{"id":23427,"date":"2020-12-21T01:23:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T01:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=23427"},"modified":"2020-12-22T02:48:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T02:48:25","slug":"mermaids-arent-real-but-theyve-fascinated-people-around-the-world-for-ages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/mermaids-arent-real-but-theyve-fascinated-people-around-the-world-for-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"Mermaids aren’t real \u2013 but they’ve fascinated people around the world for ages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Goggin<\/a>, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Curious Kids<\/a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Are mermaids real? \u2013 Verona, age 9, Owensboro, Kentucky<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Mermaids \u2013 underwater creatures that are half fish and half human \u2013 do not exist except in people\u2019s imaginations. Scientists who study the ocean for the United States have investigated their possible existence and say no evidence of mermaids has ever been found<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You might wonder why government scientists looked into this question. There are many stories about mermaids on TV, the internet and in magazines that pretend to be real science news. They try to fool people into believing mermaids are real, without any true evidence. This is called \u201ccryptoscience\u201d or \u201ccryptozoology,\u201d but it\u2019s not real science. Don\u2019t let intriguing stories deceive you about mermaids and other fun but made-up creatures, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.<\/p>\n

But just because mermaids are not real does not mean they are not meaningful. Mermaids, or merfolk as they are sometimes called because not all of them are female, have a long history and are known all over the world \u2013 the same way dragons, fairies and unicorns are.<\/p>\n

More than one kind of mermaid<\/h2>\n

Some of the earliest mermaid stories are part of ancient Greek mythology<\/a> from over 3,000 years ago. The Greeks imagined lots of creatures that were part human and part animal, like harpies (bird and human) and centaurs (horse and human).<\/p>\n

Sometimes their mermaids were good, like the Greek goddess Atargatis, who protected humans, but others were dangerous, like the Sirens, who sang beautiful songs that made sailors crash their ships into rocks and sink. Irish mermaids, called \u201cmerrows<\/a>,\u201d which date back 1,000 years, were also considered a sign of bad luck.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A two-tailed mermaid from Padua, Italy, made in the first half of the 16th century.<\/span>
\nSepia Times\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mermaid bodies have been imagined differently in different places. There\u2019s a legendary Japanese mermaid called a \u201cningyo<\/a>,\u201d which is mostly a fish, but has a human face. Maybe you\u2019ve seen the animated film \u201cPonyo<\/a>,\u201d about a goldfish with a little girl\u2019s face? In Europe, there were mermaids called \u201cmelusines\u201d who had two fish tails<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stories about mermaids also varied depending on where and when they were told. Only some are about mermaids falling in love and wanting to be human, like Ariel and Ponyo. In the storybook \u201cMermaids From Mars<\/a>,\u201d for instance, mermaids have used up all the water on Mars and come to Earth to help people learn the lesson of water conservation.<\/p>\n

In a lot of places, mermaids were used as symbols of power and wealth. For example, the city of Warsaw in Poland has a legend of a mermaid who is considered to be the protector of the city<\/a>. There\u2019s a huge statue of her there, and she is even featured on the city\u2019s coat of arms. Many castles in Europe also have mermaid symbols to demonstrate royal power and wealth \u2013 even in countries with no oceans, like Austria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why mermaids?<\/h2>\n

You may wonder how mermaids came to be. Why did so many people around the world imagine them throughout history? It\u2019s an interesting question that probably has more than one answer.<\/p>\n

\"Period<\/a>
A Danish Viking ship under attack by mermaids, circa 1200.<\/span>
\nPhoto by Library of Congress\/Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Superstitious sailors, including Christopher Columbus<\/a> and others, reported seeing mermaids on their travels, but scientists and historians think they probably saw real animals, like manatees or seals.<\/p>\n

Throughout time, people have often created stories to help explain all kinds of things they couldn\u2019t understand at the time. Stories also help people understand their own dreams, desires and fears<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whatever the reasons, people still clearly love mermaids. You can buy mermaid dolls, coloring books and costumes. You can find them on flags, coins and Starbucks coffee. At some aquariums and water parks, real people perform as mermaids and have to practice holding their breath and keeping their eyes open underwater for a long time. There\u2019s even a brand of cotton candy called \u201cMermaid Farts,\u201d<\/a> which is described as \u201csweet and fluffy!\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though mermaids are not really real, they can feed your imagination and creativity. Mermaids are also important because they are a shared idea that has linked people together around the world for a very long time.<\/p>\n

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Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com<\/a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.<\/em><\/p>\n

And since curiosity has no age limit \u2013 adults, let us know what you\u2019re wondering, too. We won\u2019t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.<\/em>\"The<\/p>\n

Peter Goggin<\/a>, Associate Professor of English, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Goggin, Arizona State University Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Are mermaids real? \u2013 Verona, age 9, Owensboro, Kentucky Mermaids \u2013 underwater creatures that are half fish and half human \u2013 do not exist except […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":23428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3410],"tags":[9169,3306,9170,6689,6786,9172,4491,3351,9173,9175,9174,5418,1774,9171],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23427"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23430,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23427\/revisions\/23430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}