31 Movies About Mermaids

Table of ContentsWhat is the origin of mermaid movies? Although many people seem to think that the mermaid legend started with Hans Christian Andersen’s famous 1836 short story “The Little Mermaid,” legends of a half-fish/half-human creature have permeated cultures throughout the world going back thousands of years.The first recorded story of a mermaid—which is the female version of a “merman,” and together they are known as “merfolk”—is the Assyrian goddess Atargatis, who appeared in a myth originating around 1000 BC. According to legend, Atargatis fell in love with a human shepherd, killed him by accident, then jumped into a lake in shame, but the lake could not conceal her beauty and so she continued living.The Greek sirens were females who sang beautifully and were originally depicted as half-human/half-birdlike, but the sirens began appearing as mermaids—which is an Old English portmanteau of mere (sea) and maid (young woman) in Christian retellings of Greek mythology.In many vers...