Why Mermaid Statues Intrigue Us So Much

Man has always been mystified about mermaids and it is not surprising that he chooses to extend that mystery to his backyard, adorning the garden with enchanting mermaid statues and if a water feature exists, setting up a mermaid fountain statue that would send streams of delightful water into a pond or pool. The fact is mermaids have introduced a charming setting for man to adorn his garden with unique mermaid statues that may include dolphins statues as well and there are so many kinds of mermaid statues that you can show to enhance the visual outlook of your garden from small and large mermaid water fountains to mermaid fountain statues some of which are surrounded by other animals of the sea like the sea turtles, fishes and the friendly dolphins. While many homeowners may invest in tabletop bronze mermaid statues and mermaid figurines, there are many more who may consider setting up mermaid fountains in their courtyard which add to a unique symphony of music spread with the enchanting sounds of water trickling down mermaid sculptures that hold conch shells directing water from the fountain bowls into the receptacle down below.

So, how did the interest in mermaids grow so intensely over the centuries? Why has man been so profoundly enchanted with these mysterious creatures of the sea and how is it that when sightings are reported across the world, there seems to be the same perceived judgement about how mermaids look with half of their body being human and the other half being that of a fish tail. The belief that mermaids exist may be folklore but that existed way back during the time of the cavemen with 30,000 year old mermaid paintings found in red ink in a cave near Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape of Southern Africa, 40 miles from the ocean shore.

The Assyrian Civilization

Around 1000 BC, the land that was Assyria which was composed partly of present-day Syria and the northern part of Iraq, had a belief in mermaids. According to legend, Atargatis, also known as Aphrodite Derceto by the ancient Greeks, is the Syrian goddess of fertility, protection, and well-being, who jumped into a lake after accidentally killing a mortal shepherd she loved.  It was said she was so depressed that the divine lovemaking did not protect him that she turned herself into a mermaid. Some say that it was the Syrian Gods who turned her into a mermaid because her beauty was so renowned that they did not want her to perish. It was her immortality as a Goddess that saved her and Atargatis soon bore a child and became the mother of legendary Syrian Queen Semiramis, the child she beget with her shepherd lover. Her legend has inspired many mermaid stories in Greek and Roman cultures since.

Greek Civilization

The legend of Atargatis influenced Greek mythology giving birth to the story of Aphrodite Derceto. She was often identified with other goddesses, including Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love), Astarte (a Phoenician goddess of fertility and war), and Venus Urania (the Roman goddess of heavenly Venus). In particular, Greek mythology greatly expanded on the legend of mermaids and evolved to include the story of the Nereids, the Tritons, the oftentimes misunderstood Sirens and the story of Alexander the Great’s sister, Thessalonike.

The Nereids

In Greek mythology, the Nereids were the 50 sea nymphs or female spirits of the sea who were the daughters of Nereus, the “Old Man of the Sea” and Doris, the Oceanid. These sea nymphs with fish-like tails, were said to inhabit the Aegean Sea with their parents. These sea nymphs or Nereides were protectors of sailors and fishermen, coming to the aid of those in distress.

A prominent Nereid was Thetis, the mother of the Homeric hero Achilles, known to be the greatest of the Greek warriors during the Trojan war. The other was the Nereid Amphritite who won the heart of the Greek God Poseidon when she danced with her sisters on the Isle of Naxos. Their son Triton was a demigod and a merman who was often depicted with a conch which he used to calm or create waves. He is known to be Poseidon’s strongest supporter and had helped Jason and the Argonauts return to the sea. Triton inspired the story of mermaids and mermen, and children remember him as the father of Ariel in Disney’s famed The Little Mermaid movie.

