changing the immutable gods

aramini1 at cox.net · 04 Apr 2006, 14:21 · from 2006-April.txt.gz

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From: aramini1 at cox.net (aramini1 at cox.net)
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 10:21:52 -0400
Subject: (urth) changing the immutable gods
Message-ID: <20060404142152.OSJ15695.fed1rmmtao01.cox.net@[172.18.180.8]>

Jeff made the extremely valid point that a change in the character of a Greek God would be exceedingly out of character.  That was part of my original point: he needed to be clothed in human flesh to experience change and learn.  As a god, he was incapable of understanding humans completely.

If you look at Wolfe's interview with a fellow list member (James Jordan, I believe?)  he states he wanted to take Latro eventually into the world of the Hebrews.

Very interesting, considering Pleistorus is "ahura mazda incognito" (ie - the great god of good).  If there is any importance to this statement, I think it is that this God of Good is so changed by his human experiences that he changes the very ethos of the world and eventually checks the pagan nature of the other gods, gods which were previously given free reign, triggering the Christian era.  And he does so by incarnating himself among the Jewish population under Rome.

If Wolfe had written Soldier of Sidon immediately after Soldier of Arete, there are a few things I bet would happen.  They still might, if he stayed to his original plan.

I would bet major money on any or all of these conjectures.

1. Latro will probably die and rise again in some way
2.  Latro will probably receive a foot wound, like just about every other important, spiritual Wolfe hero.
3.  Latro will visit a city of the dead and escape(unless that particular prophecy has already occurred in the Sisyphus sections of Arete).
4.  It will be revealed that Latro has, somehow, more than one personality, whether it be through possession or psychosis.

Note that I don't think Wolfe is predictable at all, but he does have certain tropes that emerge in just about every one of his major spiritual paragons, of which I consider Latro a prime example.

Marc Aramini

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