Character

First Fisherman in Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Role: Poor fisherman and unlikely savior of a shipwrecked prince First appearance: Act 2, Scene 1 Last appearance: Act 2, Scene 1 Approx. lines: 15

The First Fisherman appears in a single scene—Act 2, Scene 1—yet serves as a crucial agent of providence in Pericles’ journey. He is one of three working fishermen who encounter the shipwrecked, half-drowned prince on the shores of Pentapolis. Where a lesser man might have turned away or seen only a burden, this humble fisherman recognizes in Pericles a fellow human in distress and responds with immediate practical kindness: offering his own coat to warm the stranger, inviting him home for food and shelter, and eventually helping him procure the armor he needs to compete in the tournament for Thaisa’s hand.

What distinguishes the First Fisherman is his moral clarity and his sardonic wisdom. He sees through social pretense with the directness of someone who has little to lose by speaking truth. When Pericles, weakened and desperate, claims he has never begged, the fisherman replies with pragmatic humor that neither judges nor flatters—he simply accepts the man as he is and offers what he can. His famous observation that “the great ones eat up the little ones” functions as a mirror held up to the play’s larger themes of power, vulnerability, and the arbitrary cruelty of fortune. He describes the rich as whales that devour the poor, using the metaphor naturally, from his own world of fishing, yet the social critique cuts deep.

The fisherman’s generosity is not sentimental or condescending. He does not ask Pericles who he is or where he comes from; he acts on the principle that “things must be as they may,” accepting circumstance without bitterness. When he later helps Pericles obtain his father’s armor from the sea—recovered in the fishermen’s nets as if by chance—he expects payment but does not demand it, trusting instead to the prince’s word. This is a man of genuine honor, living without title or estate, yet embodying the loyalty and courage that the play associates with nobility. In his brief appearance, the First Fisherman demonstrates that virtue is not the possession of kings but the choice of any person, and that the smallest act of mercy can redirect the course of a prince’s fate.

Key quotes

Why, I’ll tell you: this is called Pentapolis, and our king the good Simonides.

Well, I’ll tell you: this place is called Pentapolis, and our king is the good Simonides.

First Fisherman · Act 2, Scene 1

A fisherman answers Pericles' question about where he has washed ashore, naming Pentapolis and its king. The line matters because it is the first indication that Pericles has arrived at a place of goodness and order—a counterpoint to the corruption of Antioch. It sets the stage for a kingdom that will teach him about nobility and restore his hope.

Ay, sir; and he deserves so to be called for his peaceable reign and good government.

Yes, sir; and he deserves to be called that for his peaceful rule and good leadership.

First Fisherman · Act 2, Scene 1

The fisherman vouches for King Simonides' character, praising his peaceful rule and fair leadership. The line lands because it establishes Simonides as the moral opposite of Antiochus—a ruler whose worth is earned, not demanded. It shows that true power rests on the consent and respect of the governed.

Why, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones: I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale; a’ plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful: such whales have I heard on o’ the land, who never leave gaping till they’ve swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all.

Well, like men do on land; the big ones eat up the little ones. I can compare our rich, greedy men to nothing better than a whale; it plays and tumbles, driving the poor little fish before it, and in the end swallows them all in one go: I’ve heard of such whales on land, who never stop eating until they’ve swallowed the whole town—church, steeple, bells, and all.

First Fisherman · Act 2, Scene 1

A fisherman describes the natural hierarchy of the sea—large creatures devouring small ones—and compares it to wealthy men who devour the poor. The line stays with us because it is a glimpse of the play's darker truth: that appetite and greed operate according to their own laws. It reveals the moral cost of allowing power to go unchecked.

Where First appears

Act 2, Scene 1 Pentapolis. An open place by the sea-side

First Fisherman in Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Key quotes

Relationships

First Fisherman & Pericles

First Fisherman & Second Fisherman

First Fisherman & Third Fisherman

Where First appears

Hear First Fisherman, narrated.