Category Archives: Week 2: CSU Strike–Human History through Mermaids

Week 2: Merpeople

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Reading chapter one of Merpeople by Vaughn Scribner was eye opening. I would’ve never thought how much mermaids were associated with religion during the Medieval period. I can’t seem to understand how “denigrating the feminine” (Scribner 29) brought more people to Christianity and why it worked. Chapter one continues by explaining the first depiction of mermen around 5000 BCE. Acadians worshipped a mermen named Ea, who was adopted by Babylonians as a god of light, wisdom and civilization by the name Oannes. How and why did Oannes become a deity of wisdom? As mentioned in page thirty, Oannes “gave men an insight into letters and sciences, and every kind of art…” (Scribner 30) In opposition to the well intended wise mermen, mermaids were seen as creatures that emerged from ugly forms “seeking to bring human men to agonizing deaths”. (Scribner 31) It’s no secret that with the help of these ancient myths of mermen being good hearted leaders and mermaids/sirens being wicked beings looking for men’s demise helped the Christian church to belittle the feminine as “females symbolized a carnality linked to vice”. (Scribner 35).

As I mentioned to my peers in past class discussions I believe that even thought the image of mermaids has changed, unfortunately, the meaning behind it has not. Mermaids are still to this day seen as a symbol of lust and demise or straight up vile monsters (as seen in Hollywood movies). This image of fault and evil is sadly not limited to mermaids, for example, in Christianity, Eve is seen as the one at fault for the expulsion of the Garden of Eden by commiting the act of sin. In the Greek pantheon, if not all, most feminine deities are depicted as extremely jealous and evil towards humans if crossed. On the bright side, in today’s world the mermaid aesthetic has been claimed by women all over the world, giving mermaids a new and empowering meaning which I’m looking forward to learning how the evolution to today’s modern world came to be.

Week 2: Merpeople

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My first reaction to the reading is surprise; by the unexpected ubiquity of the presence of mermaids across popular culture and religious texts. I think it’s also interesting to see that The Church attempted to manipulate the perception of mermaids and use it as a sort of symbol for their interests.

I think it’s fascinating that we can use mermaids and merpeople to learn about the hybridization of humans, and how it can be a metaphor for some of our own characteristics. I also think it’s interesting how something that was manipulated to degrade the feminine can be warped and changed over time to hold a completely different message.

Week Two: Merpeople: A Human History

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Chapters one through two of Vaughn Scribner’s Merpeople: A Human History discuss the origins of mermaids and how these creatures became a cultural phenomenon. As someone unfamiliar with the history behind mermaids, I found it fascinating to learn how Christianity impacted their perception.

Initially, churches used images and sculptures of mermaids to “remind followers of the infinite power of God” and force onlookers to confront their “relationship with their faith” and “sinful nature” (Scribner 43). From a modern perspective, I found this particularly interesting as I never considered mermaids to be overtly monstrous. However, as I consider the era in which these images were created, I can understand how these creatures may be jarring. In the medieval ages, women were demonized and expected to be subservient to men. Early depictions of mermaids reflect this as they describe these women as “a monstrosity” and “suggestive reminder of the dangers of feminity” (Scribner 51). Essentially, mermaids were thought to be destructive, “vengeful creatures” who would lead men “to their misfortune” (Scribner 55).

Growing up, I only ever thought of mermaids as strong, independent women navigating the difficult nature of the ocean. I looked up to mermaids and would often daydream about a life where I was one. So, upon reading this week’s chapters, I was shocked to learn that this perspective was entirely different from those in the medieval ages. I can only imagine what it would be like to be a woman at a time when these stories were believed to be fact. To men, women were purely figures of fear and desire. I am curious to see if the book discusses how the perception of mermaids evolved to become the symbol of female empowerment I associate them with today.

