Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship in folklore. There are many versions of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. The most common story involves the sighting of a phantom ship as it attempts to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. However, the captain has been cursed and his crew consists of dead men. The ship never reaches port and is doomed to sail on eternally. According to some versions of the legend, the curse resulted from an act of cruelty by the captain, perhaps aboard a ship carrying slaves. Other versions say he bargained with the Devil and lost.
The theme of the Flying Dutchman has been used in a number of literary and musical works. The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge based his poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1798) on the legend. The German composer Richard Wagner adapted the story into his opera The Flying Dutchman (1843).
