As our characters continue to pursue their mission to hunt down Moby Dick, Ahab’s seemingly vengeful quest slowly reveals his obsessive state of mind that gradually affects his leadership.

This charismatic leader is becoming more maddening over time as his quest for his personal revenge stretches on, jeopardizing the mission and the lives of his men. The more time that passes on the Pequod, the more Ahab is driven further into his obsession, leaving him feeling like he is lacking.

“What trances of torment does that man endure who is consumed with one unachieved revengeful desire. He sleeps with clenched hands; and wakes with his own bloody nails in his palms.” (219). 

This uneventfulness to him is described as torment and his lack of achievements are causing his low morale and deteriorating mindset. This feeling is then manifested in a physicality when it describes him inflicting self-harm—a clear sign of his extreme emotional distress. 

To encapsulate this emotional state, Ahab is then compared to the Greek God Prometheus to reflect on how his continued obsession will eventually lead to godly punishment.

 In the story of Prometheus, the Greek God of striving, he is characterized as having a particular reputation for being a trickster with the fallibility of favoring the humans. His obsession of gaining humanity’s favor leads him to steal fire from the Gods and give it to the humans as a gift. As a result of stealing he was punished by Zeus, who forced him to be chained to a rock for all times and ensured that everyday a vulture would eat his liver that continuously grew back. 

Prometheus’ story can be considered a lesson about the risk of overreaching achievements resulting in unintended consequences. In the context of Ahab, it becomes a metaphor for how Ahab’s obsession will become his undoing.

“God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart for ever; that vulture the very creature he creates.” (220).

 In the line, “that vulture is the very creature he creates,” the vulture is Ahab’s obsession, a feeling that he has made up as a response to losing his leg and blaming the whale for it. Pointing out that the vulture is of his own making, shows that the way Ahab is feeling is simply a construct he made for himself. He chooses to feel this way and project these emotions onto the whale and the idea of taking revenge. So, when he’s unable to attain that, his obsession becomes self-inflicted punishment of the mind. 

 The story of Prometheus is meant to reflect the direction that Ahab’s obsession with the White Whale will take the narrative. It’s clear from Ahab’s recent actions that he isn’t in the right state of mind despite being the captain of the ship. He is not leading with purpose but by obsession that is border-lining madness. If he continues this pursuit of revenge, there will be Godly retribution, most likely in the form of a whale.  His non-stop chase of the White Whale will make him grow increasingly mad, transforming this previously charismatic leader into a chaotic, unhinged force that will lead the crew with erratic passion rather than a captain’s logic. When facing a Leviathan such as the White Whale, one has to be in a clear state of mind or they will die. If the Pequod maintains their pursuit, Moby Dick will be the God that will bring upon Ahab’s death.