Week 2? 3? Reading Post (59 – 99)

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I had read that first two chunks of reading last week so I decided to do the third chunk of reading. It opens up with the Renaissance and how discovering the New World had influenced how the Old World saw and interacted with mermaids. Somewhere in the beginning there was a tidbit about how Old Worlders were interacting with the New World environments and how they found opossums. “Though hindsight relegates these creatures
to fantasy, other animals proved very real and just as terrifying to early modern Europeans. The female opossum, for instance, was a strange New World ‘composite creature’, combining parts from Old World animals and humans to create ‘an inorganic multiplicity’.” (page 61, ch 2) I think it really feels like grappling with the strange creatures bolstered the otherness of the mermaid. Especially given what their modern society was, and their modern ideas.

It also, weirdly enough, makes the mermaid feel more natural. When you have creatures like the opposum and maybe even the platypus (dont know if it was named in this portion specifically but it is a mishmash creature), then mermaids by proxy are natural- a mishmash creature. Funnily enough there was also a mention that Old Worlders expected to see mermaids and tritons everywhere (its early in the chapter), I thought that was really interesting. They were going off the opposum and whatever other animals they had found, or maybe perhaps their perception of the New World.

Week 2: Mermaids and Sin in the Early Church

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In ‘Merpeople: A Human History’, the author explores the connections between mermaids as symbols of sin in the context of the early Church, and how the notion of sin increased its power. Within this period, mermaids were transformed from their place as pagan symbols and were then turned into spiritual vessels for sin as a cautionary tale against temptation. Usually, this sin would be in the form of carnal sin; those who didn’t live piously and prioritized indulging in their sexual desires would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In this time when the early Christian church was the dominant religious and political power, engaging in sin was a very real spiritual and literal threat that hung over the heads of churchgoers. 

However, sin itself is abstract and varies from culture to culture; anything can be considered sin depending on the value system of said culture. Even knowledge can maintain a connection to sin. Within Homer’s Odyssey, a tale promoted by the Church, sirens didn’t promise sex but instead promised infinite knowledge to Odysseus and his men. This knowledge would in turn bring death and destruction unto them (Scribner p. 30). In the eyes of the Church, Ulysses (Odysseus) represented the Son of Virtue while the Sirens were the Incarnate Vice (Scribner p. 35). By being seen as the Incarnate of Vice, the infinite knowledge that they promised was also seen as wicked as well. What about knowledge would be seen as wicked and immoral? Why was Ulysses seen as righteous for rejecting it? Why did the Christian church promote the tale of the Odyssey in the first place? 

The quote “knowledge is power” may shed some light on these questions. The early Church wielded a lot of power, mainly through attempting to convert as many non-Christians as possible. By amassing such a large number of followers, the Church’s power and influence would continue to strengthen. Those in power are always concerned about maintaining it, and they want to keep wielding it through any means necessary. This is why the pursuit of knowledge as whole could be seen as dangerous, it may show alternate ways of existing that are outside of the realm of the church. If people stopped believing in the teachings of the Church, then its influence on society would diminish, leaving them vulnerable to other political and religious factions that may want to control medieval Europe. The story of the Odyssey is important to the Church because it sees itself in Odysseus fighting against a perceived evil. When that evil is paired with knowledge and sin through the form of mermaids, the early Church strengthens the belief that the only way to secure one’s eternal soul is by strictly following the teachings of the Church, further securing its place of power. 

Week 2

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Before this reading, I didn’t know much about mermaids or where they originated from but it was so interesting to read and learn about. The perception of mermaids has changed over time through different cultures and places based on the stories and illustrations passed on. I thought it was interesting to read about how sexualized mermaids became, especially from a Christian perspective. It reflects a power dynamic between men and women that still very much exists today. Women’s bodies are often objectified and seen as controlled by men, which is shown frequently throughout the illustrations and pictures in the reading. I think that the sexualization of mermaids serves as a view into the deeper cultural beliefs and narratives about women and their role in society. In the text, there’s a quote that really stuck out to me, “Mermaids continued as mascots for the defamation of the feminine, representing religious traditions as well as folk-portents of storms, doom and death. Perhaps even more overtly, sixteenth-century Westerners often called prostitutes ‘mermaids’ or ‘sirens’.”

