Subway Myths, Fears and Superstitions

Humans have always been fascinated by mythological tales of heroes and heroines entering the underworld,  often to seek answers to their misfortunes, but often finding only tragedy.

Orpheus descended into the Underworld to be reunited  with his wife Eurydice. Despite entrancing the dead with his singing voice, his enterprise failed tragically.

Theseus ventured below ground  to tackle the Minotaur.  He lacked the mythical equivalent of our wonderful London Underground Map to guide him to the monster's lair - just a ball of string thrust into his hand by a girl who loved him.

In 1918 in the New York subway, this myth inspired the  use of multi-coloured 'strings' painted on subway walls to guide passengers to their destinations.

Odysseus, in order to return home, visited the  Underworld to gain valuable advice from the dead.

Aeneas travelled to Hades to speak to the spirit of his dead wife, Dido, but her bitter ghost refused to acknowledge him.

To modern sensibilities such myths seem irrelevant.. Yet in 1872 printmaker and engineer, John Martin, published his illustrated version of Milton's Paradise Lost. Milton's poetry gives a vivid description of the bridge from Earth into Hell.

But in his interpretation of this scene, which he called Bridge Over Chaos, Martin substitutes Milton's bridge for a causeway with a tunnel stretching into infinity. The similarity between this work and underground engineering projects of the day won't have been lost on contemporary viewers

This link will give you an idea of the impact of Bridge Over Chaos (which seems to be under copyright on the internet) whilst the following video shows many of the dramatic illustrations to Paradise Lost that Martin created, including the Bridge Over Chaos.

Martin's work was not purely a product of his creative imagination. His  work was deeply influenced by perfectly rational engineering engravings he had seen,  which anticipated the completion of a tunnel under the Thames.  The engineer, Marc Isambard Brunel,  was constructing just such a subterranean tunnel which would eventually allow the public to cross by foot under the Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping. 

What Martin understood was the psychological effect such seemingly practical undertakings had on the public imagination.

As mentioned above, John Martin was not only an acclaimed artist.  He was also an  engineer and reformer. His dark, apocalypic vision of an underground world touched the contemporary imagination.

In the wake of the Industrial Revolution great feats of urban engineering had left some sections of the public with a sense of fear and anxiety. This sensation of being overwhelmed was accompanied in some quarters by outrage that men should trespass into the Underworld.

For them Hell was real.

Nevertheless, the Thames Tunnel (known by cynics as The Great Bore), opened in March 1843 and for twenty-three years was a subterranean pedestrian crossing point from one side of the Thames to the other. Despite having been the scene of occasional banquets and orchestral concerts for the rich, ultimately it became the haunt of the dispossessed, known by them as 'The Hades Hotel'.

Today one section of it  is part of the London Underground Tube system. For a fascinating day out visit The Brunel Museum with opportunities to visit the Thames Tunnel on certain dates.

Compared to our 19th century forebears, Londoners and commuters the world over may appear nonplussed about travelling on the Underground. The exploits of heroes and heroines of antiquity hardly seem relevant compared to the relentless, boring routine that is the daily journey under the streets of the capital.

After all, during the Second World War Londoners were happy to snuggle up together on Underground platforms whilst Hell raged above.

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Yet relatively recent terrorist events on the London Underground and the Japanese metro can lay bare ancient fears that were once buried deep.  

When the journey is over and commuters finally ascend towards the light, feelings of sub-conscious relief are no less intense than those of any mythical hero. After all, these 'heroes' only endured the journey once - most commuters go through hell twice a day.

Now that is heroic!

Sources:

• Labyrinths of Iron: A History of the World's Subways Benson Bobrick (Newsweek      Books, 1982)
• Art and the Industrial Revolution Francis D Klingeder (Granada Publishing, 1975)