Father Inire as Dionysus

Andrew Mason · 21 Oct 2011, 21:15 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com (Andrew Mason)
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:15:01 +0100
Subject: (urth) Father Inire as Dionysus
Message-ID: <CAM3O41+k+qzQV33b9MFU0NEmc5wrPT+XrBvswg6Zdo+AShxwsQ at mail.gmail.com>

Lee Berman wrote;

>> Consider the flowery, grandiose language used by Inire in the letter Rudesind brings
>> to Severian. Does it remind you of another character's writing and speech? Hint:
>> someone who seems to know a great deal about the past and future history of Urth and
>> has rather miraculous powers of persuasion and anatomical transformation. A character
>> who does not possess a saint name but, like Inire, one from Greco-Roman mythology.
>
> Jeff Wilson: Juturna?
>
>
> Argh! No, I meant Talos.

Well, that wouldn't help the particular pattern I was hoping to find,
of a distinctive Inire appearance in each book, since Talos is in
every book. (Which is rather striking, actually; not many characters,
apart from Severian himself, are. Dorcas, counting her brief cameo at
the end of COTA. Not sure if there's anyone else.)

>
> The end of RttW makes it pretty clear that The Outsider (and, through an ambiguous
> father-son connection, Typhon) are meant to be tracked in some manner with the Earth god
> Dionysus.

Well, you know what I think about that.

 What was the source material? And
> why does a doctor know so much about Commonwealth politics, mythology, eschatology and genesis
> and cosmic history (not to mention Severian's mother)?

He knows about Carina, who either is Severian's mother or is somehow
symbolically linked with her - I don't see that he has to know that
she is Severian's mother. Regarding his knowledge in general,
sometimes I wonder if he has read the Book of the New Sun (Wolfe's,
not Canog's). (Or, more rationally, has read Severian's narrative,
which, cast on the seas of time, finally came to a place where Talos
could find it.  He says that his play is based on the _lost_ Book of
the New Sun: Canog's doesn't seem to be lost, if Thecla could order it
up from the library.)

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