Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Cthulhu, myths and the Ancients

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Created by Phillips Lovecraft, Cthulhu is one of the most famous characters in science fiction and horror books. And although during the life of the writer his work remained in the shadows, almost a century has passed since the day of his death, and the plots, characters and atmosphere of the works still fascinate not only readers, but also other writers.

Short biography of the author

Howard Lovecraft is an American writer. He is known for his short stories and novellas in the genres of mysticism, horror and fantasy. A distinctive feature of his work is the originality of style and ideas.

Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1890. In 1937 he died there. He was 46 years old. He is one of the most famous writers of his genre. His name is known along with such a master of mysticism as Edgar Allan Poe, but during his lifetime Lovecraft was not awarded the attention of the general public. Real fame came to him years later.

Cult character

Cthulhu is an aliendeity. It has the ability to influence the consciousness of living beings. This character first appeared in Howard Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu.

Outwardly, the creature resembles a hybrid of a humanoid with an octopus. A description in the fictional diary of Captain's Mate Gustaf Johansen tells of a creature that oozes mucus every time it moves, with a greenish torso that has a gelatinous texture and has very fast regeneration. Cthulhu has an impressive size.

The portrait of this creature is depicted on a clay bas-relief created by the character Henry Wilcox. He depicted a monster with a head studded with tentacles, a human-like body, and skin covered with dragon scales.

Lovecraft's Cthulhu has the ability to influence the minds of other beings, especially humans. Since the deity is under water, this skill is muted, and it can only control dreams.

Mythology of the Ancients

Cthulhu is a representative of the alien race of the Ancients. The deity is in a state between sleep and death. It lives in the mysterious island-city of R'lyeh, which rises from the ocean depths above the surface of the water when the stars align in the right way.

In the story "Call of Cthulhu" a monster sends dreams to people so terrible that many go crazy from them. It is a pure product of the cosmos, alien to human nature. All earthly life is no more than a moment of his sleep. Many cults and sects are convinced ofthe boundless power of this idol and are waiting for its awakening, although with a high degree of probability this will lead to the death of all mankind.

In the later years of his creative activity, Howard Phillips Lovecraft's Cthulhu received a detailed description. For example, he has three pairs of eyes.

In the earliest work, Cthulhu was awakened by an accident that happened on a ship passing near his habitat. The explosion caused massive damage to his body. This allowed the crew to escape, but after only a few minutes the monster was able to recover again. Although he has no special physical strength, he is strong in telepathy and regeneration, which makes him immortal.

In a board game based on Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, an alien creature was defeated with a nuclear bomb. The explosion sent him back into hibernation.

The plot of "Call of Cthulhu"

Lovecraft created a work consisting of three parts complementing each other. The story follows the diary of Francis Thurston, a Boston resident investigating the activities of cults worshiping the idol of Cthulhu.

Horror in Clay

At the beginning of the work, a strange bas-relief is described, which depicts a deity named Cthulhu. Thurston finds this artifact in the personal belongings of a relative of Professor Angell. The very same image is made by the sculptor Henry Wilcox. It is noteworthy that the sculptor created it while in a state of half-asleep. At that time, Henry Wilcox was also suffering fromhallucinations in which non-existent cities appeared to him. Many residents of the city had similar nightmares. Mostly creative people suffered from this - sensitive and easily receptive.

Later, Henry takes his creation to Professor Angell. By a strange coincidence, this bas-relief looked like a figurine confiscated by police from one of the members of a New Orleans religious sect.

Inspector Legrasse's story

The action begins with Legrasse's speech at the symposium, where he talks about how he took part in the capture of a sect whose members were followers of the Cthulhu cult.

The ideology of the sect is described by him as cruel, destructive, blasphemous. They performed rituals with sacrifices and staged chilling orgies. After the appeal of local residents with complaints and statements about the disappearance of people, the police caught several sectarians, and the activities of the organization itself were completely stopped. Unfortunately, the interrogations of the captured sectarians did not bring results, as they defended the truth of their beliefs.

Deep Sea Madness

Legrass's investigations continue in the third part, and the reader learns about the Norwegian sailor Johansen, who was the only survivor after a strange incident.

After a pirate attack on the ship where Johansen served, the surviving team has to transfer to a pirate yacht. There they discover a strange idol that summonsunaccountable horror. This god was an image of Cthulhu and looked like a figurine seized from sectarians. The crew decided to continue their course, after which they stumbled upon an unknown island, on which the city of the Ancients is located.

A few days later, the island is again hidden under water, and nightmares no longer torment people. Later it becomes known that Johanson himself died, but how and where is unknown.