Damned sailor

There is a creature known by all seamen, a figure so horrible, it fills even the bravest of all sailors with nervousness and fear. Of course, there are no real monsters, this is just a made up tale. The question is: Who invented the creature I am about to describe? Was it an ancient Greek storyteller or did a more modern mind produce this idea?

The monster in question is a terrible anthropomorphic sea creature. As the captain of a ghost ship, he sails the sea looking for sailors who are about to die. To save their lives, he demands from them a hundred years of service on his ship. Our creature also controls and commands a huge squid, capable of dragging entire ships into the sea within seconds, killing all people on board.

The power to control death stems from a past event in the creature’s life. Before turning into a monster, he was a human, mortal, and an excellent sailor. One time, however, he fell in love with a nymph of the sea. She asked him to get on a ship and collect the souls of the dead seamen to bring them to the next world safely. After ten years of hard work on sea, he would be allowed to go on land and meet the goddess. But on the day they were supposed to meet, she did not turn up and left the poor sailor waiting. In his anger, he rebelled against her and he became a cruel, monstrous being full of hate. His love for the goddess never faded though, that’s why he decided to cut out his heart, which was filled with pain, lock it inside a chest and keep it away forever.

What do you think? Is our heartless, damned sailor a creation of the ancient Greeks or was it invented much later?