Ahab
Ahab is a biblical king of Israel whose pursuit of the prophet Elijah and marriage to Jezebel made him a byword for wickedness.
The name now evokes obsessive, self-destructive pursuit—most famously through Captain Ahab in Melville's *Moby-Dick*, who sacrifices his ship and crew chasing a white whale: He's gone full Ahab over this lawsuit.
Epic whaling novel
- whaleHuge sea mammal
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
- PequodFictional whaling ship
- monomaniacOne obsessed with something
Melville · harpoon · vengeance · captain · Ishmael · Queequeg · Starbuck · white whale
Male crowned ruler
- IsraelMiddle Eastern nation
- ElijahOld Testament prophet
- idolatryVeneration of false gods
- BaalAncient Canaanite deity
vineyard · prophet · wicked · Samaria · Old Testament · apostasy · judgment · chariot
Persistent, intrusive preoccupation
- monomaniaFixation on single idea
- vengeanceRetaliation for injury
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- downfallSudden loss of power
pursuit · fixation · tragic hero · nemesis · relentless · driven · self-destruction · fanaticism
Moby-Dick
Epic whaling novel
Melville · monomaniac · harpoon · vengeance · captain · Ishmael · Queequeg · Starbuck · white whale · nemesis
king
Male crowned ruler
Baal · vineyard · prophet · wicked · Samaria · Old Testament · apostasy · judgment · chariot · dogs
obsession
Persistent, intrusive preoccupation
downfall · pursuit · fixation · tragic hero · nemesis · relentless · driven · self-destruction · fanaticism · determination
- Melville CharactersIshmael, Queequeg, Starbuck, Moby Dick, Billy Budd
- Captainscaptain, sea captain, ship captain, boat captain, navy captain
- cautionary talesIcarus, Prometheus, Faust, Dr. Faustus, Pandora
- historical rulersJulius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon Bonaparte, Cleopatra, Alexander the Great
- literary charactersSherlock Holmes, Scout Finch, Elizabeth Bennet, Macbeth, Huck Finn
- seafarerssailor, seaman, mariner, able seaman, merchant seaman
AhabIshmael
Cast-out firstborn son
Siddhartha · Starbuck · Job · Marcus Aurelius · Ecclesiastes
Mendicant order founder
Jacques Cousteau · Thoreau · John Muir · Noah · Jonah