Captain Ahab: A Faustian Archetype
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- Taking a look at some of the themes in Herman Melville's timeless classic.
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that did'ny end well.
I'm cancelling Ko-Fi. 😒
@@ladyrotha5420 Yeah thanks for the pints, I suppose it had a good innings but....ah well.
@@MorgothsReview1 Unbelievable.... 🙄
I wish we could board the pequod and piss off somewhere.
Wrote my dissertation on Moby-Dick - all four advisors insisted that Ahab was a proto-fascist figure and Ishmael was a democrat figure and we should side with Ishmael & disavow Ahab. But I kept telling them I love Ahab, he’s incredible! It sort of came out a stalemate, but I think I made a good enough case that Ishmael’s POV is our only point of knowledge of Ahab, and Ishmael might not have the same full measure of wisdom as Ahab had. Remember that line about Pip? Pip saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom, *and spoke it* and therefore his (again: less wise) shipmates called him mad. And Ishmael calls Ahab mad all the time. But that doesn’t mean Ahab is mad - it might only mean that Ishmael hasn’t imagined all that Ahab has imagined. Great vid. Cheers
'' it might only mean that Ishmael hasn’t imagined all that Ahab has imagined. ''
Thanks, and well put.
In a way they’re right. Moby is globalism, Ahab is us, Ishmael is conservatism.
@@WarrenAlog Try some Freudian criticism. Moby is the id. Ahab is the superego. Ishmael is the ego. A friend of mine once said of the Three Stooges, they represent the three types of men. Curly the take charge guy. Larry the guy who agonizes over everything. Shemp the guy for whom everything just happens. But you could make it Freudian too. Shemp the id (life is donuts). Larry the agonies of the ego. Curly the superego, bopping you on the head every time you get out of line. I'm Jungian in my psychology but Jung doesn't work well with the Three Stooges. I admit that.
I love this passage, the line 'man's madness is Heaven's sense' is very powerful for driving this point home
"- all four advisors insisted that Ahab was a proto-fascit figure and Ishmael was a Democrat figure and we should side with Ishmael & disavow Ahab." ... of course they did. 🤮 That sounds like something a 10 yeared liberal prof, or student, would say.
I agree with you & appreciate your perspective. I find it incredibly frustrating, these people, who are so quick to condem that they can't see the forest through the trees.
I feel there is an element of wanderlust to Captain Ahab. It’s this drive to adventure, to explore and conquer the unconquerable, the will of god or the gods so to speak. It’s this eternal Indo-European spirit that drove the Yamnaya across the Eurasian steppes, the Angles across the North Sea, the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock, and Collins, Aldrin, and Armstrong to the moon.
Me in yo mama🤣🤣🤣
@@whiggles9203 Ay, and 'mine' in yours.
Was with you until the Armstrong bit, orbit maybe
@Witchfinder Nielsen that’s an interesting perspective. I wasn’t so much declaring this quality of Europeans to be entirely a good thing, but simply a strong characteristic, and as you point out, it is one that has backfired on us throughout history.
@Witchfinder Nielsen
I disagree, i think the Indo-Europeans have practiced the most restraint and have left the land as organic as possible. Generations old had a deep respect for nature and life, but there open society has allowed infiltration and their open attitude has projected innocence on invaders that were not innocent nor open. They were tribalistic, which has allowed Indo-Europeans and their accomplishments to be exploited. Just look at Europeans and their lack of conspicuous consumption compared with other peoples who suffer from it to a much larger degree. Eminem vs Puff Daddy. You don't see Europeans making toilets of gold even at the height of their wealth.
I'm astounded at how consistently you hit it out the park.
Cheers mate. I wanted to do this one for a long time.
@@orsoncart802 Aye, and he would've had an average of a 100 if he had only scored 4 in his last test innings, but he was bowled first ball for a duck by a journeyman bowler. Beautifully ironic.
