25 Facts About Captain Ahab

1.

Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.

2.

Captain Ahab is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship Pequod.

3.

Scholar F O Matthiessen calls attention to the fact that Ahab is called an "ungodly god-like man".

4.

Lawrence felt little sympathy for Captain Ahab and found that the whale should have "torn off both his legs, and a bit more besides".

5.

The character of Captain Ahab was created under the influence of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's lecture on Hamlet and figures in biblical and classical literature such as Shakespeare and Milton.

6.

Captain Ahab is firmly established in popular culture by cartoons, comic books, films and plays.

7.

Captain Ahab was named by his insane, widowed mother, who died when he was twelve months old.

8.

At age 18, Captain Ahab first took to sea as a boy-harpooner.

9.

Less than three voyages ago, Captain Ahab married a sweet, resigned girl, with whom he has a young son.

10.

Captain Ahab has been in colleges and among the cannibals, and has seen deeper wonders than the waves.

11.

Captain Ahab has fixed his lance, the keenest and surest on the isle of Nantucket, in stranger foes than whales.

12.

Captain Ahab lost his leg during his most recent whaling voyage, leaving him with a grim disposition and a strong desire for revenge against Moby Dick.

13.

Captain Ahab's leg includes a small flat patch that he uses as a slate for making navigational calculations.

14.

Peleg and Bildad pilot the ship out of the harbor, and Captain Ahab first appears on deck when the ship is already at sea.

15.

However, Captain Ahab should be considered both in relation to the allusions and in contrast to the other characters.

16.

Captain Ahab interprets these prophecies to mean that he cannot die on land or sea, but they prove to be accurate if cryptic predictions of his death.

17.

The line around Captain Ahab's neck serves as the fatal hemp, and Moby Dick's final dive allows Fedallah to lead Captain Ahab to his death.

18.

Charles Olson mentions three modes of madness in King Lear, the King's, the Fool's, and Edgar's, allegorized in the book, with Captain Ahab taking the role of Lear and Pip the roles of both the Fool and Edgar.

19.

Milton's Satan is "not the least element of which Captain Ahab is compounded," says Nathalia Wright.

20.

In "The Candles," Captain Ahab is temporarily stricken by blindness, an allusion to the Oedipus myth.

21.

Oedipus and Captain Ahab are intelligent and ignorant at the same time, excessively proud, and both face a riddle.

22.

Captain Ahab is "shrieking in pain" as the ship's blacksmith holds a fiery, hot-bladed tool against his stump.

23.

Captain Ahab has been portrayed on television, beginning with Victor Jory's portrayal in 1954 on the Hallmark Hall of Fame and including portrayals by Patrick Stewart in the 1998 mini-series and William Hurt in the 2011 mini-series.

24.

Captain Ahab appears quite frequently in humorous comic strips and cartoons.

25.

German doom metal band Captain Ahab is named after the character.