cynocephalus (was: Re: Boatman as Inire)

Jane Delawney · 09 Aug 2010, 00:36 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: jane_delawney at sky.com (Jane Delawney)
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:36:55 +0100
Subject: (urth) cynocephalus (was: Re:  Boatman as Inire)
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W3F2049068036796E3EA64CF930 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W3F2049068036796E3EA64CF930 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4C5F4DA7.5070608 at sky.com>

On 08/08/10 11:09, Lee Berman wrote:
>
> We see a
> character who resembles Hethor on the ship also, in the weird part where Severian is
> kidnapped and ordered to move like an Autarch hologram. I find that one of the most difficult
> scenes in the 5 books to comprehend. But working on it. What IS Hethor?
>    
Apart from a sad little man ... Well. It's been suggested in quite a few 
places afair that 'Nessus' could be a linguistic corruption of 'Buenos 
Aires'. Kind of works. On the same basis - actually not so much of a 
stretch -  'Hethor' does pretty well as a linguistic corruption of 
'Ahasuerus'.

OK, 'Hathor' would be more convincing, but GW couldn't use that, She's 
an Egyptian goddess of course. And having the vowel degrade back to 'e' 
over time is not implausible (cf. 'Angle-land / 'England' for instance).
>
> I once might have thought some of the stuff that happens on Yesod is new stuff, but lately
> the sham of all that trial stuff seems to echo the sham of the Commonwealth-Ascia war
> (though such shams do kill people) and is perhaps akin to it. Burgundofora is sorta new as
> she seems to be a combination Mary Magdalene/Judas figure. Then again The Temptation of Typhon
> already sets up Severian as a Jesus-like figure.
>    
There's plenty of that kind of thing throughout BOTNS without venturing 
into 'volume 5'. Toward the end of 'Shadow', Hethor of all people is 
even heard offering to carry Terminus Est for Sev, ostensibly because 
he's worried that the burden of this cross-like object may be too great 
to bear.

(Of course given later developments, we all know this is a sham; Hethor 
is Agia's lover/spy and no doubt if Sev had given H. his 'cross' to 
bear, H. would have made off with it pronto! but the important feature 
of this little episode is the symbolism invoked, which - in the universe 
of Urth - echoes back down the ages).
>
> So, yeah, if everything else, B, F and O, The Conciliator, Ushas, Juturna, Apu Punchau, etc.,
> in UotNS refers back to  the first four books, what does the the evolution and shape shifting
> of shaggy blob apport, to monkey-like thing to Zak, to Tzadkiel, male and female refer back to?
> I certainly find it to be an interesting question.
>    
Undoubtedly ... re-reading and noticed something I hadn't noticed for a 
while, which is that the monkey-like thing on Tzadkiel's Ship is not the 
first monkey-like thing Sev has come across (and I am not referring here 
to the shaman of bk. 4) - while Sev lies recovering from the avern-wound 
in the soldiers' lazaret toward the end of 'Shadow', he sees a 
'cynocephalus' (ape with a dog's head) running across the floor. He 
thinks he's dreaming or delirious - but he then goes on to see the same 
creature when he knows he's in his right mind (in so far as he ever is 
:) ).

Very interesting, but as of right now I have no idea what if anything 
this refers to, save forward to the ape-like creature on the Ship (or, 
if you prefer, that ape-like creature may refer back to the cynocephalus 
episode).

strange stuff indeed

jd

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