What struck me is how many chances Ahab is given to "come back" to humanity. Even before we meet him his two old employers are defending his name, and state plainly that there is no relation between Ahab and his biblical counterpart. Starbuck tries his damnedest to bring Ahab back, and Ahab himself seems to view his hatred and obsession as potentially outside of himself. Then we have his brief bonding period with Pip, which ends abruptly once Ahab realises that if he cares for the boy, he may not be able to kill the whale. It is a force of nature, higher than any man.
It reminds me of Savitri Devi, Ahab would be a man in time, a force of destruction who even after death urges on others to follow him into the depths with a wave.
I forget the name of the character, but there was the scene where schmoozed with another captain who had suffered the same injury. The other captain was genial and accepted what had happened to him as just one of the hazards of the trade. This was yet another opportunity.
Starbuck trying to "bring Ahab back" is no different to me than Satan tempting Christ in the desert. The man has one mission, its his purpose, worth more than all the whale oil and more than all the kingdoms on earth. And purpose is worth dying for, because in pursuing your purpose do you actually live
Imagine Morgoth in the Pub...
"A faustian archetype"
Oh aye, do you design houses?
Hahaha
Underrated comment of the day
Alas, people like Morgoth are no longer in our, now sanitised and refurbished, pubs.
Chapter 37 Sunset "I LEAVE a white and turbid wake; pale waters, paler cheeks, where’er I sail. The envious billows sidelong swell to whelm my track; let them; but first I pass." It's a short chapter of the full Ahab monologue but it's so good. Ahab is MAD.
An interesting counterpoint to Moby Dick is The Count of Monte Cristo. Another great revenge story with a man of will who bends the world around him. Edmond Dantes is motivated by hatred and revenge (even righteously, unlike Ahab who is sore over losing a fight he started). I completely agree that mere hatred and revenge are not enough to define what drives Ahab.
What's the counterpoint?
@@metalema6 Spoiler:
He stops short of carrying out his revenge against the children of people who wronged him terribly because they were important to people he loved before the betrayal. Prior to this he was absolutely down for sins of the father being inherited.
The point is that hatred and revenge can be usurped (Ahab could have helped save a fellow victim of Moby Dick, but that never even bore consideration to him).
The complexity and expressiveness of older literature is really something to marvel at. It's depressing how far we've fallen culturally.
Storytelling in the West is a good microcosm for Spengler's four stages of civilization. Judged on those terms, there can be no doubt we're in our wintertime sadly.
@@HovisSteve Professional editing and systematized style rules. On-the-make literary agents and book editors. MFA programs. Homer today wouldn't make it to first base.
Even Around the World in 80 Days, Phileas Fogg bravely fought Indians with guns on a speeding train. Nowadays, the same Phileas Fogg is portrayed as a coward, while his "brave Passepartout" is either Chinese or black. Modernity has turned everything into a cruel joke, just to mock our ancestors and the beauty of Antiquity.
Now Japanese Literature curbstomps the classics (Even Dostoevsky's books shatter in front of them)
The flawed characteristics of Ahab might
yet save us all, but the cost will be brutal.
With the year that's gone this channel's been filling the void of the wise, salt of the earth character you'd meet in a bar who'd tell old stories in a new way and drop insightful pearls of knowledge about life with
In 170 years we've gone from hunting real whales with harpoons and rowboats to hunting land whales using Tinder. What a decline.
Great comment.
🐳
I like that. But what is it, really? "Land walrus seeks land whale." "Bear seeks buffalo." Oh what a tangled web we weaved when first set ourselves to feed.
Lmaoooooooo
Lmfao
Thanks Morgoth, it's one of a very few books which are enjoyable many times in many ways. Which I have. Melville spent 3 yrs as a deckhand on a whaler, and you can tell.
Just picked up a hardback copy from a charity shop not too long ago, probably 60 or 70 years old.
The copy I have lists it along with other books on the back as 'Books For Boys'. This was considered an entry level read for children/teenagers at one point.