The Sirens

There has been a lot of misinterpretations about the Sirens and what they looked like. According to Ancient Greek legends, the Sirens lived in the rocky islands in the western sea between Aegea and the rocks of Scylla, and possessed the body of a bird and the head of a woman. They sang beautifully that they led sailors to their death by drowning them and eating them. At some point in time, they lost their feathers and because they could no longer fly, they flung themselves into the sea where they were transformed into mermaids. In later years, the Romans saw the Sirens as sea nymphs, that is, women with fish-tails. The Sirens were believed to be daughters of the river god Achelous and were said to be extremely beautiful and seductive, but still equally deadly. The Greek and Roman mythologies on the Sirens were mixed with local myths, legends and beliefs in other cultures. Oftentimes, they were misinterpreted according to the local lore and seen as mermaids.

Thessalonike

Thessalonike was said to be the sister of Alexander the Great. Legend has it that Alexander recovered water from the Fountain of Immortality and washed her hair with the immortal liquid from the flask that he retrieved. When Alexander died, Thessalonike jumped into the sea to kill herself but she was instead turned into a mermaid. Legend has it that she roamed the Aegean Sea questioning sailors if Alexander lived. If they reassured her that he still lived and ruled, she would let them pass.   If they failed to reassure her, she turned into a Gorgon, a monster bent on sending them to the bottom of the sea. This

legend is immortalized on the Greek island of Thasos with a mermaid statue, on the base of which is a poem by the Greek poet Nikos Kazantzakis. The poem reads as follows:

It was not an island
It was a beast lying
on the sea
It was the Mermaid
The sister of Alexander the Great
Who mourned
and made the sea rough

European Folklore on Mermaids

The Scottish believe in the Ceasg (pronounced "kay-shug"), also known as the maid of the wave, which has the form of an attractive woman above the waist and the tail of a salmon. The Ceasg are said to live in the sea and freshwater rivers, and are known to grant wishes to those who capture them. Together with the Irish, the Scots also believed in the existence of the Merrow which are said to be human above the waist and with a fish tail below. The Merrow are believed to be kind and will inter-marry with humans taking the shape of humans while on land. While in the sea, the Merrow will wear a red cap which allows them to breathe underwater. If you take this cap away, it is said that they will stay with you on land. Other stories of mermaids can be found in the Isle of Man, the Faroe islands and in Mainland Europe.  There is one story in particular that concerns the Melusine or Melusina, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman with a fish or snake tail from the waist down, sometimes seen with wings or two tails. The story that has been told is that she married a human and told her husband never to enter her bathing chamber where once a week she would transform into a mermaid while taking a bath. He broke the vow and entered the bathing chamber only to see her mermaid form. The Melusine left him forever. There are many legends on her and one of the prevailing ones include the Count Siegfried of the Ardennes, who founded Luxembourg in the year 963, and who married the Melusina.  As in the other legends, she disappeared after he broke his promise not to see her in the bathing chamber as a mermaid and she left him forever. One legend deserving mention tells of Melusine marrying Prince Raymondin of Poitou, west-central France where she is said to form the royal house of Lusignan with the prince. This may be the origins for the Starbucks logo which shows what may be the Melusine wearing a crown with two fish tails.

In Germany, the legend of Undine revolves on a water spirit who is immortal but possessing no soul. The only way for her to get a soul was to marry a human and bear him a child. The legend tells that when she got the soul, she started to age and her husband becomes unfaithful to us. She then turns on him, cursing him and returns to the water. The story of Undine inspired a famous novella of her that was written in 1811 by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque and more recently, a 2020 German film by Christian Petzold. The fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1836, seems to have been inspired by the Undine myth. In the Disney version, she marries the prince and lives happily ever after but in the original story, the prince marries another woman and the little mermaid turns into sea foam and is rescued in the end as she is converted into a luminous spirit and becomes the daughter of the air. She is then joined by the other daughters who tell her that she has become like them because she strove to be immortal.

The Rusalka or Rusalki (plural) are known to be water nymphs and were once humans who met tragic deaths by drowning and were associated later as bodies of water like rivers, lakes and ponds. Although known to be ethereal and beautiful often seen looking like mermaids, the Rusalki are dangerous and said to lure people to their deaths.

They have perpetually wet hair as they would die if their hair dried, and often carry a comb which allows them to conjure water while on land.  They often come out of the water at night and sing in trees or meadows.

