Who was the First Mermaid?

Mermaids have brought joy to our lives for many centuries. Mermaids can be found throughout all history. This leads one to ask the questions, “Who was the first mermaid?” and “Where do mermaids come from?”

Atargatis: The First Mermaid
The first recorded story of mermaids can be traced to 1,000 BC in Assyria. The ancient story tells of Atargatis, the goddess of fertility, love, and the sea. Atargatis fell in love with a human shepherd. Atargatis accidentally causes the death of the man she loved. She was filled with great grief and plunges herself into a lake. The Gods didn’t want to lose Atargatis and her great beauty so they transformed her so she would survive in the water. The God’s allowed her face and upper body to remain in the form of a human and gave her a tail like a fish, resulting in the first mermaid.

Sirens
Sirens can be traced back to Greek mythology and are described as having beautiful and alluring voices which lured sailors to their deaths. Their close relation to the sea helped influence mermaid mythology.

Oannes
Oannes is described as a fish like being who emerged from the sea to teach people wisdom and knowledge of the sea. Oannes wasn’t a mermaid in the traditional sense we think of a mermaid, but she was a deity with characteristics of both the land and the sea.