The problem of Cthulhu

don doggett · 20 Jun 2007, 00:40 · from 2007-June.txt.gz

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From: kingwukong at yahoo.com (don doggett)
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:40:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: (urth) The problem of Cthulhu
In-Reply-To: <E1I0mli-0006te-N4 at oceanus.uk.clara.net>
Message-ID: <744134.78677.qm at web32414.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

--- Andy Robertson <andywrobertson at clara.co.uk> wrote:

> 
> Wolfe repeatedly follows his masters Lewis and
> Tolkien in Christianising 
> pagan myth in multiple levels of narrative analogy. 

Yes, but he also incorporates various SF tropes,
especially pulpy ones, like Burroughs, Lovecraft, and
Howard. Abaia is ridiculously Cthulhuesque in that he
invades dreams, lives at the bottom of the ocean,
works solely through minions, and will one day "awake"
to dominate the world.

> 
> Erebus etc thus represent the classical Titans /
> Jotuns / GOO within the 
> frame of the urth books.   They are a theme, not
> simply from Lovecraft, but 
> also from pagan religion/myth/cosmology 
>

Sure. But I was only speaking of the Lovecraftian
aspect, which I believe is strongly there.

> 
> Maybe a Christian would tell me what the "Christian
> layer" analog is.  The 
> Devil, I suppose: but that doesn't seem quite right.

The Christian layer is the same as the pagan. Several
of the Christian apologists of late antiquity, rather
than deny the existence of such beings relegated them
to the position of demons who men worshipped in error.
Also many Roman Christians incorporated rituals
associated with the worship of Horus, with Apollo, and
with Mithras. True paganism (meaning of the Greek and
Roman world) and Catholic Christianity are
indistinguishable in a lot of strange and interesting
ways, especially holidays and rituals. Imo of course

Don

The Evangelists: a Lesser Apocrypha                                                                        http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=178109961

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