The Whale: A Cultural History

From a biblical monster to a kind hero of children’s books—this new engrossing study by Michel Pastoureau analyzes the evolution of the image of whales in world culture.

Whale, the largest animal on our planet, has captivated people since time immemorial. Since seeing a living whale is a rare pleasure, in ancient times stories about whales were brought to land only by sailors. Thanks to these accounts, the whale became a kind of semi-mythical creature, and its image became the subject of numerous fantasies and speculations. For a long time, the whale was imagined as a frightening beast—a biblical monster in the service of evil. Medieval bestiaries depicted the terrifying denizen of the deep as a servant of the Devil. New Time authors were hardly more indulgent, emphasizing the whale’s cruelty: it was a cannibal and the main enemy of a sailor, like Moby Dick—that savage white sperm whale from Melville’s novel.

But over time the whale’s image changed: the monster of the deep became a touching creature deserving pity—an unfair victim of greed and violence. Today the whale is a friendly hero of hundreds of children’s books, peacefully swimming across the oceans, and sometimes across the skies.

This book by Michel Pastoureau is devoted to the frightening myths about a sea-depth creature, the depiction of whales in literature, and its representation in culture.

Translation from French — Stanislav Mukhamedzhanov. Scientific editor and author of the preface — Mikhail Muyzuls.