Not sure about that. Moby is awfully long for a teen to read. I had it assigned in an upper division lit class I took as an adult. I did finish it but only years later. Assigning it high school might be kind of a stress test because who actually finishes it, or if they did really took in all of it?
Fun fact: Melville's works fell out favor in his own lifetime. They weren't revived in America until the 1920s.
In a way I think you could say they didn't so much fall out of favor, with the implication that they had some to begin with, as they never really gained any steam until after he died. this is more common with authors and people realize, but especially American ones. HP Lovecraft is another guy who comes to mind.
@@Laotzu.Goldbug Melville's first 2 books, "Typee" and "Omoo," were celebrated bestsellers, providing Melville with enough income to write fulltime. His 3rd novel, "Mardi" was a failure, however, and by the time he wrote "Moby Dick" in 1851 he was all but forgotten, until the 1920s, as our friend Yehuda points out.
this video sets my European methylated bio-sprit stove ablaze. Thank you 🙏
Holy crap, Christmas came early. You have no idea home much I've wanted to hear your comments on classic literature.
This ocean is going to be the most unforgiving. It's gonna take someone of tremendous will to want to take this one on.
A brilliant video, Morgoth, with superb images. It's very telling that Ahab, as a living lightning rod, bears the scars of heaven's fire as he was struck and its burning mark crosses his face. As though he had been charged by God to fulfill his horrible destiny as a timeless moral legend.
"I love all who are like heavy drops falling one by one out of the dark cloud that lowereth over man: they herald the coming of the lightning, and succumb as heralds." - Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche
Whence Morgoth came, in truth, none could speak to. His watchful yet soulful eye none could glance at sake being judged. But his target was not them, this they knew, lest they ignored his words. His hatred was of hatred itself and this they knew was an enemy worthy of the hunt. But still, most turned away in fear, not of him but of the fight itself.
"Gan canny bonny lad 'am behind yi."
Fantastic as usual 🐳
Thank you
The Wyrd and the White Whale.
Never actually read Moby Dick but I still feel an affinity for the themes.
Another great video Morgoth, as always, I had a whale of a time.
Har Har me hearty
@@MorgothsReview1 'death!.. You know him... It's moby dick".
Ahab walking the creaky deck!
What a great intro!
Another terrific video. I imagine morgoth dressed in oilskins at tynemouth circa 1890.Viewed from inside ,like the whale all our dreams are unobtainable.
That's where I think I was meant to be but I ended up in this age somehow haha
Cheers
@@MorgothsReview1 👍🏻
Insightful as ever.
This is the best description of Faustian ideas I've found.
Nice cheers.
I must say this captures Ahab’s character perfectly, his vibe reminds me of a quote from doctor sleep, “a man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes a man”, only in this case it’s “a man hunts a whale, the whale takes his leg, and then hate takes a man”
Love all the artwork.
"Two weeks to flatten the curve, c'mon Lads, we'll be back before Christmas..."
"Last one to Berlin's a rotten egg!"
Once again, Geordie Evola nails it
What a true gem of a video. Really knocked it out of the park with this one mate. Kudos.
Thanks a lot, this one was long gestating.
Symbolic of a multicultural ship, captained by a crazed European man,, chasing down whiteness itself.
Sounds like Winston Churchill.
Sounds like every British PM this past 100 years smh
"Fellow" European*
Does Ahab represent Eldridge Cleaver's omnipotent administrator taking it past the point of madness? In one of my lit papers, I explained Tom Sawyer in terms of Cleaver's theory. In my master's thesis, I applied Theodore Kaczynski's theory of the power process to the character of Antonia Shimerda in Willa Cather's _My Antonia._ I'm not very nice, I guess. Cleaver was a serial rapist. Kaczynski was a serial bomber. Both could be rightly classified as domestic terrorists.