I also found it very interesting about how many people claimed to see merpeople in the medieval period. After claiming to see a mermaid or merman, these people seemed to gain some attention and/or fame. In the reading, it talks about how many of the people who said they interacted with merpeople were often a part of a higher class and were considered to be trustable people in society. I think this may be a main reason of why no one often questioned that they were lying or possibly fabricating something they saw in the water. There was a quote in the book that reads, “Perception, in short, is everything.” This quote expresses the the idea that people’s beliefs and interpretations can shape their understanding of the world around them, like their perceived sightings of merpeople in these times. I think it is very understandable as to why many believed they saw merpeople in the oceans because humans have a natural tendency to make sense of their surroundings with figments of our imagination.

Week 2

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This week’s reading on Vaugh Scibner’s Merpeople has made me realize how long the myth of merpeople already exists. Having known basically nothing, I would have never thought that the history of mermaids and mermen has deep roots in the Christian Church, with merpeople characterizing “hybridity, contradiction and power struggles” (Scribner, p.29). In medieval churches, mermaid sculptures were often used for decorative purposes. It is grotesk to believe that churches put mermaid sculptures into their holy halls, even though they were afraid of mermaids having a sinful creature and being dangerous to men. That leads me to another aspect that puzzled me, which is the difference in how mermen and mermaids are perceived. When people nowadays think of mermaids, they have this image of a beautiful half-human and half-animal in mind, which has a feminine outward appearance with for example long beautiful hair, a pretty face, … just like Disney’s Ariel.

The question which arose to me was, whether mermaids in western cultures have always been presented in this way. After reading this week’s chapter. I came across the interesting fact that mermaids were first perceived as dangerous aquatic females who intend to bring men to death (cf. Scribner, p. 31). Apart from that, mermaids were not described as being beautiful, instead they were having “twelve feet […], and six necks […], and on each one an awful head” (Scribner, p. 31). Only a few centuries later the mermaids were repeatedly shown as “dangerous, passionate, sexual beings, with topless torsos” (Scribner, p.40). This image might also be the one that coined our current image of mermaids. Mermen in comparison were portrayed as being predominant (Scribner, p.34), as well as in religious self-control (Scribner, p.51). It would be interesting to get a little bit more knowledge on how this shift has happened.

Another topic worth a discussion is in how far mermaids are a figure of misogyny. Even though I think that everyone knows about misogyny I will still put a little definition into this post: Misogyny is the “hatred or prejudice against women, typically exhibited by men. It is generally accepted that misogyny is a consequence of patriarchy” (Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/misogyny). As mermaids are regarded as sexualized and sinful creatures in church, one could also argue that misogyny must be part of how we see mermaids now. It might be interesting to discuss in class, how women in general were degraded and seen at that time.

The Human Woman and Mermaids-A degration

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One of the major themes that I found when reading Vaughn Scibner’s, Merpeople: A Human History, was the degradation and defamation of feminity and womanhood as a whole. This stood out to me because my personal beliefs revolving around mermaids focus solely on their beauty and praise of feminity, not on their negative associations. Keeping this in mind many questions arose when thinking of this concept, how does the role of mermaids attempt to tame and train women? What do depictions/ texts about mermaids reveal about women’s relationships at the time? How did a mermaid’s sexual appeal build over time” And What does the depiction of mermaids and mermen express about genre roles, specifically opinions on women? I would love to touch on every one of these specifically but I want to dive into the overall concept and think of all of these questions under one bubble.

On page 41, he states the idea that medieval church men had the “ultimate goal remained tethered to decentring the feminine. Hence the repeating image of mermaids as dangerous, passionate, sexual beings…”(Scribner, 41) Mermaids were often depicted to be enticing representations of sin and deception, which I believe was to scare human women. Depictions and stories constantly disrespect the mermaid figure and blatantly say that their depictions were intended to tear down the representation of women. A similar concept continues with the idea of “equating femininity with inferiority. Renaissance woman accordingly experienced a fringe existence in public society” (Scribner, 61) where one can truly see the connection drawn between mermaids and women. The intention behind this quote is a negative, and attempts to degrade/ oppress not only the mermaid but the woman as a whole.

