Mermaids are arguably one of the most recognised mythical creatures in Western culture. Whether one looks to contemporary representations of them in film and television, such as those seen in Walt Disney’s retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid (1987), or to more traditional forms of the myth, it is generally accepted that the myth of the mermaid originates from the Assyrian Goddess Atargatis. According to myth, Atargatis was goddess of the moon, feminity, and water. Her mermaid state was a form of self-punishment, as she accidentally slaughtered her husband, Hadad. According to myth, Atargatis meant to drown herself but her immortal beauty meant she could not die, thus the waters transformed her into a mermaid. Her story has intimate connections with the modern ideas of mermaids due to her extreme beauty and connections with nature. Ultimately, mermaids have connotations of female temptation and seduction, which in turn suggests that as a myth, it is one deep-rooted in misogyny which was present in the patriarchal structures from which the myth originated and is still dominant within our society today

 

When one is asked to imagine a mermaid, almost always the result is an overly sexualised, young woman in her prime. Aesthetically, as mythical creatures, they are comparatively beautiful to, say, centaurs or goblins. Of course, this beauty is central to the origins of their myth, as it was said by sailors that mermaids lured them into dangerous waters to their death. Most notably Christopher Columbus was among such sailors that claimed to actually see these mythical creatures in the waters, yet it was later proved that Columbus in fact mistook manatees for mermaids. Mermaids beauty, then, is said to be weaponised by them, and subsequently this is a problem for males, as their seductions leads to their demise. The female sexuality of mermaids is perilous and life-threatening for men, something that the modern day woman might today view as empowering in the face of toxic masculinity. This idea of female temptation is arguably, one that has not died in modern times, with the idea of women being ‘witches’ or the ‘other’ within society still being very much rampant, with Donald Trump’s labelling of Hilary Clinton as a ‘witch’ during the 2016 presidential race being exemplative of these attitudes. Reversion to myth

 

Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid is extremely detached from many modern-day perspectives of mermaids, arguably due to Walt Disney’s reimagining of it in the 1989 animation. It is therefore useful to question why such a brutal fairy tale was repackaged into a child-friendly, pleasant version, and what the implications are on the titular character. Anderson’s use of the mermaid within his fairy tale is typical; the little mermaid is beautiful, young, and alluring. However, the featuring of her transformation into human form seems to somewhat subvert traditions of the myth, as by removing her hybrid state, Anderson gives her agency. This being said, she is still very much subordinate to the males which surround her on land as she is to those within the ocean, and ultimately has to abandon her human form due to a lack of reciprocation in love from the prince. Her tragic self-sacrifice at the end of the story shows her affection and pain suffered for the prince to all have been in vain; once again proving the mermaid to be a figure that is condemned to suffering under the male hand. Disney’s reimagination, although featuring a happier ending for Ariel, is still a fairy tale concerned with female subordination to the men around them. King Triton, Ariel’s powerful father who is also coincidently the son of the Greek god Poseidon, reprimands her for her individuality and love for adventure. She seems to subvert norms when she rebels against her father’s wishes and bargains with Ursula the sea witch for a human form, however her fate is still ultimately within the hands of Eric, a male, as only with his love is she able to make her human form permanent. Although the removal of seduction from the story is a development of the mermaid as a mythological creature, the little mermaid is still a highly beautiful, ethereal woman who is a commodity of the men around her.

 

‘Giuseppe’, a poem by Roderick Ford, features a mermaid as its central subject. It is a poem concerned mostly with the speaker’s uncle, and the concealment of his true wartime activities during World War Two. However, the way in which myth is utilised within the poem is certainly worth analysing in light of prior discussion. The mermaid herself can be interpreted to be a real woman, with the speaker alluding to the “wedding ring” on her finger. With marriage being a highly human institution, one is able to then appreciate the labelling of the woman as a mermaid to be an evasion technique adopted by those who slaughtered her, as it distanced them from their feelings of guilt. Although the woman was accepted to be a mermaid by the speaker’s uncle, and figures of authority within the village, to be unhuman and therefore their property to consume, the liminal nature of mermaids due to their hybrid state (half fish and half human) seems to leave room for a certain amount of guilt to remain, with the speaker stating his uncle “couldn’t look [him] in the eye” at the end of the poem. This poem thus informs our discussion of the myth of mermaids, as it shows that their use remains similar within modern culture. They continue to be a means through which men can demonise and ‘other’ women. Whilst mermaids and their use within literature and entertainment has undoubtably varied and changed throughout the ages, this purpose or implication of the myth ultimately remains constant, with the mermaid always being a strange but beautiful and dangerous creature.