# Latro series, supplemental Graves *The Urth list — 3 messages, 2 voices, 22 Jan 2003* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Tami Whitehead *22 Jan 2003, 00:03* I am glad that the discussion has turned to Latro, since that was how I first found and loved Wolfe. I am not qualified to comment on or discuss Long Sun or New Suns or the like, but on Latro and Graves, I feel more competent to put in my two cents...sorta. I agree with those who advocate, if not a working knowledge of Greek history and mythology, at least having a couple of reference books handy during the reading. Or both . Those who adore Wolfe-ish twists and devious sub-plots, etc, it really does shed another dimension on an already rather fun twist on the sword and sorcery genre. As Russel points out, Herodotus and Xenophon are the most relevant, and are in themselves enjoyable reads. If you crave brave deeds and bloody battles and omens and such, you can't go much wrong there, and Latro fans will enjoy a bit of the "straight stuff" I think. For Graves, I recommend Greek Myths 1&2, available in paperback from Penguin. I think folks should have it on their shelves just because it's a handy and insightful little work, but certainly makes keeping up with all the characters a bit easier...conveniant indices and chapter headings make look-up quick and easy, and the bibliography for each section is pretty impressive, and draws from a number of sources, so you get a pretty balanced layout of the myth and characters, as well as a bit of historical perspective in the commentary which follows each section. In another Doors post, someone asked about lunar calenders and 13 months etc, and someone responded with a bit of information of interalary or leap days, months etc. Graves also treated this subject specifically, and the question of Man's Implied Relationship with Goddess in his book the White Goddess, though I hesitate to recommend it--it's one of those books you really gotta want to read straight through to do so, and even then it's not in most folks sphere of interest, being about 500 pages of rather arcane decryption of Welsh Verse and mythic riddles and ancient calender systems relating to the epigraphy of celtic writing systems...but if that's your bag, you'll love it. The reason I even mention it, since Wolfe seems to be familiar with the one set of Graves' books (and that is apparant as you read one with the other) it may be that in Green's Goddess, there are similar elements. I throw that out for the Doors fans just as an idea, and I'll leave it at that. ((Honestly, I read Doors, and just sat and scratched my head for a day or so. It reminded me a bit of Lilith, by ol' what's his name, friend and contemporary of C S Lewis etc...rats, what's his name, but you know the one, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for adults, with a tad un-orthodox Christian symbolism...)) --- ### Josh Geller *24 Jan 2003, 10:10 · follows Tami Whitehead* Plutarch's Life > On Tue, 21 Jan 2003, Tami Whitehead wrote: > I am glad that the discussion has turned to Latro, > since that was how I first found and loved Wolfe. I am > not qualified to comment on or discuss Long Sun or New > Suns or the like, but on Latro and Graves, I feel more > competent to put in my two cents...sorta. > > I agree with those who advocate, if not a working > knowledge of Greek history and mythology, at least > having a couple of reference books handy during the > reading. Or both . Those who adore Wolfe-ish > twists and devious sub-plots, etc, it really does shed > another dimension on an already rather fun twist on > the sword and sorcery genre. > > As Russel points out, Herodotus and Xenophon are the > most relevant, and are in themselves enjoyable reads. > If you crave brave deeds and bloody battles and omens > and such, you can't go much wrong there, and Latro > fans will enjoy a bit of the "straight stuff" I think. > > > For Graves, I recommend Greek Myths 1&2, available in > paperback from Penguin. I think folks should have it > on their shelves just because it's a handy and > insightful little work, but certainly makes keeping up > with all the characters a bit easier...conveniant > indices and chapter headings make look-up quick and > easy, and the bibliography for each section is pretty > impressive, and draws from a number of sources, so you > get a pretty balanced layout of the myth and > characters, as well as a bit of historical perspective > in the commentary which follows each section. > > In another Doors post, someone asked about lunar > calenders and 13 months etc, and someone responded > with a bit of information of interalary or leap days, > months etc. Graves also treated this subject > specifically, and the question of Man's Implied > Relationship with Goddess in his book the White > Goddess, though I hesitate to recommend it--it's one > of those books you really gotta want to read straight > through to do so, and even then it's not in most folks > sphere of interest, being about 500 pages of rather > arcane decryption of Welsh Verse and mythic riddles > and ancient calender systems relating to the epigraphy > of celtic writing systems...but if that's your bag, > you'll love it. The reason I even mention it, since > Wolfe seems to be familiar with the one set of Graves' > books (and that is apparant as you read one with the > other) it may be that in Green's Goddess, there are > similar elements. I throw that out for the Doors fans > just as an idea, and I'll leave it at that. > > ((Honestly, I read Doors, and just sat and scratched > my head for a day or so. It reminded me a bit of > Lilith, by ol' what's his name, friend and > contemporary of C S Lewis etc...rats, what's his name, > but you know the one, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe > for adults, with a tad un-orthodox Christian > symbolism...)) > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > > -- --- ### Josh Geller *24 Jan 2003, 11:08 · follows Josh Geller* Sorry folks: I thought that was the delete button, not the send button. J. ___ > On Fri, 24 Jan 2003, Josh Geller wrote: > > Plutarch's Life [....] ---