“Nevertheless, mermen remained clear reflections of the Church’s ability to merge the wondrous and the religious sin in an effort to denigrate femininity while vaulting men to positions of prominence and piety ” ( Scribner, 53) Rather than focus on the mermaid, this quote focuses on the depiction of the mermaid to express the concept of opinions on women and taming the woman figure. The words hold negative connotations and denotation, using the words, ” denigrate feminity” yet the “prominence” of the male figure. These phrases juxtapose each other in the most clear way, showcasing a revelation about women in literature and art in a negative light.

While I focused on the negative depictions/relationship between womanhood and mermaids, mermaids can be depicted to signify beauty, strength, and popularity. Throughout the book, one can clearly see the changing attitudes and depictions, from beauty to fear to sin, etc. This is the duality of the mermaid in the most pure form and represents a tie between womanhood and the depiction of mermaids.

Week 2 – Merpeople : A Human History

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After reading this week’s chapter of “Merpeople: A Human History” I learned a lot of new information I had never known before. I don’t have a large background on the history of mermaids and how they were involved in human history, so I did not know that they correlated to Christianity or any religion at all. I found it interesting how the church learned, appreciated, and believed in mermaids through art, sculpture, and myriad texts after such a long time of the Christian church and churchgoers in Europe overly sexualizing mermaids. While I do have the knowledge that mermaids have been sexualized over time, I did not know how the true belief and appreciation of them started.

As Scribner elaborated on the involvement of mermaids in the Christian Church, I was also intrigued by the fact that the Christian Church bridged “the gap between the supposedly ‘savage’ and the civilized,” (Scribner, 16). It is surprising to me that mermaids were accepted because of how the Christian Church portrayed them after it contributed to such extreme sexualization of them. Stories about mermaids today, that I have personally read or seen myself, typically do not have a religious belief tied to their background. The history of mermaids is much different than what is depicted in some popular media today.

While the beliefs and depictions of mermaids have been different throughout history, the Christian Church belief is one that intrigued me most. Comparing how mermaids were seen in different periods gives us a good idea of how we got to where we are today. It helps explain how mermaids are seen now in literature, media, and real-life beliefs. I am excited to expand on this topic through more research and discussion in class.

Week 2

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While reading this week’s chapters, I found it very interesting how the discovery of the Americas relates to mermaids. Because the concept of mermaids had already been well established in the Medieval period, when explorers ventured west, they brought their beliefs along with them. Those beliefs led to “mermaid sightings” that then led to images of mermaids being physically distributed more and more through maps. The interaction between the images on those maps and the motivation to explore the world is fascinating. The author explains that “representations [of mermaids] only further primed explorers to find mermaids” (Scribner, p. 19) which encouraged cartographers to keep including mermaids. It makes me wonder how many discoveries that we discussed in school were made because the person initially wanted to find mermaids. 

At the same time, it is intriguing to me that putting mermaids on these maps also indicated a new environment filled with unknown animals, people, etc. In this way, it seems to me that mermaids had an important and impactful role in the colonization of the Americas. There were more motivators during this time than just seeing mermaids, however to the public, it was probably something that made a difference in whether or not they supported these ventures. Mermaids in this sense represent exploration and new opportunities. They were a physical manifestation of the new environments that the Western countries were uncovering.

I also found it interesting that Scribner mentions that the way that each country understood mermaids was a representation of the way that they tried to understand the new worlds that they were discovering. It shows how culture plays an important role in a person’s relationship with the environment. I question if the way that different cultures viewed the mermaid impacted the way they interacted with the ocean. For instance, if a culture feared the mermaid, did they see the ocean as something to conquer?