waiting for mermaid

Aegean Sea, Çeşme, Boyalık Bay

Tales of mermaids are nearly universal. Various cultures throughout the world have similar figures. The Aegean Sea, it seems, was full of such creatures like mermaids. A popular Greek legend has Alexander the Great's sister, Thessalonike, turn into a mermaid after her death. She lived, it was said, in the Aegean and when sailors would encounter her, she would ask them only one question: "Is Alexander the king alive?", to which the correct answer would be "He lives and still rules". Any other answer would spur her into a rage, where she transformed into a Gorgon and meant doom for the ship and every sailor onboard.