Fish and Sheep History. See fresh history
Author: Dream tapir
EDIT: Eat hard drives
Illustration: Developed mosquitoes
#01.
In the epic poem Odyssey, the great Greek poet Homer, while singing the praises of the great hero Oedipus, describes a group of sirens named Siren.
This group of krakens gathered around an island, confusing the passing crew with sweet songs. As soon as their clear voices were heard, the crew would run to them desperately and finally bury themselves around them. "They sat on the grass, surrounded by white bones, and their flesh was rotten..."
Oedysseus was not alone in his encounter with the Siren Siren, but also the heroes on the Ship of Argo, who stole the Golden Fleece. On their way back, they passed a flower-studded island where the krakens drew their heroes closer to them with their beautiful songs.
In a critical moment, it was Orpheus, who was good at music, who plucked the golden harp in his hand and suppressed the siren's song with a deafening piano tone, which stabilized the hearts of his companions.
The sirens of the ancient Greek period were depicted on vases by artists of the time, and these sirens had a woman's head but a bird's body and a pair of eye-catching bird claws. This image bore no resemblance to the sexy and delicate mermaid we know today.
Since then, Western philosophers and historians have been wondering why Homer created such a vivid group of female monsters as the Siren Siren in his works.
Some say that the image of the Siren stems from the extreme worship of animals in ancient Egyptian mythology; some believe that the origin of the Siren can be traced back to the belief that humans in the ancient Babylonian civilization were from the sea; others analyze that it is derived from the ancient Greek legend that the inhabitants of the sea used to place several bagpipes between the cliffs and cliffs, and whenever the wind came, the wind blowing towards the passing ships would be mixed with the sound of crying bagpipes, and those sailors often lost their attention in such an ensemble.
#02.
In the early Middle Ages, the culture of the Sirens began to flood, and at this time, their image changed slightly. The nature of the Kraken is still vicious, but with slight adjustments in appearance, the female features no longer only highlight the head, but have extended to the navel eye, but the lower body is still a bird's body. Their singing voices are still a weapon of murder, and the men have no power to fight back at the siren's song and become the prey in their mouths.
Around the eighth century, an English abbot recreated the image of the Kraken in his book The Eccentric Chronicles: "Virgins, like humans, but with a fish tail covered with scales." It is clear that this author has played his "virgin complex" in his own creations.
In fact, the image of mermaids has appeared in the Babylonian period, but Europeans in the classical period worshipped them as gods. They and the Siren sirens belong to two different camps. Mermaids not only do not bring misfortune to mankind, but are the saviors of mankind.
Some professionals have analyzed that the reason why the image of the Siren will change is because the medieval Western Europeans did not have a deeper understanding of the artistic traditions of ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, and they read stories about the Siren siren from ancient Greek mythological works, and took it for granted that this was a mermaid-like creature.
Some analysts believe that this change in appearance is the author's inspiration from the ancient legends of the Celts. In their legend, the Siren was a woman with a salmon tail.
The change in the appearance of the Siren siren has given this ancient myth some erotic overtones. They no longer control the fate of sailors by singing alone, but also use their beautiful bodies to lure sailors to death, and they become the embodiment of desire. People often chew on a sense of guilt in their stories.
This change has left some creators confused, they do not know which style to follow in their work, is the Siren a bird-man or a mermaid? This is an unavoidable problem. So we find many creators' compromises on these two views in some literary works of the time: krakens not only have fish tails, they also have a pair of wings and bird claws.
However, this mixed-race image became more and more untenable, and the appearance of the mermaid gradually appeared clearly in the human pen.
#03.
The medieval church introduced the alien culture of the Siren into the teachings, and the image of the Siren became lascivious, they represented the three temptations that caused the original sin of men, the singing Siren represented greed, the trumpet-blowing Siren represented arrogance, and the harp-playing Siren showed luxury.
Images of sirens holding musical instruments are painted in the cloisters of churches and monasteries, reminding people of all kinds of temptations. Centuries later, krakens no longer hold musical instruments, and they are often depicted holding a comb in one hand and a mirror in the other. In the Middle Ages, this image represented a "prostitute".
The arrival of the Renaissance breathed new life into the Krakens, and the creators reinvented the appearance of the banshees, making them symbols of angels. However, in the eyes of the creators, they are still the culprits of depravity.
Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream describes the Siren as follows: "A Siren rides on the back of a dolphin, and her singing voice is so gentle and harmonious that it calms the furious sea, and several stars jump out of their tracks madly to listen to the music of this sea nymph."
#04.
In fact, if we want to explain the reasons for the emergence of Kraken culture, we have an example.
Germany's Rhine Valley, with its narrow passages, is the most dangerous section of the Rhine with its cliffs and rapid waters. Over the centuries, it has swallowed the lives of countless sailors. Legend has it that on the cliff here sits a siren named Lorelais, who lures passing sailors with her enchanting song, causing the ship to deviate from course and hit the reef.
In 1823, the German poet Heine's "Lorelei" once lamented this fascinating legend.
The history of mankind's initial conquest of the sea was accompanied by countless blood, tears and death, so the early human beings were full of reverence for the ocean, and when faced with the calamity of the sea again and again, human beings could only curse the demons and innocence that plundered the lives of their companions.
As we slowly conquer the ocean, this subconscious fear gradually fades, and the legend of the Kraken adds a bit of romanticism.
Completely subverting the image of the Kraken was the Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, a great writer deeply troubled by depression who wrote a popular fairy tale, "The Daughter of the Sea", in a collection of fairy tales published in 1837.
