"The Sailor and the Mermaid"
"Η γοργόνα και ο ναύτης"
The sea and its impact on the legends and traditions of our people
With most of our blue planet covered by water, it's little wonder that, centuries ago, the oceans were believed to hide mysterious creatures including sea serpents and 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 with a woman's body and a fishtail ,glimpsed by sailors on their long voyages or even in harbours. Greek mythology contains stories of the god Triton, the merman messenger of the sea. The sea has an enormous impact on the legends and traditions of our country and obviously many other countries.
Stories about mermaids and sailors have passed from one generation to another involving mainly the people of the sea, captains, sailors or fishermen ,from father to son, from grandfather to grandchild. They have been kept alive for centuries and they motivate the children's imagination until today. Sometimes historical events merge with fairytales and the final story sounds like a real one! Like the Greek legend of Alexander the Great and his sister, the Mermaid , the Gorgona with the two tails who seeks for her beloved brother wandering in the seven seas....
We presented this story to the 3rd and the 4th grades of Escola Josep Monmany Amat in Barcelona during our mobility there; we also presented it to the 3rd grade of our school and we noticed that both groups, even coming from two different school communities responded with the same enthusiasm, interest and excitement. The most popular end they came up with was that of the mermaid diving to th ebottom of the sea and saving her beloved sailor!
(Our story has been adapted to meet the needs and language skills of both the Spanish and Greekpupils )
We can all watch the story here and read more about it in the attached file below.
You can also dance the song of the mermaid, a popular Greek song danced by the 4th graders of our school. The Spanish pupils also learnt how to dance it.
With most of our blue planet covered by water, it's little wonder that, centuries ago, the oceans were believed to hide mysterious creatures including sea serpents and 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 with a woman's body and a fishtail ,glimpsed by sailors on their long voyages or even in harbours. Greek mythology contains stories of the god Triton, the merman messenger of the sea. The sea has an enormous impact on the legends and traditions of our country and obviously many other countries.
Stories about mermaids and sailors have passed from one generation to another involving mainly the people of the sea, captains, sailors or fishermen ,from father to son, from grandfather to grandchild. They have been kept alive for centuries and they motivate the children's imagination until today. Sometimes historical events merge with fairytales and the final story sounds like a real one! Like the Greek legend of Alexander the Great and his sister, the Mermaid , the Gorgona with the two tails who seeks for her beloved brother wandering in the seven seas....
We presented this story to the 3rd and the 4th grades of Escola Josep Monmany Amat in Barcelona during our mobility there; we also presented it to the 3rd grade of our school and we noticed that both groups, even coming from two different school communities responded with the same enthusiasm, interest and excitement. The most popular end they came up with was that of the mermaid diving to th ebottom of the sea and saving her beloved sailor!
(Our story has been adapted to meet the needs and language skills of both the Spanish and Greekpupils )
We can all watch the story here and read more about it in the attached file below.
You can also dance the song of the mermaid, a popular Greek song danced by the 4th graders of our school. The Spanish pupils also learnt how to dance it.
