PEACE: Labyrinth

Christopher Keiser · 07 Jul 2009, 17:20 · from 2009-July.txt.gz

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From: slowalrus at gmail.com (Christopher Keiser)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 13:20:45 -0400
Subject: (urth) PEACE: Labyrinth
Message-ID: <d1bb7a150907071020g50852631s4a857b9888211c4a at mail.gmail.com>

Mantis, way back in 2000, provided a wonderful clue (he he) regarding
Weer's mansion.

"The House of the Axe" is the literal translation of Labyrinth, iirc.  So
Wolfe is signaling that Den is at the entrance to a maze . . . well,
=obviously= . . . and Wolfe also has a track-record of mixing up Daedelus
(labyrinth maker) with Minotaur (labyrinth monster/inhabitant) with Theseus
(labyrinth visitor).

Following up on this, I discovered that "palace of the double-axe" is
the full meaning of Labyrinth.  The labrys ("double-edged axe")
symbolized power, or royalty in Cretan art and architecture.

This sheds some light on the text. The issue of Weer's inability to
wield the double headed axe, as described in the first few pages, may
also symbolize his loss of power and vitality.  He has strength enough
to use only Bunting's single-edged axe.

Also of interest is Mantis's statement "and Wolfe also has a
track-record of mixing up Daedelus (labyrinth maker) with Minotaur
(labyrinth monster/inhabitant) with Theseus (labyrinth visitor)."

In the case of PEACE, Weer is definitely the creator of his memory
mansion (maze) and the visitor, lost and confused in the maze.  Is he
also the monster in the maze?

Chris Keiser

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