In his pen, the sea is no longer terrifying, "the water is so blue, like the most beautiful cornflower petals, and at the same time so clear, like the brightest glass".
The place where the Little Mermaid lived was no longer a nightmare of bloodshed, "the deepest part of the sea is where neptune's palace is located." Its walls are made of coral, and its high spire windows are made of the brightest amber; but the roof is covered with black mussel shells, which can automatically open and close as the water flows... Each mussel shell contains sparkling pearls. Any pearl can become the most important ornament on the queen's hat.
”
It is in this palace that the beautiful mermaid princess lives, "her skin is light and tender, like the petals of a rose, and her eyes are azure blue, like the deepest lake water." However, like the other princesses, she has no legs and the lower part of her body is a fish tail. ”
A good beginning always ends in the form of tragedy, and so does this fairy tale. The little mermaid could not get her love, and finally jumped into the sea and turned into foam.
Before the fairy tale writers, the Sirens were the embodiment of evil, no matter how their image changed, and they possessed the deadly allure of adult women, and only Hans Christian Andersen transformed her into a virgin girl who did not understand the world. The only trait that has been inherited is the charming singing voice.
The story of the Little Mermaid touches the weakest part of the human soul— the yearning for eternal love. Since then, the image of the mermaid has faded from the cloak of demonization, and whenever her name is mentioned, most of the beautiful words such as beauty, innocence, bravery, and self-sacrifice come to mind.
#05.
It is natural that disney's company can put the mermaid culture on the label of "juvenile teeth".
In the 1980s, when The Walt Disney Company was facing bankruptcy, the newly appointed CEO Michael Eisner decided to bring "Daughter of the Sea" by Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen to the screen, and on November 14, 1989, the classic image of the Ariel Mermaid Princess appeared in front of a wide audience.
The animated film, called The Little Mermaid, was a huge success, earning more than $100 million at the U.S. box office when it premiered. The film won two Oscars the following year. The film saved the Walt Disney Company and changed the mermaid's fate.
Even in the Middle Ages, when sirens were thought to be real, some Western scholars described them as half-human and half-animal when introduced to them in natural history, simply put, above animals and below humans. Princess Ariel, who becomes a mother in the film, may cause some minors to resent common sense such as reproductive isolation.
Chinese filmmakers' demands on mermaid culture are also not exempt from vulgarity. In 2016, Stephen Chow directed a mermaid movie. Some people commented that this is a fairy tale for adults.
After the screening of the film, a set of funny scenes that has been mentioned many times is the beginning of the film, and the curator of the Museum of World Rare Animals personally appears on the scene and plays a hilarious alternative mermaid. If you look closely, there are still some sporadic beards on the fat round face. This is the expression of Mr. Zhou's nonsense culture.
However, in The Chinese historical data, there are really such records.
#06.
China's mermaid culture can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. The first mermaid recorded in Chinese history was Hebo. The "Zhuangzi Inner Chapter" introduces him as a god who could cruise the great rivers through monasticism. The historian Sima Biao of the Western Jin Dynasty recorded in the "Biography of Qing Leng" that after taking the immortal medicine, he entered the water and became a fairy in the water. The historian Gan Bao of the Eastern Jin Dynasty said in the Book of Search for God that he was made a river uncle by the Emperor of Heaven after drowning in a river.
The image of these river gods is the human fish tail. In the "Natural history and Strange Stories" compiled by Zhang Hua of the Western Jin Dynasty, it is said: "Xixia Yu looked at the river, and saw the body of the long mermaid: 'Wuhe Jing. 'Isn't it the River Boya?' The Description of Hebo in the Tang Dynasty Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks and Nogao Records" is also: "Hebo, human face, ride two dragons (one is Bingyi, the other is Fengyi). Also known as the human face fish body. ”
From these historical materials, we can judge that although Hebo lived in fresh water, he was the first real-name mermaid in Chinese history. And the man-faced hebo is a man.
In the Song Dynasty's "Taiping Guangji Shuizu", there is a relevant written record of the two sexes of mermaids, and it is said that this text is copied from the "Book of Qiawen": "The sea mermaid, the East Sea has it, the large one is five or six feet long, shaped like a person, and the eyebrows, nose, hands, claws, and heads are all beautiful women, all of which are sufficient." The skin and flesh are as white as jade, scaleless, with fine hairs, five colors of light and soft, one or two inches long. Hair like a ponytail, five or six feet long. The female form is no different from that of the husband and woman, and the widows in the sea are more common and raised in the pond. When you have intercourse, you are no different from people, and you don't hurt people. ”
In some qing dynasty notebook works and county records, we can also find the figure of male mermaids in the ocean. For example, in the "Notes of South Vietnam", "Records of Miaoli County" and "Guangdong New Language", a male mermaid named "Sea Monk" is recorded. As long as you encounter this fish while sailing in the sea, it is a foreboding ominous sign.
Now that I think about it, it is also natural for a population that can reproduce on Earth for thousands of years, and there are male individuals. From this point of view, Chinese has had a simple scientific view since ancient times.
The output of mermaid culture today is not only in film and television works, when you hold a cup of Starbucks coffee in your hand, do you find that the brand's logo is a two-tailed mermaid with a crown?
If we ask a group of children, who is the mermaid? I think most children will answer that she is the red-haired Princess Ariel. How many of these children will stand up and tell us that the mermaid is Hebo Fengyi?
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