Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration

Terra Australis
"Terra Australis Nondum Cognita" is the large continent on the bottom of this 1570 map by Abraham Ortelius

Antarctic Region, 1848
The known Antarctic region after the 1819–1843 period of intensive exploration.
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/challenger.html location

The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era beginning at the end of the 19th century and closing with Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, the survivors stepping ashore in Wellington, New Zealand February 9, 1917. Historian Aant Elzinga gives the much later date of 1945, considering World War II to be the turning point in Antarctic research. During this period the Antarctic continent became the focus of an international effort that resulted in intensive scientific and geographical exploration and in which 17 major Antarctic expeditions were launched from ten countries. The common factor in these expeditions was the limited nature of the resources available to them before advances in transport and communication technologies revolutionized the work of exploration. This meant that each expedition became a feat of endurance that tested, and sometimes exceeded its personnel's physical and mental limits. The "heroic" label, bestowed later, recognized the adversities which had to be overcome by these pioneers, some of whom did not survive the experience; during this period 19 expedition members died.

Furthermore, the heroic label recognizes the romanticism with which the Antarctic landscape was dealt with. The explorers of this age are not remembered merely as scientists and sailors; stereotyped as on one hand objective, calculating, and on the other rude, unrefined. Rather, these men are remembered also as poets, photographers and artists. Ernest Shackleton is often considered the greatest poet of all the Antarctic explorers. His poem 'A Tale of the Sea' is reminiscent of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, though Murray, Scott, Amundsen and many others have made notable contributions to Antarctic literature and art. Moreover, this artistic expression is closely knitted with the nationalism that is prevalent leading into and including World War I, making these men more than explorers but heroes of the nation. Consider the following patriotic lines found in Shackleton's 'A Tale of the Sea':