Well, in that case, Ahab was looking in the wrong place. The first place where white humans ever walked the earth were the Caucasus mountains in Asia; present-day Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
One for the algorithm.
So I know this video is a couple years old at this point, but I wanted to share a realisation I had a while back about this story. It's surprisingly Lovecraftian when you look at it. Moby Dick is to Ahab like the outer entities are in Lovecraft's stories; unnatural, alien and maddening to behold. Like many Lovecraftian characters Ahab realizes the smallness and insignificance of himself when faced with the insurmountable entity before him and has an existential crisis. His way of coping is to dedicate himself fully to vanquishing the whale, to affirm to himself that he holds power after all and isn't merely a flickering flame that can be blown out at the whim of some greater thing. Quite fitting that the story is about the sea, athing that Lovecraft feared (among many things).
Cthulhu is a beast of the great dark depths.
I can see the similarities.
My mind is now on the way towards the mountains of madness.
😱
This video really captures the European bio spirit, great work.
Haha you must follow my telegram
Faust in my eyes personnifies man's refusal to be limited by the natural order, the arrogance that makes him believe he's capable of self-determination but makes him willfuly blind to the boundaries of his essence, and ultimately just like Lucifer always leads to his fall.
Extremely comfy video
"All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it." ~Moby Dick, Chapter 41
One of your best.
Thanks mate.
this wont end well
Brilliant, Morgoth. Yet another job well done.
You're helping to preserve our ethnos by celebrating its culture.
As a retired Commercial Fisherman this resonates to me...To make a long comment short, I feel a connection to Ahab. The "whale" in our lives may kill me/us but the whale will parish with me/us.
Captain Ahab is one of those truly larger than life characters befitting the epic journey the Reader/Audience is taken on. I’ve always struggled to get invested in various Novels, however Moby Dick struck a chord with me from a young age.
Brilliant storytelling
As a long-time fan of Moby-Dick, this is greatly appreciated. Nicely done, sir.
I was compelled to find out who captain Ahab was after reading the preface of my book "Pathology of Domestic Animals "
it reads, "our reasons for writing the pathology of domestic animals are as insubstantial but as compelling as those which committed captain Ahab to the pursuit of Moby Dick, and we offer no excuses "
it got me fascinated to find out who captain Ahab was
Fantastic!! loved every second of this
Virgin ship captain vs the Chad whale.
At 12:54, I think that's my edit from my page! If so, that's awesome! I'm glad someone liked it enough to use it! (I think it's mine because of how warm are the colours)
Meanwhile, I have only a mere 729 subscribers (*sad face*)
Nice picture
Brilliant. Divvent stop bonny lad.
I've always wondered if God was the Whale to Modern Atheists, unable to deal with anything they couldn't quantify and explain.
Well as an Atheist I Strive to understand the Universe on its Terms God is an attempt to make the Universe fit a Human narrative
@@leebennett1821 I can respect that, in my experience, most atheists are looking to destroy any vestiges of faith in the world, with the only understanding they embrace being, it's all random.
The Trouble is God Belief has Certain Doctrines which must be Adhered to Much of Which I consider immoral it's the Imposing of Religious Doctrines on others I object too
@@leebennett1821 That isn't unique to theological ideals, plenty of book burning, and imposed doctrine from atheists as well. I suspect that's a negative attribute of civilization and tribalism.
@@deecap71 Atheism has no Droctine it is not a World View in fact you can be an Atheist and Still be Religious as an Atheist I merely Act as if God did not Exist but that Doesn't I wouldn't like to impose my will on others it Just means a wouldn't use God as an excuse
Been thinking on this concept. I think Ahab is a representation of our will to survive gone wrong in an archetypal way. Some people have a 'superhuman' ability to triumph through adversity either for what they believe to be good or just to survive, always set like a magnet against the elements of death and destruction. If the psyche gets fooled into believing that it's own atomized vision is more important than the whole, the will is still left to work.
Thanks again
I'm fascinated by Ahab. I love the book (and also the Gregory Peck's movie).
