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The Flying DutchmanThe legend of the Flying Dutchman - a ghost ship cursed to sail forever - has been a common theme over the centuries. Some people trace its origins back to Homer's Ulysses and the later tale of the Wandering Jew. A variation appears in Coleridge's famous poem The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Wagner wrote an opera called Der Fliegende Hollander and more recently a heavily modified version of the legend was used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
What Is The Flying Dutchman?Given the number of different versions of the Flying Dutchman story it's impossible to give a definitive answer to that question. It's not even clear whether the title "Flying Dutchman" refers to a ship or to her captain. Give the close association between the two and the tradition of a captain going down with the ship it's arguable that there is little difference.The "modern" legend is usually traced to the 17th or 18th century (occasionally as late a the 19th), some time after the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. It is said to refer to a ship named The Flying Dutchman that was attempting to navigate around the Cape of Good Hope during bad weather. The captain - often named as Vanderdecken - was a stubborn man who refused to give up despite the treacherous seas and storms. He swore that he would complete his voyage even if it took him until doomsday. As a result of that foolish hubris he, his ship and his crew were cursed to sail the seas in the Cape area for the rest of eternity. That seems a bit harsh on the crew, but then the sea never was fair. Since then sailors - especially in the Cape region - have reported sighting of a mysterious "ghost ship" and its presence often foretells doom.
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