Are you here to learn what really swims in the sea? You want to know how these tales came to be and the records and writing of them? Well, you’re in the right place. But we will be covering 3 main myths, reading them, then the mythological creature in the myth and debunking them.
Here are the definitions to the words you will find in this web page:
Let’s start with myths and what they are. Myths are a fictional story that explains why things are the way they are through supernatural events that are normally a part of folklore. There are many many many of them from all over the world and they have been written, passed down and told throughout the ages. For example;
Perseus is a well known greek hero and has 2 big legends in the greek mythos. One of which, you have probably heard before, Perseus and Medusa.
Medusa is one of the many children of the primordial sea God, Phorcys and Goddess of sea monsters, Ceto. Medusa is a part of many stories but this story goes like this; Since medusa’s gorgon gaze turned people into stone, Perseus being the valiant hero he was, took it upon himself to slay her. With the help of the goddess of wisdom Athena and the god of travel Hermes. He was able to find his way to the Graiae who were the three sisters of the gorgon. He pressured the evil sisters to talk by taking 1 eye and 1 tooth that the wicked sisters had to share between them. He would not give them back until they had given up the sacred winged sandals that gave him the ability to fly, the cap of hades which could give the wearer the power of invisibility, a sickle to chop the head off the gorgon and a bag to put it in. He guided himself via a shield’s reflection to protect him from the gorgon’s stone gaze. Perseus chopped off her head while she was sleeping.
The second myth is when Perseus saved the Etheopian princess andromeda after decapitating Medusa, the mother of Andromeda, Casseopia, had said that she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs so the sea god poseidon sent a flood with a sea monster in it to punish her for her boastful claim. One Oracle told Andromeda’s father, the king, that the disaster would stop if his daughter was exposed to the monster. He did as the oracle had said and Perseus, who was on his way back from slaying medusa, saw Andromeda and fell in love with her. He then used the head of medusa to turn the monster to stone and save Andromeda and her kingdom. He married Andromeda.
Orpheus was one of the most talented poets and singers to live according to the legends so naturally when he fell in love with a nymph by the name of Eurydice. He won her love by serenading her. They lived a happy life together, until Eurydice was bitten by a snake when she was walking in the fields. Orpheus ridden with grief had decided to embark on a journey to the underworld in an attempt to bring her back. He got there and confronted Hades the god of death and brother to Posidon and Zeus and Persephone the goddess of agriculture upon arriving. He sang to convince the two rulers of the underworld and they were so moved by the sincerity in his performance that they let him take Eurydice back to the surface world on one condition. He had to walk ahead of her and if he were to look behind him she would be trapped in the underworld forever. They began to walk and a while after Orpheus couldn’t hear Eurydice’s steps behind him, he didn’t think she could keep up with the pace, so he tried to exit the underworld quickly. But the temptation was too great, he turned to look at her and she was there but only for a moment, because she was then sucked down into the dark and dreary depths of the underworld. He was no longer allowed in the underworld to try again and he returned to the surface world alone. A truly sad tale, but a romantic one. River nymphs were more than likely delusions of sailors who missed their wives back home.
Leaning more to the fanciful and magical side of stories are these fairy tales
Pinocchio is a fully animate wooden puppet that was built by a wood carver named Geppetto and was brought to life by magic. Pinnocchio is cunning and mischievous, and he goes on many adventures including Pinocchio getting kidnapped by a puppeteer, getting tricked by a fox and wolf and being turned into a donkey but 1 of the biggest ones is after the fish chew away his donkey skin, turning him back into a puppet. He encounters the large creature known as The Terrible Dogfish, Monstro, and is promptly swallowed by it despite making the effort to swim away. Geppetto is living inside a small boat and Geppeto and Pinnochio are aided by a tuna fish who, by following his example, escapes from the Terrible Dogfishes’ mouth and takes them to the mainland by giving them a ride on his back. Pinnochio and Geppetto search for a place to stay.
The Terrible Dogfish is based on a whale and the two have the same size and shape but normal sperm and blue whales like the ones you see below do not have sharp teeth.
Instead they have bristles like the head of a tooth brush and do not attack humans when provoked.
But another type of whale called an orca or a “killer whale” fits the Terrible dogfish’s description almost perfectly, aside from the white patches on its skin.
So, I theorize that The Terrible Dogfish Monstro is actually a killer whale
The Little Mermaid is a danish story that tells the story of a mermaid princess who gives up her life in the ocean to gain human legs and live a life on land. The story goes that the little mermaid is the daughter of the widowed merking Posidon god of the sea. She has 5 older sisters and a dowager grandmother. It is tradition in their kingdom to allow a mermaid when they turn 15 to be able to swim to the surface and gaze at the world above. When it is the little mermaid’s turn to swim up she sees a celebration being held on a boat for a handsome prince, the little mermaid is in awe of the prince and falls in love with him from the water. While she’s still on the surface of the water she witnesses a storm hit the party boat and the little mermaid rushes to save him. She swims him to the shores near a temple. Unfortunately he is unconscious for the whole ordeal and does not know who saved him. The little mermaid sulks for she has to wait another year to see the surface again. She approaches her dowager grandmother and asks if humans can live forever, and her grandmother explains that mermaids live longer than humans. 300 years more. But when mermaids die they turn into seafoam while humans have an eternal soul that lives on into the afterlife. The little mermaid yearning for the prince as well as an eternal soul that lives on visits the sea witch in the most dark and dangerous caves of the ocean. The witch offered a potion that would give her legs and make her dance like no human can, in exchange for her voice and tongue for she had the most melodious voice in the whole world. The witch warns the little mermaid when she becomes human she will not be able to return to the sea. She tells the little mermaid that only when she wins the heart of the prince and marries him, then she will have the eternal soul of a human. If not, the dawn on the first day he marries someone else the little mermaid will die of a broken heart and dissipate into seafoam. Confident, she agrees. She drinks the potion and grows legs, she approaches the prince who is enchanted by her beauty although she is mute. The prince loved it when she danced, her dances despite the pain of walking on new legs were beautiful and graceful. Soon the little mermaid was the prince’s favorite companion, but he did not fall in love with her. When it came time for the prince to marry his parents arrange him with a princess, but he didn’t love her either. Instead he marries the woman at the temple that he believes saved him from the storm. The little mermaid turns to seafoam and dies of a broken heart as a result.
Mermaids are humans with a fish-tail instead of legs. Now you might think that the mermaids might have been a fiji mermaid like you see here, but I would like to tell you that this skeleton is completely fake.
It is the head and torso of a monkey sewn onto a fish’s tail. It originated in japan and was more than likely made as a joke. Manatees on the other hand are a very likely candidate for what mermaids were based upon. You see the similarities between the two? The tail, the longer fins that could’ve been mistaken for arms.
A writer’s imagination toys with the ideas of what is under the sea because we don’t know much about it. We shape the concepts and think about how those things might look, act and where they came from. They are the ones who create the creatures, gods and places you read about in the stories you have read on this site. One day you might write about the sea and the wondrous wildlife swimming inside of it as so many others have done. Watch the videos below to learn more!