One of the most famous legends around the world, are the legends of mermaids. These mythological creatures have been part of the folklore of various countries since ancient times and this is how we can find many versions that relate their existence in a mixture of myth and reality, attributing supernatural powers ranging from healing abilities or granting wishes to an irresistible voice . with which they attracted sailors.
However, nobody knows exactly what their origin was, but it is believed that it was the sailors who created mermaid legends, since in many of their travel stories they mention these beautiful sea maidens. Although the surprising thing about these stories is that despite coming from different parts of the world, they usually have many similarities. What makes us wonder, do mermaids really exist?
Although most of the dictionaries and related bibliography currently describe the mermaid as a beautiful half-woman, half-fish creature, originally the best-known versions that come from Egyptian mythology do not describe them as such. They are said to be similar beings to the force called Ba, a hybrid with a human head and torso, but with its lower bird part that used to inhabit a rocky island.
As in Greek mythology, it also says that they are half-bird women, but one of the mermaid legends says that they are the daughters of Achelous (god of the river) and Melpomene (a muse of harmony and modernly of tragedy). Other versions say that they could have come from Acheloos and Sterope; and also a version exists where they relate that they come from the blood of Acheloos. But in which all the versions coincide, it is that in all they talk about his beautiful voice and his musical prowess.
But as you can imagine, there are other mermaid legends around the world that we invite you to discover below:
Law in Syria
The first of the mermaid legends take us back to ancient Syria 1000 years BC and the fact of representing them as we currently do is due to the legend of Derceto. Who is said to have been the first known siren legend in the world. The story relates that she was not born a mermaid, but she was a powerful priestess who offended the goddess Venus (Goddess of love) and in revenge inspired love for a pastor named Caistro. From this love a girl named Semiranis was born. But Venus decided to change the love she had for Caistro. In this way he abandoned his daughter and decided to kill the man he had loved. Ready to commit suicide for what she had done, she threw herself into the sea, but the gods did not allow her to die and turned her into a mermaid.
The Ningyo in Japan
It is a dark story, which is about a monster with the body of a fish, the face of a human, but with a monkey’s mouth and teeth equal to those of a fish. It has golden scales and emits a soft sound, pleasant to human ears. Some of the myths tell that if they catch and eat the Ningyo they can have eternal youth; others say that trying to catch the Ningyo can unleash storms on the villages forever. If the creature was not hunted and was on the shore of the beach it was a sign that wars were coming.
They say that a fisherman brought a strange fish to his house to cook it and invited his friends to eat with him. One of his guests peeked into the kitchen and observed the beast that had the face of a person, for this reason he went away scared and warned everyone not to taste the meat. So it was when the feast was given. One of the drunk men arrives at his house and gives the meat that his daughter de el did not eat, the little girl calmly consumed it. When the man regained his sanity, he remembered what had been said to him, but it was too late.
Since then the father was afraid of what could happen to his daughter, however, the little girl grew up as a healthy and beautiful young lady, who even married. The strange thing was that since then she did not age anymore, her husband de ella deteriorated over the years and she remained young. Sometime after she became a widow, she fell in love again and remarried, but she kept repeating the same thing, still young and widowed over the years. One day she decided to become a priestess and travel the entire planet; upon returning to her village de ella, the woman dies at least 800 years old.
The Mermaid in Guam
Legend has it that a magical family existed a long time ago, what they wanted was always fulfilled. In a few years a baby was born named Sirena, while growing up her passion de ella was swimming, for this reason she was always playing in the city river. One day her mother asked her to do an errand, but the young woman forgot and continued in the river, the mother seeing that time passed and her daughter did nothing, annoying desire that she become a fish, but the grandmother who was with the mother I try to counteract the desire saying: that a part of her remains human. And so it was Sirena transformed, scared she wanted to go home but her body would not let her.
The grandmother rebuked the mother for what she had done, and although this attempt to reverse what she did, it did not work. Her sad daughter says goodbye as she enters the water never to return.
Melusine in France
This is one of the mermaid legends that comes from medieval Europe and places us in the story of a woman with a serpentine tail and in some versions they bring wings. Legend has it that King Elynas went hunting one day, where he met a beautiful maiden with whom he fell in love. It turns out that the young woman was a fairy and the king insisted that she marry him. Although she accepted, on the condition that if they had a baby they could not leave the house or be bathed, since the union of a mystical creature and a human is dangerous. Sometime after the king accepted, the fairy conceived two girls, Melusina, Melior and Palestine. It was not long after the man failed to comply with the deal, this was the reason for the fairy to leave his side of him.
When the girls became young ladies, they asked their mother, why didn’t they grow up with their father? the fairy tells them and the young women were enraged, to the point of looking for their father and locking him in a cave. The mother was angered by the lack of respect and punishment for both, but Melusina fell with the curse that every Saturday she would appear in queues. Another story of Melusina, relates that she married a young man, to whom, the girl put the condition of not entering the room on Saturdays, it turns out that one day, the husband breaks the promise and observes the appearance of the hybrid, despite It the mermaid forgive him.
This mermaid from French legend, they say is connected to the royalty of Lusignan, according to them, they are descendants of the fairy. Even the most recognized brands such as the Starbucks coffee brand carry it as a logo.
Lara in Brazil
In South America you will find the beautiful, mysterious and dangerous jungle of the Brazilian Amazon, characteristics that also define Lara. It was formerly known as a water snake, but legends say it was a brown-skinned, green-eyed woman who liked to attract men who sailed to be her lovers and perhaps disappear them. Well, they say it is the culprit that many of them jumped into the water and did not return from the sea.
the legends of mermaids are curious, maybe they are not like in the movies we have seen, but they are still very interesting. What is your favourite? Do you think they really existed?