Father Inire as Dionysus

Lee Berman · 23 Oct 2011, 01:27 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:27:34 -0400
Subject: (urth) Father Inire as Dionysus
Message-ID: <SNT123-W429AD574034A59567F3C8ACFEE0 at phx.gbl>

>David Stockhoff: Ultan is so tall I can't imagine Cyriaca being related 

>to him. Inire is so unimaginable (dark? small? old?), I can't imagine 

>Cyriaca being related to him. So I'm stumped, but there is definitely 

>something there.

Yes, but if the Inire as Dionysus idea is correct, we can't rely on 

"normal" expectations for human size and reproduction consideratons. 

Consider the example of Semele, mother of Dionysus. She was killed because 

she forced her lover, Zeus, to appear to her in his true form.

Consider the lessons we are given about shapeshifters in Foila's story

and Zak on the ship. They can appear in various forms and sizes. But 

there is always something (and not always the same thing for all 

incarnations) to mark them. It could be a gold ring or brown, bird-like 

features. It could be a hairy, monkey-ish appearance or the mysterious 

clues that allows Severian to recognize the giant handsome guy and the even

bigger angel creatures as Zak/Tzadkiel.

If the appearance of Inire represent pinched off pieces of a larger being,

why can't they be of different sizes and shapes, as we see in the Tzadkiel

example? (and if these god/angel/demon creatures were originally of human

origin, it helps explain the DNA problem, as someone else noted). And the

shapeshifter clues are multiple- small bent and twisted and/or monkey-like

and/or having obscured face/eyes and/or a creative artistic bent, and/or

red hair etc. The identity mark for Father Inire is a constellation of 

traits not just one.

>One way out may be that Inire is the "uncle" of every little girl 
>who knows him. Inire knows all the little girls at court; therefore, 
>Inire is the "uncle" of every little girl at court.

I do agree with this scenario. But it ignores the creepy undertones of

the Thecla and Domnina story. Wolfe openly blends Britsh literature and 

Greek mythology in The Boy Called Frog. Why not the same with Father Inire,

blending Lewis Carroll with the greek gods (and fallen angels) who just

can't seem to stop their lechery toward young human maidens?

>Anyone who deals in rare books knows the Librarians. There are very 
>few Librarians; therefore, anyone who deals in rare books knows Ultan. 
>Anyone who knows Ultan may know his boss Inire. Inire most certainly 
>deals in very, very rare books. Therefore, Cyriaca's uncle knows Inire, 
>at least.

Yes, and Dr. Talos could have overheard conversations of Baldanders with 

B, F and O. Etc. I am not arguing that these sorts of explanations are 

impossible or improbable or unlikely as Gerry might say. 

I guess it's just that I can't really consider them real explanations. They 

have been devised not previously to explain mysteries but solely as counter-

arguments against Father Inire-Dionysus. Maybe they are a way of saying the

knowledge of Dr. Talos and Cyriaca's uncle just aren't mysterious.

But to me they are. And given a choice between a collection of unrelated post 

hoc arguments to explain each mystery away or one kinda cool (for me) theory

which explain these and many other mysteries and ties the whole Sun series 

together, I hope it can be seen why Father Inire theory retains its appeal to me.

>Jeff Wilson: What about Hildegrin's business card? Is it too yawny to think that 
>there remains a printing industry in Nessus? Or does he dig up crates of 
>them, then fling a bottle into the sea with a note letting the Green Man 
>know where to bury the next batch in the previous chiliad?

I don't consider Hildegren's business card to be a mystery. Do you? As stated 

previously, I think fantastic answers are the appropriate and necessary reward

for solving mysteries for which we are not given the answsers.  I don't find

this post helpful or amusing but I suppose I can give it a B for snark factor.

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