Father Inire as Dionysus

James Wynn · 26 Oct 2011, 14:08 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:08:00 -0500
Subject: (urth) Father Inire as Dionysus
In-Reply-To: <4EA80FAB.3040102 at gmail.com>
References: <SNT123-W14F07DFB3BB990B5700A10CFEC0 at phx.gbl>
	<4EA80FAB.3040102 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4EA81440.20909 at gmail.com>

> On 10/25/2011 9:01 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>> I don't get this. What resemblance does Hethor have to the Trojan 
>> Hector who
>> was a brave and noble prince and warror?
>> I don't think WOlfe would pick this name just for the heck of it.
>
> On 10/26/2011 8:48 AM, James Wynn wrote:
> I'm not prepared to show that Wolfe has woven elements of the Illiad 
> into the life of Severian, but it would be very much like Wolfe to do 
> that. And Hector, and as the nemesis of the sword wielding Achilles 
> and slayer of his alter-ego, would be a fine reference to Severian's 
> Hethor.

Then who is Helen? Presumably Agia. Is Dorcas then Thecla, Achilles' 
mother (whose might by Tethys by another name (a name that means 
"grandmother")? Or is she Doris, the mother of Thetis (her own 
grandmother by way of Tethys), which would then mean Severian's 
mysterious mother is the shape-changing Thetis?

I'm not saying Wolfe did this, but when he does this sort of thing he's 
really clever about it and it's tough to anticipate him. It's never as 
easy as here's a brave guy whose a lot like "So-and-so".

J.

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