Myths and legends 

Illustration: Grant Mathieu

From biblical animal to film star, the myth of the whale endures. In the bestiary of legendary animals, the whale occupies a place of choice, arousing both terror and fascination. Over the centuries and around the world the myth of the whale has travelled through stories, tales and legends.

The whale carries us down to the underworld… 

Undersea depths represented an enigma inhabited by creatures with powers of Good and Evil. Passing through the belly of a whale simultaneously symbolized hidden treasure, a descent into Hell and an initiation before the resurrection. The Leviathan of the Bible—sometimes described as close cousin to the whale—is able to destroy the world and swallow the souls of men. The prophet Jonas, who was judged responsible of a storm that he had predicted, was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a “large fish”. He remained in its belly for three days and three nights before being regurgitated.

 In the Islamic tradition, the whale is a symbol of a support for the world and its convulsive movements are earthquakes. The legend of Saint Brendan recounts that this VI Century Irish abbot came ashore on an island, set up camp and lit a fire before realizing that he was on the back of a whale that was preparing to dive. The albino sperm whale in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick travels the oceans to perpetrate evil. Captain Ahab, having fallen victim to Moby Dick who ate his leg, is devoured by thoughts of revenge and sails the world’s oceans searching for the monster. The encounter proves fatal to the captain’s ship, which sinks under the assaults of Moby Dick.

 … or guides us to the best… of ourselves

To this day, coastal Vietnamese fishermen venerate the whale as a goddess. After harvesting their skeletons, the fishermen would perform spectacular ceremonies to worship stranded whales, imploring them for successful fishing expeditions or protection against shipwrecks.

Although the IV Century B.C Greek philosopher Aristotle had already noted that whales were mammals, we had to wait until the second half of the XX Century to go through the looking glass into the phantasmagorical waters to conduct scientific explorations. Cetacean research, which is only about 30 years old, has already answered many questions. Yet, many more remain! These marine mammals continue to provoke a certain amount of passion. Some of them have become film stars. Which leaves us to question the imprint the ancient chimeras have left on our collective imagination…

Whales resemble us enough for us to project our vision of the world on them, affecting our interpretations of their behaviour. Someday, when the mythification begins to fade, science will supply us with the keys we require to better understand these fascinating animals so that they can take their rightful place in the reality of the animal world, all the while preserving our part of the dream.