the great god Pan

Chris · 24 Jan 2003, 01:38 · from urth-v0301.mbox · original

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From: "Chris" <rasputin_ at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) the great god Pan
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 01:38:09 +0000
Message-ID: <urth-v0301-2791 at digest.urth.net>
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The bit about iron is interesting- while I'd heard that the sidhe had a=20
problem with iron, I never knew there was an underlying reason behind it.=20
Are there any other sources that might explain the significance of iron, an=
d=20
whether it was referred to before the Christian Era or not?

I do think that sometimes too much is made of Wolfe's Catholicism, as I=20
think has been mentioned here before. And jamming this story into an=20
"orthodox" Catholic framework is likely to be an uncomfortable fit.

I never felt, reading the stories, that any of the goddesses were purely=20
evil, though certainly inhuman and for the most part cruel. I doubt any of=20
the male gods would behave any better when push came to shove. I don't thin=
k=20
it's misogynistic - I really think the most villainous characters in this=20
story were male, actually, though they knew how to put a good face on it.

That said, the bit about Io... she's a bright character, but that is at=20
least in part because Latro cares about her and portrays her positively.=20
Despite that, there are some things to be uncomfortable about- and I suspec=
t=20
that Latro's deep (mysterious) depression had a bit to do with the way she=20
changed the nature of their relationship to protect herself, among other=20
things. He may not have remembered any better, but I suspect he'd have stil=
l=20
felt like something was wrong there.

Chris

>As I recall (dimly),  Plutarch said a sailor heard a voice from a
>distant island commanding him to proclaim that "The great god Pan is
>dead!"
>Since Pan's name literally means "All,"  I had always assumed that this
>was supposed to be a coded message that the entire Greek pantheon of
>gods were dead - i.e., that the Christian era was coming. In Soldier in
>the Mist the lamia complains that Io has dropped her chains into the
>snake's hole, that supernatural beings dislike iron, and that "The
>reason is to come." Again, dimly do I recall that faeries were supposed
>to shun iron because of the significance of the nails holding Christ to
>the cross.
>This raises the wider question of Wolfe's ambiguous and often quite
>terrifying presentation of the Greek deities. I think we are to view
>them as actual gods, not just Latro's hallucinations, but Wolfe says in
>one interview that they were "not worthy of being worshipped." Would
>that make them demons? What is the orthodox Catholic position these days
>on rival religions and their supernatural beings? Certainly the
>underlying logic of the Latro novels thus far is the move from
>Earth-worship to Father-worship, and as usual in Wolfe all the major
>evil characters are either female (or in one case) become female.  (Not
>that he's totally misogynistic: the Amazons are portrayed entirely
>positively, and Io the slave girl is the brightest and best of all his
>characters.)
>

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