Exploring the Sea Myths from Diverse Cultures Around the World

Humans have been sailing on the sea for eons. Those that have sailed have come back with stories about creatures roaming under the expanse of the seas. These stories about mythical monsters abound across cultures in places where people have lived next to the sea for centuries. Some myths have multiple versions, each one transforming a bit over time and depending upon the narrator. We take a look at the myths behind the Heikegani crabs, the Isonade, Kraken, Scylla, mermaids, and sirens here, followed by different explanations that have been given for the sightings of these mythical sea creatures.

Mythical creatures of the Sea

Heikegani

Heikegani, also known as the Samurai Crab, is a species of crab local to Japan. The Heikegani crabs have a pattern on their shells that looks akin to the face of an infuriated samurai. So the story goes – as narrated in The Tale of the Heiki – that it was the Heiki warriors that were sunk at the bottom of the sea, following the Battle of Dan-nu-ura, who came back in the form of the Heikegani crabs. It is their faces on the shells of these crabs because these warriors were reincarnated into the Heikegnai crabs.

The Taira clan (also known as the Heiki clan), the imperial rulers of Japan in the 12th century, and the Minamoto clan (Genji clan) were at war, where the latter was trying to seize the crown. The last battle in this war, the Genpei War (1180-1185), was the Battle of Dan-nu-ura. The Taira clan, led by their child-emperor Antoku and his grandmother Taira no Tokiko, fought bravely but they were heavily outnumbered. As defeat, death, and pain loomed over ever more imminently, Taira no Tokiko took her grandson, the emperor Antoku, and jumped into the sea. Many of their warriors did the same. Antoku was worshipped as the “god of the sea” thereafter, and the samurai came back over time, reincarnated in the shape of the Heikegani crabs.

Isonade

The Isonade, or the “beach stroker”, is a mythical monster that lives off the coast of Matsuura especially, but also other areas around the western coast of Japan. The Isonade is a creature that looks somewhat like a shark perhaps, but no one knows for sure. This is because, as related in Ehon Hyaku Monogatari – a picture book about supernatural beasts and monsters from the 19th century-, the Isonade has never really been seen by anyone because it hides under the waves. The only part of it that has ever been seen is its tail covered in countless small barbs.

When the Isonade is about to approach the boat, strong winds start to blow. That is the only signifier for all the rest the Isonade does extremely stealthily. If you do not look out for the sudden strong winds, you will miss the sign that it is fast approaching, or that it is already here. The Isonade uses its tail to ensnare the people in the boat and drags them down into the bottomless pit of the ocean, where it devours them. Sometimes, it uses its tail to simply capsize the boat and take its feed of sailors from the ones that it has just toppled into the sea. It can also use its tail to strike and sweep a beach and take its kill from there.

Kraken

The Kraken, from Norse mythology, is a sea monster that resembles something from the Cephalopod family (octopuses, squids, and the likes). It is gigantic and fearsome, and lives off the coast of Norway and Greenland. The myth has it that they are so huge that when they appear, they look less like fish and more like land. It is said that there probably are only two Kraken,  which seem to be unable to reproduce and that expalins why they do not increase in number. It is said they always appear in the same spots, i.e. in the Greenland Sea, which borders the coasts of Greenland and Iceland, and the Norwegian Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Apart from wreaking havoc for the sailors, it is a cause of terror for the other fish in the sea too. When the Kraken grows hungry, it swallows up the ships and boats nearby. Alternatively, when there are no ships around, it opens its gigantic mouth and belches so its food comes up a bit. The fish around believe it is food that they can feed on and rush towards it, only to be eaten up by the Kraken. Sailors who believed this myth, would be able to preempt running into the mouth of a Kraken by looking out for the signs around: small rocks protruding from the surface of the sea could be its nostrils and lower jaw ajar, and an island that is not an island but sinks would be a sign that it is the Kraken’s head in fact! The sailors would then skirt around such areas.

Scylla

Scylla, from Greek mythology, was a beautiful nymph – a female nature deity tied to a specific landform – turned into a loathsome monster that devours sailors from the decks of ships. The story has various versions. According to one, Poseidon, the sea god, falls in love with Scylla and claims her for himself. When Amphitrite, Poseidon’s second wife, hears of this, she grows infuriated. Amphitrite then poisons the spring where Scylla always bathes. Scylla goes in for a bath, and turns into an ugly monster. In another version, Glaucus – the fisherman who turned into a sea god – falls hopelessly in love with Scylla. Scylla, however, is not at all intrigued by his piscean form and leaves for a raised land where he would not be able to follow her. Gluacus, heart broken, goes to the enchantress Circe and asks her for a love potion that will help Scylla see love in him. Circe, however, finds herself becoming entranced with Glaucus. When Glaucus does not return her affections, Circe seeks to do away with her rival and poisons Scylla’s spring, where she always bathes. Scylla takes a bath in the spring, and turns into an ugly monster, with four eyes, six serpentine necks, three rows of sharp, shark-like teeth, six heads of dogs around her waist, a dozen tentacle-legs, and the tail of a cat.

