{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/5465",
    "note": "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.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 5465,
    "subject": "PEACE: Labyrinth",
    "messages": 3,
    "voices": 3,
    "first": "2009-07-07T17:20:45+00:00",
    "last": "2009-07-09T15:52:59+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<d1bb7a150907071020g50852631s4a857b9888211c4a@mail.gmail.com>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Christopher Keiser",
        "address": "slowalrus at gmail.com"
      },
      "date": "2009-07-07T17:20:45+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) PEACE: Labyrinth",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Mantis, way back in 2000, provided a wonderful clue (he he) regarding\nWeer's mansion.\n\n\"The House of the Axe\" is the literal translation of Labyrinth, iirc.  So\nWolfe is signaling that Den is at the entrance to a maze . . . well,\n=obviously= . . . and Wolfe also has a track-record of mixing up Daedelus\n(labyrinth maker) with Minotaur (labyrinth monster/inhabitant) with Theseus\n(labyrinth visitor).\n\nFollowing up on this, I discovered that \"palace of the double-axe\" is\nthe full meaning of Labyrinth.  The labrys (\"double-edged axe\")\nsymbolized power, or royalty in Cretan art and architecture.\n\nThis sheds some light on the text. The issue of Weer's inability to\nwield the double headed axe, as described in the first few pages, may\nalso symbolize his loss of power and vitality.  He has strength enough\nto use only Bunting's single-edged axe.\n\nAlso of interest is Mantis's statement \"and Wolfe also has a\ntrack-record of mixing up Daedelus (labyrinth maker) with Minotaur\n(labyrinth monster/inhabitant) with Theseus (labyrinth visitor).\"\n\nIn the case of PEACE, Weer is definitely the creator of his memory\nmansion (maze) and the visitor, lost and confused in the maze.  Is he\nalso the monster in the maze?\n\nChris Keiser"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<759FE6331D554ACD8BFA06D1EFC9463F@eMachinePC>",
      "from": {
        "name": "James Wynn",
        "address": "crushtv at gmail.com"
      },
      "date": "2009-07-07T17:53:52+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) PEACE: Labyrinth",
      "in_reply_to": "<d1bb7a150907071020g50852631s4a857b9888211c4a@mail.gmail.com>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "In the case of PEACE, Weer is definitely the creator of his memory\nmansion (maze) and the visitor, lost and confused in the maze.  Is he\nalso the monster in the maze?"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Well, Daedalus was also lost in in own maze. Weer might be Theseus if Sherry \nGold is Aphrodite, I suppose. But if Weer is also the Minotaur, where are \nthe virgins sacrificed to him? If Sherry's father is King Minos then the \nMinotaur is the hidden treasure. "
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<NGECKNKNFCCKJFJGAFLHOEKADNAA.stephenhoy@yahoo.com>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Stephen Hoy",
        "address": "stephenhoy at yahoo.com"
      },
      "date": "2009-07-09T15:52:59+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) PEACE: Venus de Milo",
      "in_reply_to": "<759FE6331D554ACD8BFA06D1EFC9463F@eMachinePC>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Try this idea on for size: Gold's story about Venus as fake is artistic\ninvention, acting as an entertaining distraction not much different from\nWeer's unrevealed story of Napoleon's pose.\n\nThe inside story of the discovery of the Venus de Milo can be found in\nDisarmed by Gregory Curtis; bottom line, the statue is genuine. If money\nwere the object of the forgery, we can quickly calculate that Gold's premise\ndoesn't add up.  The French purchased the Venus de Milo fragments for 750\nfrancs from the farmer who discovered it, with another 250 francs presented\nto the primates of Melos to help them justify reneging on a sale to a\nTurkish dragoman. By comparison, Canova's marble statue of Napoleon as Mars\nwas obtained by the Duke of Wellington for roughly 375,000 francs.\n\nSo what's the point in having Gold toss out his story? Probably commentary\non Wolfe's creative process, a touch of \"the whole being greater than the\nsum of its parts\" added to \"re-shaping existing stories.\"\n\nI've seen suggestions that the Venus statue represents the armless Mrs.\nTurner or Aphrodite Pandemos Sherry Gold, but I'll make a case for Lois\nArbuthnot as Venus/Aphrodite. The Venus de Milo is paired in the text with\nthe Napoleon figurine; the surname Arbuthnot links to Napoleon via Harriet\nArbuthnot, the diarist who was the closest female friend of the Iron Duke\nwho commanded the allied forces at Waterloo.\n\nWolfe punningly connects Arbuthnot with the statue when he has Weer disarm\nher. There's even a scene where Lois--tipsy with alcohol--removes her upper\ngarments and topples over, mimicking the statue."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}