Dark Origins, African Myths and Legends: Stories of the Western Cape – The Flying Dutchman #Ghoststories #FlyingDutchman #TableMountain
Posted: July 27, 2022 Filed under: Dark Origins, Ghost Stories, Mythology and Legend | Tags: African Legend, Dark Origins, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Writing to be Read 42 Comments
In the late Middle Ages, the spice trade from India and the so called Silk Road from China were of economic importance to Europe. After Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 the European overland trade routes were disrupted and they needed to find a sea route to India and China.
Christopher Columbus attempted to find a sea route to India by travelling westwards. He discovered the Americas.
Portuguese explorer, Diogo Cão, explored the African coast south to present-day Namibia, and, in 1488, Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, discovered the Cape of Good Hope. In 1498, Vasco da Gama headed an expedition which led to the Portuguese discovery of a sea route to India. This route around the Cape of Good Hope (current day Cape Town) came into use by the European East India Companies.
The Cape of Good Hope was also known as the Cape of Storms because of the treacherous winter storms that resulted in a total of 26 shipwrecks at Cape Point alone.
Legend has it that when Bartholomew Dias rounded this Cape of Storms and saw Table Mountain, he thought he was seeing a gigantic titan of the deep with it’s head veiled in white clouds. He imagined that the tides that foamed around the foot of the great mountain were the titan’s roar. The moment of Dias’ first sighting of this titan was described in the poem, Lusiadas, by Portuguese poet, Camoes. Camoes called the monster Titan Adamastor and depicted him as condemned to dwell imprisoned forever in the ‘furtherest confines of the south’ – the Cape of Storms. According to the poem, this sentence was passed by Jupiter when the Titans were vanquished following a war between these deities that lasted ten years. Adamastor and his brothers were imprisoned in various huge mountains around the world. Adamastor was filled with bitterness at his imprisonment and at losing the love of the queen of the sea, Thetis, and he swore eternal vengeance on all who should approach him and disturb his solitude. He shouted his rage and warnings of doom at Dias when he rounded the Cape.
In 1500, Dias returned to the Cape of Storms on his way to Sofala. As his fleet rounded the Cape it encountered a violent storm. Four of the ships, including the one captained by Dias, disappeared and Adamastor’s warning was fulfilled. From this unfortunate maritime disaster, the legend of the Flying Dutchman came into being.
The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship which is said to have never been able to make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever.
According to Wikipedia: “According to the legend, if hailed by another ship, the crew of the Flying Dutchman was said to try to send messages to land, or to people long dead. Reported sightings in the 19th and 20th centuries claimed that the ship glowed with a ghostly light. In ocean lore, the sight of this phantom ship is a portent of doom.” You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Dutchman
This is my reading on YT of the story of The Flying Dutchman from Myths and Legends of Southern Africa by Penny Mills:
About Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
Roberta has short stories and poems in several anthologies and has two published novels:
* Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy; and
* A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.
Roberta has ten children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.
Roberta was educated at the University of South Africa where she achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. She was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.
Roberta has worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and has written seven publications relating to investing in Africa. She has won several awards over her 20-year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.
Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5
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That story has always fascinated me, Robbie…
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HI ladies, I am glad you enjoyed this post. It is an interesting story and I didn’t know how it originated.
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I absolutely love this story
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Hi Beth, I am thrilled to know that. The Flying Dutchman featured in Pirates of the Caribbean so it’s quite famous.
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I like that story very much, Robbie and it’s delightful to hear you read some of it.
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Hi Dan, I am very pleased you enjoyed this post and video.
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Crazy time in the history of world commerce. Good story. I’ve never heard the whole thing before.
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Hi Jacqui, I came across the origin of the myth and the poem by accident and thought it was very interesting. I don’t think it’s well know which is why I decided to share it here this month.
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Reblogged this on and commented:
This month’s Dark Origins, African Myths and Legends post on Writing to be Read discusses the origins of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. I’ve also included a reading of the story. Thanks for hosting Kaye Lynne Booth.
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☺️
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I’ve heard of The Flying Dutchman but didn’t know the story behind it.
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Hi Denise, it is an interesting story, isn’t it? It would make a good horror story.
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Interesting about Table Mountain and Dias. And I didn’t know the origin of the Flying Dutchman; that’s kinda chilling! Excellent post, Robbie!
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Hi Priscilla, I thought it would make a great horror story. It is rather chilling.
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A great story. Thanks for sharing it. I love these legends. Of course, we learned about Vasco da Gama and the Cape of Good Hope in school.
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I must admit that for all my years on this earth, this is the first time I have read so much about this legend! Fascinating.
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HI Annette, it is a great history, isn’t it? I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
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I’d heard of the Flying Dutchman, but I never knew the story behind it. Thank you for sharing it and reading it to us.
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HI Liz, I am pleased you enjoyed this story and origin. The Flying Dutchman featured in the Pirates of Caribbean films so it is well known.
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The only thing I remember from “Pirates of the Caribbean” is Johnny Depp playing Keith Richards as a pirate.
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Haha, he is rather unforgettable in this series.
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😀
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I echoed many of the comments that I had heard of the Flying Dutchman but didn’t know the story behind it. Thank you for your reading. The story is fascinating, Robbie.
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HI Miriam, it is a great story, isn’t it? I found it fascinating too.
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Yes, Robbie, I’m more familiar with the opera by Richard Wagner’s Flying Dutchman based on this story. So I learned this story in a different way.
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I didn’t know about the opera, Miriam. I’ll look on YT and see if I can find out about it. Thank you!
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I Googled it, Robbie, and got the synopsis of the 3 acts. I haven’t seen the opera, but it sounds dramatic. I’ll see if I can find the full version on YouTube.
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Thank you for sharing the story of the Flying Dutchman! I knew of it, but had never heard its fascinating origin. I can imagine how frightening it was to sail into one of those legendary storms.
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HI Patty, thanks for visiting. It is an interesting story. I have experienced Cape storms from inside houses and that is bad enough with the wind literally howling and roof tiles flying off.
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Such cool tales to share. Thanks.
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I’m glad you enjoyed, Craig.
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What an amazing bit of legend and history, Robbie. Thanks for sharing!
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Hi Jan, I am delighted you enjoyed this post.
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I enjoyed this post very much, Robbie. I love myths and legends, and I’ve been curious about The Flying Dutchman for a long time. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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HI Vashti, I am really pleased to know that. I came across this information quite by accident in the book I cited which is out of print now.
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It’s interesting how people’s vivid imaginations can become bigger than life and carry through history like The Flying Dutchman- Thanks for the background on this legend, Robbie.
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HI Jacquie, it is hard to imagine how fearful and superstitious people were back then.
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Reblogged this on Ed;s Site..
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Thanks for sharing, Ed.
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Thanks Ed. 🙂
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Another one of the many posts I didn’t get. I don’t know what’s going on with WordPress’ servers, but I only seem to get maybe half my mail. I get tons of OTHER mail — mostly advertisement AND about 500-600 spam messages EVERY day. But notifications of posts? Sometimes.
Anyway, this was a really interesting post. A lot more information than I had before. Thank you!
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HI Marilyn, I have reverted to reading posts from the reader and have lists for my favourite bloggers because I kept not getting notifications. Anyhow, I am really pleased you enjoyed this post about Marco Dias and the ‘titan’ he discovered.
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