Father Inire as Dionysus

António Pedro Marques · 24 Oct 2011, 18:58 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: entonio at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?QW50w7NuaW8gUGVkcm8gTWFycXVlcw==?=)
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:58:38 +0100
Subject: (urth) Father Inire as Dionysus
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Sergei SOLOVIEV wrote (24-10-2011 19:46):
> I think it is mentioned several times in BoTNS that FI is an alien. Of
> course you need not trust there "rumours" inside the book.

I recall one such explicit mention of it (something about his longevity 
being abnormal compared to 'his kind').

> Each time we meet Hethor his character is immediately recognizable.
> All that is told about the behaviour and manners of FI (and we may include
> "The Cat")
> is quite different. How the idea that they are the same helps the story?

How does it help it any less than any of the other identifications?

> Ant?nio Pedro Marques wrote:
>> Sergei SOLOVIEV wrote (24-10-2011 19:13):
>>> Ant?nio Pedro Marques wrote:
>>>> David Stockhoff wrote (24-10-2011 18:25):
>>>>> On 10/24/2011 1:16 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>>>>>> I believe it is the Old Autarch who tells Severian that Thecla was chosen
>>>>>> for her loyalty to Vodalus as a means to bind his followers more tightly
>>>>>> to him. I tend to think Vodalus as an expendable pawn of higher powers
>>>>>> (easily replaced by Agia with the help of...Hethor) who doesn't really
>>>>>> know
>>>>>> that the true importance of his dinner choices (and all else that he
>>>>>> does)
>>>>>> relates to Severian as a nascent New Sun
>>>>>
>>>>> Here's a thought.
>>>>>
>>>>> Old Autarch + Inire vs Vodalus + Inire
>>>>>
>>>>> New Autarch + Inire vs Agia and Hethor
>>>>>
>>>>> (1) The Vodalarii no longer need Inire's personal attention now that
>>>>> Sev is
>>>>> here
>>>>>
>>>>> (2) Hethor is a lesser Inire, as Agia is a lesser Vodalus.
>>>>
>>>> Why isn't Hethor the same individual as Inire?
>>>
>>> If he is the same, why waste all these efforts making his biography
>>> as a "sailor" (on spaceships)? Invent all his small hates, sadism etc?
>>> Make him very human in this? Would Wolfe waste his time as an author?
>>
>> Notice that's precisely what's missing from FI's biography.
>>
>> How come, waste? I didn't ask whether H's curriculum was fictive. Why
>> can't it be FI's backstory?
>>
>>> By the way, no human emotions are attributed to any of the explicitly
>>> alien personages in BoTNS. Would not making this in case of Hethor break
>>> the rule (IF he is Inire, who is an alien).
>>
>> Maybe. And do we know for certain FI is an alien?
>>
>>> This is an example of
>>> what I call conceptual inconsistency of many theories I see at this list.
>>
>> What is? Inconsistemt with what, if it's an isolated datum? What theory?
>>
>> What with people looking for FI in various places, I merely wondered why
>> not Hethor.
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