NCHS AP English Language

Nekyia allusions - Nathan Sheptock

Nekyia, coined in Greek mythology as "a journry into the night," is depicted in Odysseus' journey to the Underworld to speak with the prophet Teiresias, leading to his transformation and return from there to his home. This same "descent, transformation, and return" is paralleled in Dante's Inferno, as well as the Biblical stories of Jesus Christ and Jonah and the Whale, which is referred to in the first sermon Ishmael hears in Moby Dick, yet another story containing a depiction of nekyia. As portrayed in the sermon which Ishmael hears, in which Jonah "descends" into the mouth of the whale, paralleled with Hell, Ishmael must soon face his own descent into "Hell," more than likely the upcoming battle with the great whale.He may do this knowingly in hopes of achieving his own personal transformation, which will finally settle his "restless soul" and reveal his true significance in the vast and mystifying world of the sea.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 10:24 PM