More of a spiritual connection to the sea, eh? Sure your not an Innsmouth man?
Forty years since he first went to sea. Only 3 years spent on land. He left behind a young wife with but one dent in his marriage pillow, and a child he will never know.
The will to subjugate the unknown.
I thought you might pick up the themes in this one.
@@MorgothsReview1 I read it for the second time only a few months ago, and I actually feel that Ahab's speech right before the final pursuit was the more important of the two.
I got the feeling that Ahab was just about ready to give up the chase, but then Moby Dick reappears to ensure that Ahab fulfils his side of the bargain.
Absolutely perfect analysis Morgoth
Fantastic stuff, very atmospheric
Classic stuff. Thanks, Morgoth. Cheers!
Ever since being a young boy and seeing the film, I was struck by the power of the story. When I did finally read the novel , some 30 years ago now, I was struck by its literary merits. A really interesting take from Morgoth's Review, has me thinking I want to read the book again.
That was quite motivational 👏
Iv seen the film and know I'm gonna read the book!
I'm looking forward to reading it one day.
I just finished Jack London's "The Sea Wolf" and it's a cracking read. Fairly heavily influenced by Moby Dick I suspect.
Mr. Starbuck Come about Sir, Starbuck knew the ship was doomed soon as he heard Ahabs speech.
EXCELLENT REVIEW. I AGREE WITH. EVERY WORD.
Check out Jed McKenna's 2nd book. He basically states that Moby Dick is a book about enlightenment. Where Moby represents illusion. Ishmael is actually Ahab. He states in the first sentence of the book, "Call me Ishmael." Ahab is the breakout archetype. Like Arjuna in the baghvad Gita. Jeds books are definitely worth the read.
R. Will check out.
Obligatory bump
Brilliant again Sir.I salute you
This Faustian spirit, I have noticed, seems to appear in many films. The Lighthouse (2019) would be an obvious example, but also the Germans in Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Russians in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (both Indiana Jones movies), I'd say you have Bowman in 2001, to some extent Tom Cruise in EWS, maybe even the copper in the Wicker Man played by Edward Woodward. Those narratives all have men driven to do anything to uncover the mystery that lies beyond their reach, only to grasp it at their own expense (maybe excepting Tom Cruise from that, although you could also say he paid with something other than his life, depending on how you read that film's conclusion). Two twists on the Faustian type would be Pat Bateman, who realises after his descent into depravity that "there is no catharsis", and so is left at the edge of emotional climax for his actions, and also the Tarkosvky film Stalker, which I imagine many haven't seen, and so I won't spoil, however in that too is a drive for the unlocking of the ultimate mystery, but I'd have to rewatch that one to make up my mind on the end of the film.
Fantastic video as always, this one was spot on.
“All men’s lives are enveloped in whale lines.”
Superb
The Faustian sprit maybe dying but Prometheus still lives. Time to take the fire from the gods
Thar she blows! 🐳
Awesome video, really makes me want to listen to 'Leviathan' by Mastodon.
Stirring stuff.
I've been meaning to view this in one sitting after Morgoth's take on Paradise lost. It's interesting to view the parallels between Satan's degeneracy from a rebellious idealist into outright monstrous tyrant and the descent from a Faustian man from a desire to overcome all obstacles to knowledge and progress to an obsessive maniac who has to bend all actions of those under and around him towards the object of his obsession, with said object invariably occupying that position usually because it's something he can't control
Nice bit of synchronicity having just bought a copy last week. I was amazed that it was published in 1850, 2 years after Marx and Engels communist Manifesto and European revolutions against monarchs. There is a menacing chapter called the 'Whiteness of the whale' which Melville casts incredible hatred not of the whale but its whiteness. And that the 'Pequod' was a symbol of diversity and inclusion pays a strange resonance to cultural malaise that we are plagued with today.
Great commentary with the tinge of the Scottish accent makes for great listening.
