When you hear the word Mermaid, the first thing that comes to mind is, a beautiful, majestic creature that’s half human, half fish. The first picture that would pop into my mind would be that of Ariel (The Little Mermaid). This may not be the first image that everyone sees when they hear the word mermaid, for that beautiful creature flows into the mind differently for everyone.

Mermaids are creatures from mythology, they are half human and half fish, their bottom portion could easily resemble a fish tail or a dolphin tail. Mermaids are said to have a trance-like spell when they sing. Sailors have told many stories through the ages about how mermaids would sing to people and enchant them with their song, making them become distracted and walk right off the boat. There have also been stories of mermaids squeezing the life out of men who were drowning, while trying to rescue them.

Mermaids are depicted in may ways, throughout all different cultures. It is said that the first known stories about mermaids came from Assyria, 1000 BC. It goes that an Assyrian goddess named Atargatis was in love with a mortal Shepard, she was so in love that she killed him, after that she felt ashamed so she jumped in a lake to take the form of a fish. The waters would not hide her divine beauty, so sh took the form of a mermaid, from head to waist human, waist and below fish.

According to the legends, the, mermaid would fall in love with a mortal, if he was to accept her love then he would be dragged down to the bottom and drown. Every story changes, so in some cases it’s because of malice that the mermaid would drown him or because they forget that mortals cannot breath underwater. The truth is whether the man would accept or reject her love he will die anyway.

There have been many poems, stories and art work depicting these beautiful creatures of myth. Here is an example of a poem that was brought on by these beautiful creatures. There is a story in Nigeria, it’s called “The Young Boy.”

It’s about a boy who was taking a bath in the river when a storm came and washed him out to sea, then he was taken by a mermaid who took him to her home.

“Do you eat fish?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

“Do you eat beef?”

“No.”

“Do you eat mutton or pork?”

“Neither.”

Luckily for the boy he answered correctly, for if he would have answered yes to any of the questions, the mermaid would have killed him because her body was made out of all of those things. Since he answered no, she brought him to the surface, where he was found and brought back to his home.

There are many stories, and all are different but the thing that remains is that mermaids are beautiful siren like creatures with the powers to turn any mortal into a trance like state. The fact is mermaids are mystical and mythological creatures that has fascinated us for thousands of years, and continues to do so today.