Sirens

Sirens from Greek mythology were creatures that were different combinations of a woman and a bird. In early Greek art, they have been depicted as birds – all with feathers as well as scaly feet – except the head, which is an enlarged head of a woman. This was followed by them being later depicted as creatures with the body of a woman but the legs of a bird, and it could have or not have wings as appendages. By the 7th century, sirens had the upper half of the body that of a woman, and a fish’s tail as their lower half of the body. Sirens are known to be dangerous creatures who sing in their enchanting voices and play music that entrances the listener, in order to wreck ships. They could even “charm” the winds, thereby concocting a successful shipwreck.

Mermaids

The mermaid is a mythical creature which lives in the sea, and has the upper body and head of a woman, whereas the lower body is that of a fish – a fish’s tail, to be precise. Myths about mermaids exist around Europe, Africa and Asia. A story from the ancient Assyrian empire (a Mesopotamian empire from the 25th century BC to 612 or 609 BC) relates the goddess Atargatis to have transformed herself as a punishment for accidentally having killed her human lover. The conception of mermaids is said to have derived from Sirens in Greek mythology. Sirens were half-women and half-bird-like creatures, which morphed into half-women and half-fish-like creatures in the Christian era.

Mermaids have a male counterpart, called a merman, but mermen have very rarely been seen: it is mostly the mermaids that have been spotted by the sailors. Mermaids can either be benevolent and helpful, or they can be vengeful and vicious. In folktales and modern stories as well, mermaids are usually linked to a catastrophic event at the sea, such as a storm, a shipwreck, a flood, or a drowning incident. They have been represented as beautiful seductresses that appear to lonely sailors on long voyages. Then, when they have enticed the man enough, they drag him down into the dark waters.

Other Theories and Interpretations

It is possible that these myths have a basis in actuality; that these creatures actually exist and those that would come back with stories about them were actually afforded kindness or cruelty at the hands of these creatures. However, alongside these stories and accounts, other theories explaining why people have had these sightings have accumulated over the years as well.

Carl Sagan, in his television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, explained that the Heikegani crabs exist in such a large number off of the coast of Japan, because every time people would end up getting these crabs in their catch, they would throw them back into the sea out of respect for the Heiki warriors. Over time, due to this unintended artificial selection, the population of Heikegani crabs increased in the seas. Others, such as Joel W. Martin, dispute that, to say that people do not use Heikegani crabs for food anyway, which means there should be no increase in their rate of population growth to begin with. Moreover, these crabs have not developed these samurai faces over time either, because the ridged pattern on the shells of these crabs is actually where a lot of their muscles attach, and so it has a functional purpose that it serves.

But why are there samurai faces on these crabs to begin with, regardless? Pareidolia is the term given to the tendency in human perception to give meaning to stimuli, especially visual, which means they tend to see patterns or faces in objects where there are none. This could perhaps explain why we see the samurai faces in those crabs. Though it could just as well also be that the myth holds substance, and we are too eager to deny it because it does not fit into our model of science as we know it right now?

The Kraken has been explained away by how it is possible that the sailors might have been looking at giant squids instead. Giant squids can grow in size up to 13 to 15 feet! Similarly, a theory about mermaids posits how lonely sailors at sea would actually see a seal or a manatee swimming next to their ships, and mistake them for a mermaid. Call it a willful illusion? Another theory compounds this one to talk about how these sailors would be at sea for extremely long amounts of time. In time, they would develop a deficiency of Vitamin C which can lead to scurvy. Scurvy is a biological condition caused due to extremely low levels of vitamin C in the body, and it affects the gums and teeth in humans, which start bleeding. But slightly severe cases of scurvy also cause hallucinations. These mermaids could then be a result of extreme loneliness and hallucinations while out sailing in the sea for extended periods of time.

Conclusion

It is also interesting to note how the image of mermaids as beautiful seductresses who are also deadly resonates with the modern conception of a woman – the femme fatale. The femme fatale is a woman who is “sexy” but is extremely deadly and will kill you too. This gets one wondering about how pervasive this theme is when it comes to representing an “ideal” woman in the media and literature. Folklore recounts sightings of mostly mermaids and not mermen. This too makes one wonder about who the author of these folklores was. Whether these creatures existed down to the letter as described by people out in the sea, or not, is left up to the reader to make sense of. What is interesting, though, is how and why – if they did exist – the human imagination has morphed them into something different, and if they did not exist, how and why did we end up constructing them out of thin air?