Seawrack

Lee · 25 Nov 2013, 18:39 · from 2013-November.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee)
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 13:39:11 -0500
Subject: (urth) Seawrack
Message-ID: <BLU175-W4965EEC85C0D94820FAC63CFED0 at phx.gbl>

>David Stockhoff:   Any chance she is a projection of Hyacinth/Kypris? She 
>couldn't possibly have her own personality.

I think other Sun Series beings budded off from a larger whole are meant to have their
own personalities, including the various incarnations of Tzadkiel, and Idas.

But surely the closest analog to Seawrack the siren is Juturna, the undine. There
is a clear mythological connection between sirens and mermaids. Also, there is 
that moment of overwhelming mutual passion depicted between Severian and Jurturna,
though Seawrack's human size makes her a much better candidate for sexual fulfillment.

Anyway, I see The Mother as being related to the gods of the Whorl but it is difficult
to see the direct connection. My best guess is that Blue is an origin world for Typhon
and his brood and they took human form for their trip to Urth. Once there, they could
keep their human form, as we see with Typhon and Cilinia.  And/or part of them could
hit the ocean and start growing into such megatherian beings as Great Scylla and Abaia,
like the Mother creature we see on Blue.

Thus, when The Cumaean (who is almost exactly what we'd expect of a human-form of
Echidna), speaks to Severian of a planet around the star Fomalhaut (fish's mouth), I 
think it might be her home planet, Blue.

By choosing the epithet "Kyrpis" for Aphrodite, Wolfe may be invoking the sea-foam
version of that Greek goddess, in contrast to the traditional hellenic Aphrodite, who is
the daughter of Zeus. So maybe that connects Kypris with Seawrack. But otherwise it is
difficult to see how Kyrpis in Mainframe on the Whorl is related to Seawrack on Blue.

In regard to Hyacynth, I dunno. I think it was Andre-Driussi who commented that WOlfe's
description of Hyacinth's breasts make them sound like silicone implants. Surely Wolfe
knew that mythological Hyacinth was male, making me wonder if perhaps Vironese Hyacinth 
was a transgender kind of prostitute. This might explain both Silk's joy and despair in 
his love and passion for her.

>Dan'l Danehy-Oakes: Silk isn't Jesus, he's Moses.

Heh. And Borski says Father Inire is Moses.

I guess Silk fits the Moses bill in a number of ways. Silk was an insider of the establishment
when he heard the call from God. He was leading his people to the Promised Land, but was not 
permitted to enter himself.

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