Father Inire as Dionysus

Jeff Wilson · 25 Oct 2011, 07:57 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at clueland.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:57:46 -0500
Subject: (urth) Father Inire as Dionysus
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W38CE7866911F2A0E90FC05CFEC0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W38CE7866911F2A0E90FC05CFEC0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4EA66BFA.2060904 at clueland.com>

On 10/24/2011 9:43 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
> I don't understand why the book can't be about the sea monsters though. Don't
> they have lives?
>
>
>
> Jeff if you are implying that our myths and legends of ancient gods and monsters
>
> were probably inspired by various real kings and mean guys, I agree. However I
>
> think Wolfe, while also sort of agreeing, makes his fiction a little more blurred
>
> on the lines of myth and reality.

No, that's right. But since L17M is possibly a book of similar age as 
the monstrous presences, it's not a sure thing they were sufficiently 
established in legend at the time of its writing (or more likely, its 
compilation) to be included. Also, sea monsters are not the sort of 
thing one immediately thinks of as having a biography-worthy life, and 
it is only in contemplation of the cosmic truths revealed by the Yesodis 
directly and via Aquastor Malrubius that we the readers know that they 
probably do because they are part human.

But suppose the producers of the L17M book really did intend it to 
include things like the biography of Abaia, how on Urth could they 
possibly have anything like accurate information? You could more 
reasonably expect some ancient treatment of the notional life of the 
Loch Ness Monster was adapted by replacing Nessie with "Abaia" and Loch 
Ness with "the sea east of Nessus".

I've recently mentioned that we have something like this in our own 
ancient history: the Caligula who offed himself at the end of a 
sodomy-soaked snuff ballet can't be the same Caligula recorded as having 
been assassinated by the Praetorian guard, for obvious reasons. Both 
stories are attributed to the same person of whom we have mostly 
objective reasons to believe existed, but one or neither actually was 
his life.

Of course, in a time-travel book, we really can mix and match myth and 
reality...

> I REALLY think Wolfe uses an animalistic nature to mark the demonic from the angelic
>
> (as the Bible also does).

Er, no. Both sides display animal features at times, particularly 
notable are the cherubim who support the throne of G-d and have lion, 
ox, and eagle heads as well as human.

> You have to wonder about Tzadkiel though. He displays animalistic trends (meaning
>
> the monkey-like Zak, his butterfly wings and the mention of his "larvae). But he/she
>
> also possesses superhuman beauty. An all-in-one god? Angel and demon? Hm....... 		 	   		

He says he retains the original form of the stock from which his race 
was made by the vanished Hieros in their likeness. I think this is a 
comment on man and man's image of himself and his assumed place in the 
universe, in a similar vein as "What a piece of work is man..."

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at clueland.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >

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