite convincing while others are a little vague. However they have a magnetic effect on the listeners which makes them pause and listen to the tale. Mermaids have been a strong symbolin literature as well and have been used as metaphors by great writers like William Shakespeare and Chaucer.

Today the mermaid and merman is a part of folklore linked with fantasy rather than a reality. Pictures and tales portray the mermaid with long hair and blue eyes, basking on a rock, combing her hair and looking into a hand mirror . They are often linked with music and has a musical instrumentlike a lyre in their hands.

Their beautiful singing voice is known to lure men into their watery grave. Such stories paints a sketch of mermaids as a figure of eroticism engulfed in mystery.

This mythical creature which had sprung out of imagination never cease to enchant the young and the old for centuries to come.Picture:allegedlylegit.files.wordpress.com and imagesdisney.comCaption Mermaids depicted in art A scene from 'The Little Mermaid'