Agilus and Agia

Lee Berman · 02 May 2013, 17:27 · from 2013-May.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 13:27:35 -0400
Subject: (urth) Agilus and Agia
Message-ID: <BLU175-W167AAE29352211D2A020E7CFBD0 at phx.gbl>

>aaron: Never considered that Hethor and Father Inire might in some way be related.

I appreciate that you put it that way. Just saying "Hethor is Father Inire" is a 
shorthand but misleading way of saying it. Like Shadow Children and The Neighbors,
I think we are dealing with plural beings, a difficult concept for we humans to 
grasp. But likely drawn from Biblical angel descriptions and the multi-persona
abilities of ancient mythological gods.

The best illustration we get of it in BotNS is with Tzadkiel and his multi-size,
multi-species, multi-gender incarnations. We are shown that he can be at least 
two characters at once when she pinches off one of her fingers which reforms to a
human size and shape (and the fairy sized Tzadkiel we see soon after).

I think we are given every reason to believe the same thing is happening on Urth
with Abaia, undines etc. Tzadkiel is an angel analog and undines are specifically 
identified as demons/fallen angel analogs at the end of UotNS. I think certain 
(roughly) human shaped and sized characters such as Typhon and Father Inire also 
fall into the same category.

>David Stockhoff: Wolfe's answer is accurate, then---Inire's appearances ARE like the 
>cat in the box: he's both there and not there. It's interesting that he 
>doesn't seem to do anything at these suspected appearances; for the most 
>part, he's just "there." (Or not.) They're nonessential clues. We can 
>take them or leave them.

Hm. Brings up the interesting point for me of what Father Inire is actually doing
at each of his (ostensible) anonymous appearances. I think it is structured like
The House Absolute/Secret House (and BotNS itself). There is an open and rather
banal purpose to each appearance and a hidden purpose which can be revealed by 
knowing who and what Father Inire is.

The bent, little cowled servitor is merely an assistant who takes Severian to 
where he wishes to go, a festival called the "thiasus". This word most specifically
refers to a festival devoted to the god Dionysus.  I didn't catch the significance of
that until I had read RttW and was told by Wolfe about the significance of 
Dionysus, Pan and the connection with The Outsider, to this universe. (could there
be a connection to Master Ash's otherwise unexplained longing for "Vine"?)

The bent, little old boatman is supposedly looking for the body of his long dead
wife, whom we don't learn is Dorcas until the end of CotA. This surprise is enough
to divert us from remembering what a ridiculous coincidence it is for Severian to
find that exact body for resurrection, not to mention that it happens to be his
grandmother. If we recognize the bent, little guy as Father Inire, the concidence
is revealed not to be one at all. Severian was guided to that body and was having
his power of resurrection tested on a woman who was very important to both of them.

The baboon who checked on Severian could be just a bizarre delusion. But if it was
Father Inire, again, Severian's power of resurrection was being investigated. Likewise
with Hethor's multiple attempts to kill Severian. Nothing mystical about his escapes
from Hethor's creatures except that they keep happening. Is it a higher power 
intervening?

The Old Leech in the ziggurat tells Severian he is there to learn secret knowledge which
cannot be obtained even by the eating of the dead. We are led to believe this
explains his experiments on the boy Mamas, but then left unexplained is why he is
tending to near-death Severian. Again I think the learning the secret of resurrection is 
the key to understanding the purpose of the character's appearance.

Then there are the necromancers Ceryx and The Cumaean. They can raise the dead but not
in the wholesome manner that Severian is able to accomplish. I think both deliberately
positioned themselves in Severian's path to learn his secrets. That The Cumaean is female
should not be a troublesome fact in understanding beings who are fallen versions of 
Tzadkiel.

Isangoma and the jungle shaman don't seem to be involved in resurrection but if they are 
considered versions of Father Inire, some interesting conclusions can be drawn. Same for Fechin.

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