5HC

Lee · 03 Sep 2014, 13:03 · from 2014-September.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee)
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2014 09:03:04 -0400
Subject: (urth) 5HC
Message-ID: <BLU175-W12E44133A172A4249783CDCFC40 at phx.gbl>

>J Barach: There is, however, no lack of people who say that, 

>when the exposed infants lay wailing, they were first taken in 

>by some unknown whore, and that hers were the first breasts they 

>sucked -- for "she-wolves" (lupae) was the name given to whores, 

>which is why houses of ill repute are even now called "wolf-houses"

>(lupanaria).


>How could I read that and not think of Fifth Head?  I have no way of 

>knowing if Wolfe had read City of God by the time he wrote Fifth Head 

>or if there might have been some other classical source that pointed 

>him in this direction, but it sure seems to fit nicely, doesn't it?


Yes. Be it City of God or some other source, I think it is no accident 

that Wolfe combined these concepts. Over and over in his work, he reveals 

that he is familiar with much minutiae from classical mythology.


>And then that raises the question: Are Number Five (Gene) and his brother 

>David in some way parallel to Romulus and Remus?


I think perhaps so. Romulus killed Remus. Given his actions toward his father

it would not be a shock if Number Five killed David at some point, in his

monomania for dominating the planet.

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