Women & The Sea: Mermaids & Myths

The Myth

Roman Goddess Minerva Steering post head from the vessel Minerva The Mariners' Museum

Many ancient cultures attest to the fact that feminine imagery has always been closely associated with the sea. The mythology of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans is full of tales of female gods or mortals helping—or hindering—humans in their struggle with the sea.
Armed goddesses were popular subjects for figureheads on warships of the late eighteenth century. The Greek goddess Pallas Athena (known to the Romans as Minerva) represented wisdom, fertility, useful arts, and prudent warfare. In both incarnations, the goddess wore armor, held a golden staff, and carried a goatskin shield with an image of Medusa. The Roman goddess Britannia, namesake of Great Britain, was another incarnation of this protective deity.
Telemachos went aboard the ship, but Athene went first and took her place in the stern of the ship, and close beside her Telemachos took his place. —From The Odyssey of Homer, rendered into English prose by S. H. Butcher and Andrew Lang, 1930


Mermaids

Folk tales about mysterious creatures of the sea have been part of the oral tradition of many countries. Early wood engravings, folk songs, and stories describe mysterious female creatures glimpsed by sailors on their long voyages or even in harbors. Some of these creatures were feared as the sirens and Lorelei of myth—creatures with the bodies of birds and the heads of women, who with their sweet songs could lure men to watery deaths.

Reports of mermaid sightings by explorers and sailors were surprisingly common. The creatures were described as having the torso and head of a woman, but the tail of a fish. Sometimes they were said to save sailors from drowning; at other times they were depicted as malicious creatures with powers to entrap seafarers. In some tales, mermaids frolicked near a ship, charming the sailors with their beauty and playfulness. As with the unicorn, drawings and stories of these fantastic creatures continue to capture the human imagination.

The Lorelei, 1869 From Harper's Weekly,  January 16, 1869 The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives

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.

Mermaid with Shell Figurehead The Mariners' Museum

Captain Hailborne at St. Johns Newfoundland,1655 From Newe Welt und Americanische Historian by Ludwig Gottfried The Mariners' Museum

This figurehead is believed to be from the vessel Vigilant of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Like many of her sisters, this mermaid was shown bare-breasted, perhaps in the belief that a woman "uncovering her body" could calm the seas.
This morning one of our companie looking over boord saw a Mermaid . . . from Navill upward, her back and breasts were like a woman's (as they say that saw her) her body as big as one of us; her skin very white; and long haire hanging down behinde, of color blacke; in her going downe they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a porposse and speckled like a Macrell.
—From Henry Hudson's logbook, June 15, 1608
The day before, when the Admiral was going to the Rio del Oro, he said he saw three mermaids who came quite high out of the water but were not as pretty as they are depicted, for somehow in the face they look like men. He said that he saw some in Guinea on the coast of Manegueta.
—From the Diary of Christopher Columbus, January 9, 1493
When Captain Hailbourne approached the coast of Newfoundland, he supposedly encountered mermaids who seemed to beckon to him. Christopher Columbus and Captain John Smith both mentioned sightings of mermaids, and both remarked that the mermaids they saw were not as beautiful as artists' depictions.

Activity:After looking at the mermaid figurehead, make up your own story about a mermaid encountered at sea. Would she be good or bad? After reading about mermaid sightings by explorers, what do you think they were really seeing? Was it an animal, a mirage, or clouds? Write a paragraph that supports your thesis.

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Faces That Launched Thousands
of Ships: Female Figureheads

Carving the Figurehead,1937 Oil on canvas by James Calvert Smith The Mariners' Museum

Images of women have always played an important role in sailors' superstitions. The Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, and others carved and painted feminine symbols on their vessels to protect them at sea.

The practice of figurehead carving reached its height during the nineteenth century. Images of Greek and Roman goddesses and other women became popular subjects for shipcarvers. Toward the end of the century, it became common practice for a shipowner to 

Figurehead from the Schooner Irma Bentley,1908 Carved by Alfred Nichols The Mariners' Museum

commission a figurehead with the likeness of his wife or daughter, and to name the vessel in her honor.

This figurehead is from a schooner built in 1908 for George Edward Bentley. Bentley named the vessel after his daughter Irma "because she didn't get seasick, and climbed the ratlines with ease."

A letter written by a family member in 1963 stated that on one of the vessel's trips, a prolonged calm was blamed on a woman (the figurehead) being aboard the ship. The carving was taken off and later purchased by The Mariners' Museum as an unidentified figurehead. During a chance visit, Irma Bentley's older sister recognized her sister's image; Irma herself later made several visits to the Museum and her figurehead.

Irma may be the little girl standing with the dog in this photograph. Her mother is the second from left in the second row; her father, George Bentley, is second from the right in the front row.

George Bentley Family and Crew Aboard Unidentified Vessel The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives, Gift of Mrs. R. W. Carter Why Is a Ship Called "She"? Quarterboard from the Schooner Katie Mitchell,circa 1871 The Mariners' Museum In the Chesapeake Bay, many of the workboats were traditionally named for women. The names usually reflected a female family member. No one knows where this tradition originated, but a few speculate that the naming tradition reflects the waterman's connection to his family.