10. The Ancient Origins of These Magical Sea Creatures
Sea creatures that are part human and part fish have long existed in the mythology of many cultures. One of the earliest mermaid legends, from around 1000 BC, is about a Syrian goddess who dove into the bottom of a lake to become a fish. Her divine beauty could not be erased, however, and only her bottom half was transformed. Sub-Saharan Africa has tales of the Mami Wata, benevolent water creatures that ward off evil and offer wisdom and beauty. In East Asian lore, mermaids were the wives of sea dragons. In Western mythology, mermaids have human torsos and fish tail, and often possess prophetic and supernatural powers.
The depiction of mermaids in Western cultures as beautiful creatures who sometimes seduce humans with song goes back to ancient Greek sirens. Ancient Greek sirens were half bird, but in the Christian era, they came to be depicted as half fish. Western mermaid folktales often revolve around their marriage to humans, usually after a man steals and hides something she values. She stays with him so long as the object is hidden, but immediately returns to the sea if she finds it. Other human-mermaid marriage stories revolve around the fulfillment of certain conditions, with the marriage’s termination and the mermaid’s return to the sea if the conditions are broken.