 |
|
 |
 |
|
The world is full of stories about brave heroes, magical events and fantastic beings. For thousands of years, humans everywhere—sometimes inspired by living animals or even fossils—have brought mythic creatures to life in stories, songs and works of art. Today these creatures, from the powerful dragon to the soaring phoenix, continue to thrill, terrify, entertain and inspire us.
We seem to catch glimpses of these creatures all around us: hiding beneath the ocean waves, running silently through the forest and soaring among the clouds. Some symbolize danger. Others, we think, can bring us luck or joy. Together mythic creatures give shape to humankind's greatest hopes, fears and most passionate dreams.
|
Creatures of the Water examines the kraken, sea monsters, mermaids, and other beings that inhabit the depths of the open ocean and give form to some of water's essential mysteries.
|
Don't miss:
|
 |
 |
 Illustrations of Sea Monsters in 16th century books and maps
When European explorers like Christopher Columbus set out on their voyages of discovery in the 1400s and 1500s, they were literally sailing into uncharted waters. Sea monsters were a concern for them, and frightening rumors ran rampant. Sailors' tales were sometimes the only first-hand information available about ocean animals. These stories ranged from accurate observations to honest mistakes to outright tall tales, with no way for even the most objective naturalist to separate fact from fiction. The meticulous drawings of sea monsters in European natural history books from the 1500s and 1600s reveal the overlap between science and legend at that time.
|
|
|
 Section of a tentacle from a giant squid (Architeuthis kirkii)
The complete specimen was caught by fishermen near New Zealand in 1997 and shipped frozen in ice to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The entire animal measured 25 feet, which is not even large by giant squid standards: some can grow to 60 feet. Many mythic sea monsters include features from living animals. A large tentacle becomes part of a monstrous sea serpent or many-armed kraken: the eye sees a fragment, the mind fills in the rest. A blend of tall tales, mistaken identity and resonant cultural symbols, stories of sea monsters often reveal more about the minds of the imaginers than they do about the natural world.
|
|
|
The Feejee Mermaid
People have been making these fake mermaids for at least 400 years, taking the head and torso of a monkey and the tail of a fish and sewing them together. Created first in the East Indies, hundreds were eventually made for sale to British and American sailors. The most spectacular mermaid hoax was pulled off by the famous showman P. T. Barnum. In 1842, Barnum tricked thousands of people in New York City into paying to see a fake mermaid supposedly caught near the Fiji Islands.
|
Continue to more Exhibition Highlights. >>
|
|
|
|
