sphinx as hera, aglaus as satyr, achilles

maa32 · 10 May 2003, 02:51 · from urth-v0305.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) sphinx as hera, aglaus as satyr, achilles
Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 19:51:50 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0305-3393 at digest.urth.net>
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OK, Latro offends Hera or Gaea by fighting in her temple (in the books, Gae=
a=20
and Hera are blended together and oppose the triple goddess, who is=20
Echidna(enodia)+Moon (Selene) + Huntress) The sphinx is identified by Latro=
 as=20
Gaea (!) in chapter 29 of Soldier of Arete.  this would make her Hera, who=20
would be Ares mother (I am your mother, and your mother's mother).

However, I believe that there is an undercurrent here in the soldier series=
:=20
the Achaens have been replaced by the Dorians (Spartans), who have taken ov=
er=20
the old ways.  If I'm not mistaken, this would make the ghost of Achilles m=
ad,=20
and he wants the Spartans to be vanquished.  The remains of the achaens are=20
symbolically put to rest with Lykaon in the boar hunting segment late in=20
Soldier of Arete, where Latro picks up the shepherd Aglaus, who he then tak=
es=20
into Sparta with him.  He keeps Aglaus around because Aglaus reminds him of=20
things, and helps him remember.  I don't know if anyone else has said=20
anything, but Aglaus is the goat man who identifies Polos as a centaur (or=20
bull-killer) in chapter 33.  He later makes a pipe for io and begins dancin=
g,=20
where Latro says that he is reminded of Elata by Aglaus.  Aglaus is a satyr=
,=20
who chases nymphs, and the same carnal force flows through him.  So, Latro =
is=20
surrounded by a nymph, a satyr, a centaur, and a man named Seven Lions, and=
 he=20
is probably chasing the shape shifting Zalmoxis as well.

Why would a satyr, or a being who resembles Pan, remind Latro so strongly o=
f=20
his past?  Notice that after Aglaus shows up, Latro starts to remember.  Th=
e=20
memory house of Simonides helps, but Latro claims that he bought Aglaus'=20
services after Themistocles no longer required a guide to Sparta because of=20
Aglaus' effect on his memory.

In the boar hunting scene at the middle of part three of Soldier of Arete, =
we=20
see several things: the Achaens are old and wiped out, replaced by the=20
Spartans, and dying out obscurely in the mountains.  Aglaus and Lykaon seem=
s=20
to represent the older forces, while Latro represents the burgeoning triump=
h=20
of Rome that looms over all Greece (he is the seed of Rome, as has been sai=
d).
 I need to look up which side was the Achaen side, but I'm pretty sure that=20
Achilles is mad at the Spartans and is working from beyond the grave to ins=
ure=20
that they are going to have some big problems in the near future, and that=20
Latro is somehow involved in that effort to thwart them.

Then again, maybe I have it backwards.  Aeneas is the survivor of Troy, who=
se=20
seed goes on to found Rome.  Perhaps Achilles wouldn't want that force to r=
ise=20
again, since he vanquished Hector and fought for it.  What do you think? =20
Which side would the shade of Achilles take? The Great King of the Medes or=20
the Twin Kings of Sparta?  Or would he want both to fail so that Rome could=20
eventually come and take over everything?

Marc Aramini

--=20

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