According to Greek legend the half-sister of Alexander the Great, Thessalonike, turned into a mermaid when she tried ending her life by jumping into the sea. A mermaid statue on the Greek island of Thasos commemorates this legend. map
The pedestal of the statue has inscriptions on three of the four sides.
Mermaid!
You’ll return with golden tentacles
emerging from the breathing waves
Mermaid!
The edge of youth will bring you back
Where we tied up our Love to the pier like a boat
With loosened hair, the sea will take our tears
Pearls in Your hands
On the shore of Thassos you will leave me
hidden in the sand under the sky
Mermaid!
Before the first light touches you
– Diamantopoulou Filippidou Andromachi
It wasn't an island
It was a beast lying on the sea
It was the mermaid
The sister of Alexander the Great
Who was mourning
and storming the sea
- Nikos Kazantzakis
This Mermaid statue commemorates the folklore
tradition and sentiment that we want Alexander
the Great to live forever in our souls.
Sculpted by Emil Adamec in snowy white marble
from Thassos, it was sponsored by “Philippidi
Marble”, and placed in the area of the Port
Authorities of Thassos, during the presidency
of Nikolaos Zafaroglou and the mayoralty of
Eleutherios Meresis
July 2008
References:
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessalonike_of_Macedon
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Kazantzakis
● The Mermaids of Earth coffee-table book: See page 97 in the book about this sculpture.
