Pictures of real mermaids - underwater

Mermaid mythology
History of mermaids and sirens
Real mermaid photos

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Mermaid

A mermaid, also known as a merwoman, is a mythological creature with a female human head and upper body and the tail of a fish. Mermaids are said to live mostly in the water, although sometimes they are known to come out of the water and sit on the large rocks above the sea. It was thought that they would make boats crash with their siren-like calls.

Overview and etymology

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The word is a compound of mere, the Old English word for "sea", and maid, a woman. The male equivalent is a merman. Much like sirens, mermaids sometimes sing to people and gods and enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing them to walk off the deck or run their ships aground. Other stories depict them squeezing the life out of drowning men while attempting to rescue them. They are also said to carry humans down to their underwater kingdoms or drown them.^[1]

The sirens of Greek mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as mermaid-like. But in the Odyssey they are described as birds with women's heads, not women with fish tails.

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History of Mermaids

Originally, Greeks considered Mermaids half woman and half bird, but, considering that all mythical stories are constantly changing along tradition, then we find that Mermaids become half fish and half woman after a dispute with the Muses, their aunts from the genealogic point of view. In ancient texts, Mermaids appear not alone but in a group of two or three and not only in the water but sitting on reefs waiting for the arrival of ships. The description of the Triton is similar, son of the sea God Poseidon for the Greeks and Neptune for the Romans. Triton was a creature with the upper part of the body with the shape of a man and the lower part with a fish tail. Triton had the power to tame the turbulent waters blowing a shell.

If we look back at history, we see that the first Mermaids appeared for the first time painted on caves in the late Palaeolithic (Stone Age), about 30,000 years ago, when human beings had a strong control of the land and began to sail the sea.

The Greek name “Seirén” is related in meaning to a rope, and Mermaids would

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Flame Tree Fiction

Mermaids have a long history that dates back almost as far as the first humans. Early human civilisations saw gods and magic everywhere. Whether it be on the top of unscalable mountains or in the deepest darkest caves, magical creatures lurked in every corner of the ancient world. Due to the importance of water for survival, many early humans lived near rivers, oceans and lakes. This was the perfect combination to conjure up mermaids.

In this blog we thought we’d look at some of the most famous representations of mermaids in history! From dangerous ancient sirens to modern Disney princesses, mermaids have taken many forms…

Atargatis

Atargatis is the earliest myth of a mermaid that has been discovered so far. Around 1000BC, tales of the mermaid began to emerge form Assyria, a region of Mesopotamia. Legend says that the goddess transformed into a fish but that the water could not hide her beauty and so she became human above the waist and a fish below. There are different representations of her, such as coins where she is just a human head on a fish or de