Mermaids from Asia

China has reported the story of mermaids for centuries. Known locally as "Jiaoren,", these mermaids are known for their beauty, skill in weaving, and the ability for their tears to turn into pearls. In the Sou Shen Ji, written in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Jiaoren were said to live in the South China Sea while Nie Huang, a biologist from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), mentioned mermaids in his Hai Cuo Tu, describing them as possessing black skin, yellow hair, webbed hands and feet, and red wings on their backs. Cambodia and Thailand have well known legends of the golden mermaid Suvannamaccha told in the Thai version of the Ramayana. She is the daughter of the demon King Ravana who attempts to foil Hanuman’s plan to build a bridge to Lanka but falls in love with him instead. In Thailand, it is common to see pictures of her hung in shops and houses for good luck. The Philippines too believe in mermaids and mermen where they are known to be dangerous luring sailors and drowning them in the sea. At other times, these Sirena and Siyokoy make take pity and will try to rescue drowning sailors. In Java, Indonesia, there are many legends and myths told of the Javanese mermaid queen Nyi Roro Kidul who is aqua green in color. She is said to be a powerful figure in Indonesian folklore and is the Queen of the Southern Sea (Indian Ocean), often depicted as a beautiful, supernatural woman with control over the ocean, the Tsunamis and the ocean creatures. She is said to lure handsome young men into the sea as a sacrifice for the abundance that she provides.  There is a legend told of a mermaid with very fair skin and long black hair called Sinjiki located around Geomundo Island in South Korea who appears mainly during bright moonlit evenings or in early mornings to warn fishermen about oncoming storms or typhoons by throwing rocks at a cliff or by making warning sounds.

Mermaid Legends in Other Parts of the World

Africa too has its own tale and share of mermaids. The Mami Wata is associated with good luck, beauty and fertility, and is often depicted with a mermaid’s tail. She is worshipped throughout much of Africa and the African Atlantic especially in south east Nigeria, where she is sought for help through a dance movement intended to seek her help.

The Brazilians tell of the legend of Lara, a freshwater mermaid who lives in the Amazon River. She is a beautiful young woman with green hair and light skin who sits on a rock by the river combing her hair or dozing under the sun. She is said to lure men to drowning where they eventually become part of her world.  There are countless other similar local legends you can find about mermaids across the world, with many of the same kinds of stories told about them.

Are Mermaids True?

As discussed in this write-up, there are countless stories told about mermaids and their existence. While many may declare many of these to be just myths and legends, there are some people who believe that mermaids are true. Is that why we as humans choose to remember mermaids by having mermaid statues set up in our home or garden? There are countless bronze mermaid statues you can find in TimelessBronze.com and these mermaid statues epitomize some of the qualities that you will find in the mythical legends told about them.

There is a theory that people may have mistaken dugongs and manatees for mermaids. Could that be true? While manatees can be very graceful in the water, they are incredibly huge at over 1000 pounds and surely they should not be mistaken as women? Be it known that even explorers may have their own mermaid stories to tell. Christopher Columbus, for instance, reported seeing three mermaids, although 'not as beautiful as they are represented.' Scientific speculation about mermaids holds that sightings recorded by Christopher Columbus in the early 1600s were really sea cows or manatees. And the famous English pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) even reported seeing mermaids! In 1943, a Japanese sergeant, Taro Horiba, got word of mermaids being caught in local fishing nets. When he was shown a dead mermaid, he tried to get the interest of Japanese scientists, who didn't believe him.

Regardless of what we hear, mermaids have become part of our culture for thousands of years, with the most major influence emanating from Greek and Roman mythology.  But there has also been much influence from many other cultures across the world, contributing to this belief in mermaids with many interpretations of the mermaids being similar in visual appeal. Few discount mermaids and speak of them as ugly beings.

At TimelessBronze.com, we like to see the brighter side of things and our bronze mermaid statues are beautiful additions you could make to elevating the look of your courtyard with their beautiful bronze patina finish and characteristic mermaid details. Please email us at tion_art@yahoo.com for more information on our bronze mermaid statues.