Antipolaric brothers

Andrew Mason · 25 Nov 2010, 01:47 · from 2010-November.txt.gz

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From: andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com (Andrew Mason)
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 01:47:21 +0000
Subject: (urth) Antipolaric brothers
Message-ID: <AANLkTikfpja=+fW1Jm---MfBUQSsQT3Xy9=JzLePYi1j at mail.gmail.com>

Lee Berman wrote: >
>>Andrew Mason: Are we ever told Caesidius' hair colour?
>
> Severian remembers Dux Caesidius as being "a fine commander" with a
> "hawk face"
>
> Eata remarks that Valeria may have married him because he looked like
> Severian though handsomer and taller. I think that's all we get.
>
> Hard to think of a blonde guy with icy eyes resembling Severian but
> it is possible.

Ouen had a noticeable resemblance to Severian while being blond, so I
wouldn't rule it out.

> On the other hand, the character at the end of RttW is steering a ship
> and while "commander" can be a general military term, it is foremost a
> naval rank, I think.

'Commander' is a naval rank, but if it's spelt with a small c i'm not
sure that signifies. Was not the idea that Valeria entrusted the armed
forces as a whole to him, letting him perform the military part of the
Autarch's function? And indeed, is it clear that the Commonwealth has
a navy?

> Cyriaca gives the most detailed description of Severian's
> face but she doesn't mention his nose. I can imagine it being aquiline, as
> I tend to think Severian is patterned after a Greek hero.

I'm guessing the statement that Caesidius had a hawk face and looked
like him is meant to be a clue.

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