Unlike other fictional characters, the work of H.P Lovecraft, is considered to be written of true events by many. This is because dreams and dreamlike phenomena, significantly influenced Lovecraft's literary career. He has claimed that many of his inspirations and characters have occurred in his dreams. Dreams are sometimes considered as a period of time where a human consciousness enters another realm or remembers his past lives. Through these beliefs, many argue that Lovecraft was actually speaking the truth and that the characters mentioned in his work are real. Cthulhu is a monstrous deity introduced in Lovecraft's story “The Call of Cthulhu”. He is considered a member of the Great Old Ones whom Lovecraft describes as a group of powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep. Another version of the story claim that Cthulhu and his followers were identified as the great old ones. In fact, Cthulhu is considered the leader or the ruler or the high priest of this cosmic god pantheon.
In the beginning, these deities ruled the earth, and after some time they became dormant, and their city slipped under Earth’s crust beneath the Pacific Ocean. As for some descriptions, except for a few deities like Cthulhu and Ghatanothoa, the rest of the great old ones are said to be existing outside of normal space-time. Those who coexist with humans are generally imprisoned or restricted in their ability to interact with people, unless they get released. Cthulhu is also mentioned by other names such as Master of r’lyeh, and The Great Dreamer. These titles mainly originate from the fact that Cthulhu is believed to be living in the great city r’lyeh and is in a deathlike sleep. Even though the human mind is incapable of processing the physical form of the deity, Cthulhu is described to be a massive hybrid of human, octopus, and dragon form. He is usually depicted as being hundreds of meters tall, with webbed arms, tentacles, and a pair of rudimentary wings on his back. Its head is depicted as similar to the entirety of a gigantic octopus, with an unknown number of tentacles surrounding its supposed mouth.
It is said to be so terrible to behold that it destroys the sanity of those who see it. He remains a dominant presence in the eldritch dealings in our world. Cthulhu is said to be the son of Nug, who is a god of demon-like beings or monstrous humanoids identified as Ghouls. Nug sired Cthulhu through parthenogenesis, which means giving birth to offspring asexually. Given that the deity is not a being from this planet, it is believed that Cthulhu was born on the planet Vhoorl, which is a planet in the "Twenty-Third Nebula". The great old ones arrived on earth when the earth is very young. But it is unknown why or how they came to earth. Cthulhu is said to father many children.
Just like Nug, Cthulhu himself impregnated his daughter Cthylla, who is a huge winged octopus-like creature with six eyes. Idh-yaa is considered the first mate of Cthulhu. With her, he had three sons named Ghatanothoa, the lord of the volcano, Ythogtha, the thing in the pit, and Zoth-Ommog, the dweller in the depths. The name Cthulhu has been believed to be derived from the ancient Greek word “Chthonic” which has the meaning "of the earth". So the name has a meaning of the sort of “the earthy dwelling spirit” or “earthly deity.” But Lovecraft himself has often remarked that the name of the deity is from an alien language. So it is difficult for humans to pronounce it. This is the reason why Lovecraft introduced different pronunciations of the god’s name at different times. But over time the name Cthulhu became widely accepted, even though it might not be the name of the god. Often in text, Cthulhu is often written together with terms such as, Great, Dead, or Dread. So it would be as "great Cthulhu" or "dead Cthulhu" or "dread Cthulhu".
At the time of the arrival of Cthulhu and his followers, the earth was inhabited by a race of beings called the Elder Things. Cthulhu wage war against them and settled in the stone city of r’lyeh. The city was built using unearthly stones and statues to honor the great Cthulhu. There is a debate as to if the elder things were defeated in the battle or if Cthulhu agreed to live in peace with them. After humans came into existence, Cthulhu communicated with them through telepathy and even dreams. Soon after, r’lyeh sank beneath the ocean, trapping Cthulhu inside his great city. The reason for this sudden sinking is unknown. Some argue that it is because of another alien invasion, some say it was an attack from the elder things and others say it is a result of a natural occurrence mainly because the earth was not compatible with their alien builts. But a small group of people remembered Cthulhu.
Even in its deathlike sleep, Cthulhu was able to communicate with those who remembered him. The connection with the sleeping deity passed on through generations and from them emerged the cult of Cthulhu. The cult is said to be centered in Arabia and is spread worldwide. Some stories claim the leaders of the cult are immortal. Lovecraft in his short story “Call of Cthulhu”, describes an immortal cult leader living in the mountains of China. So there are theories that these cult leaders are actually the ones who made the connection with Cthulhu when r’lyeh sank and has been living an immortal life since these old days. The cults normally conduct their rituals in remote places, especially on islands and Lovecraft describes them as an uncivilized group of people. These groups had statues of Cthulhu that seemed to be made of materials not found on Earth. They chanted the phrase “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu r’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn” which translates to, “In his house at r’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming”. This is often shortened to "Cthulhu fhtagn," which might possibly mean "Cthulhu waits," "Cthulhu dreams," or "Cthulhu waits dreaming." Other stories claim that the worshipers themselves are not human. These stories identify the worshipers as Deep Ones, which is an ocean-dwelling race but are interested in mating humans. Regardless, these groups believe that great Cthulhu would be awakened from his slumber with the help of the cult when the time is right, and would rule the world again.
The most significant appearance of Cthulhu occurs in the short story The Call of Cthulhu by Lovecraft. Just like many stories, this as well is inspired by a dream. As for it, the great deity gets awakened and released into the earth. Everyone who witnessed the monster, suffered from insanity, which was then followed by death. Even though Cthulhu is regarded as a terrifying monster it is difficult to say whether he’s evil or good, since his motives are unknown. According to Lovecraft, humans can never fully understand Cthulhu because his very existence is beyond mortal comprehension. This might be the reason why Lovecraft himself has sometimes deviated from his original description of the deity as he moves on with different stories. The interesting concept Lovecraft created around the great deity has influenced many, even at present time. Even though he is referred to as a deity, none of the stories clearly specifies his powers, other than a few mentioned powers such as telepathy and influencing dreams. So it's difficult to say if Cthulhu is actually a deity or just a monster who lives in the depths of the sea. These unclear aspects make Cthulhu a more interesting figure which would continue to influence modern culture.
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