latro and ares / mine of saltus

maa32 · 07 May 2003, 17:23 · from urth-v0305.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) latro and ares / mine of saltus
Date: Wed, 07 May 2003 10:23:31 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0305-3360 at digest.urth.net>
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I'm reading the soldier books for the second time and I'm about 3/4 through=20
Soldier of Arete.  So far, the major gods conspicuous in their absence are=20
Zeus, Hermes, and Ares.  While there is a chapter entitled Ares and others,=20
I'm pretty sure Ares doesn't make a direct appearance.  Here is my question=20
for the list - Is latro an avatar of Ares?  He has all the qualities of Are=
s=20
(thus Soldier of "Are"te.)  There is that big discussion at the beginning o=
f=20
Soldier of the Mist where they talk about greeting a tradesman who has a=20
family in a war by certain titles depending on where he is, and I thought t=
his=20
would apply nicely to Latro - he would seem to be a soldier, so everyone=20
treats him as a soldier.  Yet the gods don't treat Latro like just another=20
soldier.

There is also a scene in Soldier of Arete in which someone states that Ares=20
may be Ahura Mazda, the all good God, in disguise.  There are other stateme=
nts=20
made that indicate Pleistorus is angry at the Thracian King Kotys for his=20
treatment of the amazons and Latro - and note that Latro is especially=20
troubled by the death of amazon women - they are the daughters of Ares.  Al=
so,=20
in at least one place the claim is made that Pleistorus (or Ares) is "insid=
e"=20
Latro in some sense.  Also, the ironic statement of Hypereides right before=20
Part Three of Soldier of Arete (p 498 in the omnibus "'Pleistorus didn't co=
me=20
around to help us.  I wish he had - we could have used him'"  But I think h=
e=20
did.

The evidence against Ares being Latro must certainly include Latro's early=20
memories of his childhood and his farmland.  On the other hand, Nike always=20
follows Latro invisibly, and I'm pretty sure Ares is at least living inside=20
Latro or possessing him (if he is not entirely homoousious with Latro).  Co=
uld=20
it be that the Great Mother is mad at her son?

Also, on a different note, I'm pretty sure the dream of baldanders in the I=
nn=20
is related to the mine at saltus: clashing teeth and broken bodies under th=
e=20
surface of the earth.  later, he denies that he dreams, at the end of Shado=
w=20
of the Torturer after Malrubius appears.

Anybody else think Latro is divine?

Marc Aramini

--=20

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