Subject: (urth) Third Rock from the New Sun

From: Robert Borski <rborski at coredcs.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 18:36:25 +0000

Time for another of my far-fetched genealogical forays. Lupines still
reeling over my claim that Catherine, Sev's Mom, is Valeria's daughter,
might be advised to skip this one.

This one's about aliens, the cacogens of Urth.

As most of us are well aware, all the aliens in the New Sun series have
mythic, as opposed to saintly, names. (Father Inire's is a little hard to
discern, but it's Abraxas.) Three characters, however, have names that are
*both* mythic and saintly:

Paeon/Palaemon (who are the same entity), and Merryn. 

Merryn's name is a variant on Myrine, meaning 'sea goddess' (note: Palaemon
too is a marine god). Robert Graves lists the following variants of
Myrine--Marian, Ay-Mari, Mariamne, Marienna, and Mariandyne--I suspect if
we looked hard enough we could find a Merryn, or weld one from a
combination of the above. Also note how Wolfe at one point describes Merryn
as an oread, a sea nymph.

All three of the above, I'm arguing, are cacogens attempting to pass as
humans, and all wear very lifelike human masks. Only their eyes reveal
their nonterrestrial origin; this is why Palaemon wears an optical device
for a disguise, just as Merryn wears a mask (this also accounts for why
Merryn looks the same as the time she did when Sev the toddler ran an
errand to the Witches Keep. And it's all right if witches have spooky
eyes<g>).

I'm speculating that Palaemon/Paeon is much older than his sister. Merryn
appears to be a young adult who's being taught in matters sorcerous
(actually high tech extraterrestrial) by her Mother, Camoena (the Cumaean).

Father Inire--who built the Botanic Gardens especially for the Cumaean--is
the father.

Familimus and Barbatus are shorter-lived larval children. Note how both
Familimus and the Cumaean both speak in blank verse. Note too how Hildigrin
has seen "metal and jeweled" figures visiting the Cumaean--this is
Ossipago, with his two larval wards.

The living statues around the House Absolute are some form of intermediate
form--pupae or eggs--and are always described as looking like the unmasked
Hierodules, who are made in the image of the Hierogrammates (cf.
hellgrammite, aquatic larvae of the Dobson fly). Note as well the butterfly
form of Tzadkiel.

Many of the cacogens have second names that are either variants of the
first or shortenings. E.g., Camoena/Cumaean; Tzadkiel/Zak; and
Palaemon/Paeon.

Merryn (a famula) has spent time in Famulorum, where she's met the 13 year
old Thecla, who is Appian's daughter, conceived of course before his
unmanning, with a concubine mother who later marries Engino, Thea's
father-to-be.

I don't have to tell you what their favorite tv show is.

Robert Borski

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

---

From: Stephen Witowski <stephenw at libraries.manchester.gov.uk>
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 08:56:23 +0000

> Time for another of my far-fetched genealogical forays. 

You can say that again. Do you think Wolfe meant ALL of this when he wrote
TBoNS, I think not.
Your evidence is very thin and seems to consist of wild speculations and
intuitive leaps. I don't think Wolfe wrote TBoNS so that we would spend all
our time looking for family relationships (most of which are not there) but
to grasp the meaning behind the story. I think we are in danger of missing
then wood for the trees by following some lines of argument posted here.

I'm sorry if this sounds negative but I just had to say it.

Stephen Witkowski
Librarian/Information Officer
City Architect's Library , Manchester. UK.