Anybody who says to just let go of your anger has never been truly angry. This is why ahab is such a great character
Morgoth, have you watched the recent adaptation of “Poldark”? It’s a great show and not even very pozzed, it’s more like Whig propaganda. I think you might enjoy the program and would enjoy seeing your take.
No sorry I haven't watched tv for years. I have heard it isn't that bad though.
@Babblebrox I got married in a small guest house with the Poldark mine chimney in the back ground. Cornwall is beautiful
It gets pozzed after 3 seasons. Those first 3 seasons are amazing though
@Godward Podcast is the most based academic on Moby Dick. He lost his teaching job due to being doxxed and smeared by a tribe member of our greatest ally.
Even Hemingway’s “Old man and the sea” holds many of these themes and he was considered a socialist by certain folk on the left. Yet one of his best friends was Ezra Pound. I think it’s permanents in certain individuals of the west/indo European.
This is truly a great video. I'm glad to have checked out your channel.
Very well done. Impressively good. Thank you for your work
Brilliant presentation, I appreciate this sort of content quite a lot 👌
good video
The Gregory Peck rendition of Moby Dick....still the best cinematic representation of the book
Nothing comes close.
Tankyo mogoth take the frute. Shine lite of truth to unedukate tong.
Respect & Support from "the sWaMp"
?: Are you unable to do the strolling through woods content because of restrictions
No I did one recently for Odysee
One of your best video's yet!
Beautiful and tragic. Thank you. On my reading list.
Haven't watched yet, but I think I know what you're talking about. Years ago, I read Moby Dick while recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed. The way the book talked about the Whiteness - synonymous with life and beauty - of the Whale, and how it was that aspect of it that made the whale's anger so dreadful, immediately convinced me that it was a metaphor for God's wrath.
My understanding, very early on, was this: Moby Dick was less a whale and more a metaphor for a pursuit that ran against God's designs. Ahab was, in effect, a man trying to alter God's order, and who destroyed himself in the process.
The Pagan rituals, like filling the harpoons and - if I recall correctly - drinking from them, were almost like corrupted versions of worship.
And yet, like Feanor in the Silmarillion, I found Ahab to be a massively charismatic figure. Both are essentially Overmen; both look at the world as it is and reject it in favor of a dream or desire of their own. It's something I think all men feel somewhere in our hearts. I think there's an element of Ahab in a lot of Engineering and Science: A.I, Transhumanism, Atomic Weapons.
Edit: 11:30, That's a very good way of putting it.
I like the paintings by Aivakoskvey.
Well, Of Course I Know Him. He's Me.
An incisive and thoughtful review. I imagine students who are studying this book will be drawn to your video. It's great that so many students all over the world will be hearing "our" accent!
I find Victor Frankenstein to be a very Faustian character.
I'm pretty sure Faust was forgiven and saved by the Angels at the end of his story, if I remember properly
In away no movie can capture the size and power of Moby Dick .He is creature that exists better in our imagination .I think Moby Dick represents nature and how nature was tamed by the European man in those days of empire
'Soaring rhetoric'. If only you could bottle Morgoth's sayings..
Have you ever read four quartets by TS Eliot? Anyone who sees this comment should give it a go
It also stands to mention that Captain Ahab stands out against the focus on naturalism within the novel. The novel often references natural environments and has a fixation on nature in which contradicts Ahab’s own defiance to it.
Moby Dick represents the futility of trying to conquer nature itself and, in turn, God’s creation.
Ahab is Hagen chasing the dragon rather than Siegfried.
Nice one. I just read The Niebelungenlied. Impressive how the author makes one (me anyway) sympathise with Hagen to a degree by the end, even though previously one might see him as the lowest traitor imaginable.
@@Vingul As a young boy I had three audio cassettes of the Nibelungen saga. Back then Hagen obviously was the villain to me. It took some time for me to realize that Hagen wasn't a murderer but the actual hero.