The Mermaid

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Mermaid Metamorphosis Once I sat upon a promontory, And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath That the rude sea grew civil at her song And certain stars shot madly from their spheres, To hear the sea-maid's music.                             (Oberon -  A Midsummer Night's Dream)   The babe on the rock, with the fins and scales?...you know the one. She sits on a rock in a harbor, swims across art, lives forever in marble and has remarkable adventures in fiction. She's the Mermaid. A quintessential image of woman and the sea. Forget about the "fish" part. That's representative. The legend (or perhaps not...) of mermaids is one of the seduction of the sea. The creatures, the depth, the sexuality....of the sea. For nearly as long as humans have walked the earth, we have been sailing, fishing and swimming. Faced with creatures so vastly different than ourselves has created a fascination with a human-like fish. The same can be said of horses (centaurs), goats, eagles and other creatures of the planet. Why not fish. Merfolk, in many cultures, represented a god or goddess.  Some had more influence than others.  Neptune, Poseidon, fish-wives, mermaids, water-willows, water kings, oceanides, lorelie and so many other creatures of legend are seen in ancient writing.  Merfolk have long fascinated humans.   Is it the desire to swim freely through the deep ocean?  Is it the power to lure? What is it that keeps the legend alive? ...to a romantic /  tragic /  fairytale (or is that "tail") ending, etc.  We've taken the legend a long long way, complete with children's movies and stories.   Don't mistake a Siren for a Mermaid. The two are very different creatures of the deep.   A siren is -  - a sea nymph (part woman and part bird) supposed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks where the nymphs lived; "Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears so they would not hear the Siren's fatal song" - enchantress: a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive - a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound - an acoustic device producing a loud often wailing sound as a signal or warning - eel-like aquatic North American salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs; have permanent external gills www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn A mermaid is - - half woman and half fish; lives in the sea www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn - A mermaid is a legendary creature with a female human head and torso (if it's male, it's called a merman) and the tail of a fish, which inhabits the water. Some sailors claim to have seen mermaids; what they actually saw are probably manatees. A freshwater mermaid-like creature having two tails is a melusine, or a Nixie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid     As you can see, they are vastly different, but most of the time, writers will intertwine the traits of each.  Often a mermaid will be seen lounging on a rock, singing.  Not that some might not sing well (although most legend says they can't speak at all) .    Call me crazy, but I have this weird images of their voices being similar to dolphins.  The Fran Drescher of the fish family.   About the breast issue - most legend sees them as part woman.  Yes, yes, families were a groovy part of general type merlegend, but mostly it was the chicks.  Hot babes in scales and coconut bosom cups.    Wait...that's the Rated G version.  Cleaned up for Family viewing.  Mermaids in coconut bra cups.  Good thing scales aren't transparent.   The Lorelei "Flows the Rhine as flowing wine, Bright in its unrest, Sweet with odors of the vine; Heaven in its breast." So the boatman Hugo sung, Long, long ago, By the Lurley-berg that hung In the sunset glow. At that fateful rock, upraised From its foamy base, Suddenly the boatman gazed With a stricken face. On its summit, wondrous fair, Shining angel-wise, Sat a maid, with golden hair And beseeching eyes. From a shoulder's rosy sphere All the robe that slid, Ripple bright and water-clear, Rather show'd than hid. As her hair her fingers through (Fingers pearly white) Slowly pass'd, the diamond dew Fell and broke in light. But a gold harp from her feet Lifted she ere long, And its music, pulsing sweet, Fed a wondrous song. And the boatman, drifting fast, Listen'd to his cost; On the rocks before him cast! In the whirlpool lost! Then the Lorelei's luring form Faded from the eye, As a cloud fades, rosy warm, In a purple sky.     Sex and the Mermaid     ~ A small Polish town on the Baltic coast wants a makeover for its patron mermaid to improve its appearance and make it look more sexy. The towns patron, displayed on the right displays a mermaid with rather small breasts and very wide hips. The town's mermaid shield became a hot topic during talks about a campaign to promote the coastal town of Ustka, in which the mermaid was supposed to play a key role.  "There was a discussion about the coat of arms and one female councilor said jokingly that the mermaid's breasts were too small and that she was a bit fat," said the city hall spokesman.  Her fellow councilors think she has a point. They are now planning to give the mermaid 'plastic surgery', to give her a sexy new figure and to attract more tourists to the little town of Ustka. ~  Mermaids exist - Cristobal Colon (better known as Christopher Columbus) recorded the following in the log of his famous voyage: "[A crewman] saw three mermaids, who rose very high from the sea, but they are not so beautiful as they are painted, though to some extent they have a human appearance about the face." ~  A discussion on mermaids and how they have sex. ~  A very cool sex toy you can use while pursuing the intense fantasies about sex with merpeople.  ;)     _____________________________________________________________ Mermaid Joke o' the day -  ______________________ This guy went into a bar and ordered a beer. He happened to look down the bar and see a man sitting there with a head the size of a cue ball. So he walked down and said to the man, “Excuse me sir, I don't mean to be rude but I noticed you have a small head. Is this a birth defect?” The man said “No, I got this in the war. My ship was torpedoed by the German's in WWII. I was the only survivor on the ship so I swam to shore. One day a mermaid swam up to me and said she would grant me three wishes. For my first wish I wanted to return to the U.S. The mermaid granted that wish. My second wish was to have all the money I would ever need. Wish granted. My third wish was to have sex with the mermaid. She said, ‘I can't grant that wish because mermaids can't have sex.’” So I said, “How about a little head?”       Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved

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